Set up banner ads

  • Banner ads are rectangular ads that occupy a portion of an app's layout and can be anchored or inline.

  • This guide focuses on implementing anchored adaptive banner ads, which optimize size based on device width.

  • It is crucial to use test ads during development to avoid account suspension.

  • Banner ads are displayed using the GADBannerView object, which can be created programmatically or in Interface Builder.

  • You can listen for banner ad lifecycle events using the GADBannerViewDelegate .

Banner ads are rectangle ads that occupy a portion of an app's layout. Anchored adaptive banners are always on-screen, anchored to the top or bottom of the screen with a maximum height of 20% of the screen size with a 150px max height. To optimize ad size for each device, use adaptive banners.

This guide covers loading an anchored adaptive banner ad into an iOS app.

Prerequisites

Before you continue, set up Google Mobile Ads SDK .

Always test with test ads

When building and testing your apps, make sure you use test ads rather than live, production ads. Failure to do so can lead to suspension of your account.

The easiest way to load test ads is to use our dedicated test ad unit ID for iOS banners:

ca-app-pub-3940256099942544/2435281174

It's been specially configured to return test ads for every request, and you're free to use it in your own apps while coding, testing, and debugging. Just make sure you replace it with your own ad unit ID before publishing your app.

For more information about how Google Mobile Ads SDK test ads work, see Test Ads .

Create a GADBannerView

Banner ads are displayed in GADBannerView objects, so the first step toward integrating banner ads is to include a GADBannerView in your view hierarchy. This is typically done either programmatically or through Interface Builder.

Programmatically

A GADBannerView can also be instantiated directly. The following example creates a GADBannerView :

Swift

  // Initialize the banner view. 
 bannerView 
  
 = 
  
 BannerView 
 () 
 bannerView 
 . 
 delegate 
  
 = 
  
 self 
 bannerView 
 . 
 translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints 
  
 = 
  
 false 
 view 
 . 
 addSubview 
 ( 
 bannerView 
 ) 
 // This example doesn't give width or height constraints, as the ad size gives the banner an 
 // intrinsic content size to size the view. 
 NSLayoutConstraint 
 . 
 activate 
 ([ 
  
 // Align the banner's bottom edge with the safe area's bottom edge 
  
 bannerView 
 . 
 bottomAnchor 
 . 
 constraint 
 ( 
 equalTo 
 : 
  
 view 
 . 
 safeAreaLayoutGuide 
 . 
 bottomAnchor 
 ), 
  
 // Center the banner horizontally in the view 
  
 bannerView 
 . 
 centerXAnchor 
 . 
 constraint 
 ( 
 equalTo 
 : 
  
 view 
 . 
 centerXAnchor 
 ), 
 ]) 
  
 

SwiftUI

To use a BannerView , create a UIViewRepresentable :

  private 
  
 struct 
  
 BannerViewContainer 
 : 
  
 UIViewRepresentable 
  
 { 
  
 typealias 
  
 UIViewType 
  
 = 
  
 BannerView 
  
 let 
  
 adSize 
 : 
  
 AdSize 
  
 init 
 ( 
 _ 
  
 adSize 
 : 
  
 AdSize 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 self 
 . 
 adSize 
  
 = 
  
 adSize 
  
 } 
  
 func 
  
 makeUIView 
 ( 
 context 
 : 
  
 Context 
 ) 
  
 - 
>  
 BannerView 
  
 { 
  
 let 
  
 banner 
  
 = 
  
 BannerView 
 ( 
 adSize 
 : 
  
 adSize 
 ) 
  
 banner 
 . 
 adUnitID 
  
 = 
  
 "ca-app-pub-3940256099942544/2435281174" 
  
 banner 
 . 
 load 
 ( 
 Request 
 ()) 
  
 banner 
 . 
 delegate 
  
 = 
  
 context 
 . 
 coordinator 
  
 return 
  
 banner 
  
 } 
  
 func 
  
 updateUIView 
 ( 
 _ 
  
 uiView 
 : 
  
 BannerView 
 , 
  
 context 
 : 
  
 Context 
 ) 
  
 {} 
  
 func 
  
 makeCoordinator 
 () 
  
 - 
>  
 BannerCoordinator 
  
 { 
  
 return 
  
 BannerCoordinator 
 ( 
 self 
 ) 
  
 } 
  
 

Add your UIViewRepresentable to the view hierarchy, specifying height and width values:

  var 
  
 body 
 : 
  
 some 
  
 View 
  
 { 
  
 Spacer 
 () 
  
 // Request an anchored adaptive banner with a width of 375. 
  
 let 
  
 adSize 
  
 = 
  
 largeAnchoredAdaptiveBanner 
 ( 
 width 
 : 
  
 375 
 ) 
  
 BannerViewContainer 
 ( 
 adSize 
 ) 
  
 . 
 frame 
 ( 
 width 
 : 
  
 adSize 
 . 
 size 
 . 
 width 
 , 
  
 height 
 : 
  
 adSize 
 . 
 size 
 . 
 height 
 ) 
 } 
  
 

Objective-C

  // Initialize the banner view. 
 GADBannerView 
  
 * 
 bannerView 
  
 = 
  
 [[ 
 GADBannerView 
  
 alloc 
 ] 
  
 init 
 ]; 
 bannerView 
 . 
 delegate 
  
 = 
  
 self 
 ; 
 UIView 
  
 * 
 view 
  
 = 
  
 self 
 . 
 view 
 ; 
 bannerView 
 . 
 translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints 
  
 = 
  
 NO 
 ; 
 [ 
 view 
  
 addSubview 
 : 
 bannerView 
 ]; 
 // This example doesn't give width or height constraints, as the ad size gives the banner an 
 // intrinsic content size to size the view. 
 [ 
 NSLayoutConstraint 
  
 activateConstraints 
 : 
 @[ 
  
 // Align the banner's bottom edge with the safe area's bottom edge 
  
 [ 
 bannerView 
 . 
 bottomAnchor 
  
 constraintEqualToAnchor 
 : 
 view 
 . 
 safeAreaLayoutGuide 
 . 
 bottomAnchor 
 ], 
  
 // Center the banner horizontally in the view 
  
 [ 
 bannerView 
 . 
 centerXAnchor 
  
 constraintEqualToAnchor 
 : 
 view 
 . 
 centerXAnchor 
 ], 
 ] 
 ]; 
 self 
 . 
 bannerView 
  
 = 
  
 bannerView 
 ; 
  
 

Interface Builder

You can add a GADBannerView to a storyboard or xib file. When using this method, be sure to only add position constraints on the banner. For example, when displaying an adaptive banner at the bottom of the screen, set the bottom of the banner view equal to the top of the Bottom Layout Guide, and set the centerX constraint equal to the centerX of the superview.

Set the ad size

The following example gets a large anchored adaptive banner size:

Swift

  // Request a large anchored adaptive banner with a width of 375. 
 bannerView 
 . 
 adSize 
  
 = 
  
 largeAnchoredAdaptiveBanner 
 ( 
 width 
 : 
  
 375 
 ) 
  
 

Objective-C

  // Request a large anchored adaptive banner with a width of 375. 
 self 
 . 
 bannerView 
 . 
 adSize 
  
 = 
  
 GADLargeAnchoredAdaptiveBannerAdSizeWithWidth 
 ( 
 375 
 ); 
  
 

Load an ad

Once the GADBannerView is in place and its properties, such as adUnitID , are configured, it's time to load an ad. This is done by calling loadRequest: on a GADRequest object:

Swift

  func 
  
 loadBannerAd 
 ( 
 bannerView 
 : 
  
 BannerView 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 // Request a large anchored adaptive banner with a width of 375. 
  
 bannerView 
 . 
 adSize 
  
 = 
  
 largeAnchoredAdaptiveBanner 
 ( 
 width 
 : 
  
 375 
 ) 
  
 bannerView 
 . 
 load 
 ( 
 Request 
 ()) 
 } 
  
 

SwiftUI

  banner 
 . 
 adUnitID 
  
 = 
  
 "ca-app-pub-3940256099942544/2435281174" 
 banner 
 . 
 load 
 ( 
 Request 
 ()) 
  
 

Objective-C

  // Request a large anchored adaptive banner with a width of 375. 
 self 
 . 
 bannerView 
 . 
 adSize 
  
 = 
  
 GADLargeAnchoredAdaptiveBannerAdSizeWithWidth 
 ( 
 375 
 ); 
 [ 
 self 
 . 
 bannerView 
  
 loadRequest 
 : 
 [ 
 GADRequest 
  
 request 
 ]]; 
  
 

GADRequest objects represent a single ad request, and contain properties for things like targeting information.

Refresh an ad

If you configured your ad unit to refresh, you don't need to request another ad when the ad fails to load. Google Mobile Ads SDK respects any refresh rate you specified in the AdMob UI. If you haven't enabled refresh, issue a new request. For more details on ad unit refresh, such as setting a refresh rate, see Use automatic refresh for Banner ads .

Handle orientation changes

When your app's screen orientation changes, such as from portrait mode to landscape, the available width for the banner often changes as well. To make sure you display an appropriately sized ad for the new layout, request a new banner. If your banner width is static, or if your layout constraints can handle the resize, skip this step.

Swift

  override 
  
 func 
  
 viewWillTransition 
 ( 
  
 to 
  
 size 
 : 
  
 CGSize 
 , 
  
 with 
  
 coordinator 
 : 
  
 UIViewControllerTransitionCoordinator 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 coordinator 
 . 
 animate 
 ( 
 alongsideTransition 
 : 
  
 { 
  
 _ 
  
 in 
  
 // Load a new ad for the new orientation. 
  
 }) 
 } 
  
 

Objective-C

  - 
 ( 
 void 
 ) 
 viewWillTransitionToSize: 
 ( 
 CGSize 
 ) 
 size 
  
 withTransitionCoordinator 
 :( 
 id<UIViewControllerTransitionCoordinator> 
 ) 
 coordinator 
  
 { 
  
 [ 
 coordinator 
  
 animateAlongsideTransition 
 :^ 
 ( 
 id<UIViewControllerTransitionCoordinatorContext> 
  
 context 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 // Load a new ad for the new orientation. 
  
 } 
  
 completion 
 : 
 nil 
 ]; 
 } 
  
 

Ad events

Through the use of GADBannerViewDelegate , you can listen for lifecycle events, such as when an ad is closed or the user leaves the app.

Register for banner events

To register for banner ad events, set the delegate property on GADBannerView to an object that implements the GADBannerViewDelegate protocol. Generally, the class that implements banner ads also acts as the delegate class, in which case, the delegate property can be set to self .

Swift

  bannerView 
 . 
 delegate 
  
 = 
  
 self  
 
 . 
 swift 
 

SwiftUI

  banner 
 . 
 delegate 
  
 = 
  
 context 
 . 
 coordinator  
 
 . 
 swift 
 

Objective-C

  bannerView 
 . 
 delegate 
  
 = 
  
 self 
 ; 
  
 

Implement banner events

Each of the methods in GADBannerViewDelegate is marked as optional, so you only need to implement the methods you want. This example implements each method and logs a message to the console:

Swift

  func 
  
 bannerViewDidReceiveAd 
 ( 
 _ 
  
 bannerView 
 : 
  
 BannerView 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 print 
 ( 
 "Banner ad loaded." 
 ) 
 } 
 func 
  
 bannerView 
 ( 
 _ 
  
 bannerView 
 : 
  
 BannerView 
 , 
  
 didFailToReceiveAdWithError 
  
 error 
 : 
  
 Error 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 print 
 ( 
 "Banner ad failed to load: 
 \( 
 error 
 . 
 localizedDescription 
 ) 
 " 
 ) 
 } 
 func 
  
 bannerViewDidRecordImpression 
 ( 
 _ 
  
 bannerView 
 : 
  
 BannerView 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 print 
 ( 
 "Banner ad recorded an impression." 
 ) 
 } 
 func 
  
 bannerViewDidRecordClick 
 ( 
 _ 
  
 bannerView 
 : 
  
 BannerView 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 print 
 ( 
 "Banner ad recorded a click." 
 ) 
 } 
 func 
  
 bannerViewWillPresentScreen 
 ( 
 _ 
  
 bannerView 
 : 
  
 BannerView 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 print 
 ( 
 "Banner ad will present screen." 
 ) 
 } 
 func 
  
 bannerViewWillDismissScreen 
 ( 
 _ 
  
 bannerView 
 : 
  
 BannerView 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 print 
 ( 
 "Banner ad will dismiss screen." 
 ) 
 } 
 func 
  
 bannerViewDidDismissScreen 
 ( 
 _ 
  
 bannerView 
 : 
  
 BannerView 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 print 
 ( 
 "Banner ad did dismiss screen." 
 ) 
 } 
  
 

Objective-C

  - 
 ( 
 void 
 ) 
 bannerViewDidReceiveAd: 
 ( 
 GADBannerView 
  
 * 
 ) 
 bannerView 
  
 { 
  
 NSLog 
 ( 
 @"bannerViewDidReceiveAd" 
 ); 
 } 
 - 
 ( 
 void 
 ) 
 bannerView: 
 ( 
 GADBannerView 
  
 * 
 ) 
 bannerView 
  
 didFailToReceiveAdWithError: 
 ( 
 NSError 
  
 * 
 ) 
 error 
  
 { 
  
 NSLog 
 ( 
 @"bannerView:didFailToReceiveAdWithError: %@" 
 , 
  
 error 
 . 
 localizedDescription 
 ); 
 } 
 - 
 ( 
 void 
 ) 
 bannerViewDidRecordImpression: 
 ( 
 GADBannerView 
  
 * 
 ) 
 bannerView 
  
 { 
  
 NSLog 
 ( 
 @"bannerViewDidRecordImpression" 
 ); 
 } 
 - 
 ( 
 void 
 ) 
 bannerViewWillPresentScreen: 
 ( 
 GADBannerView 
  
 * 
 ) 
 bannerView 
  
 { 
  
 NSLog 
 ( 
 @"bannerViewWillPresentScreen" 
 ); 
 } 
 - 
 ( 
 void 
 ) 
 bannerViewWillDismissScreen: 
 ( 
 GADBannerView 
  
 * 
 ) 
 bannerView 
  
 { 
  
 NSLog 
 ( 
 @"bannerViewWillDismissScreen" 
 ); 
 } 
 - 
 ( 
 void 
 ) 
 bannerViewDidDismissScreen: 
 ( 
 GADBannerView 
  
 * 
 ) 
 bannerView 
  
 { 
  
 NSLog 
 ( 
 @"bannerViewDidDismissScreen" 
 ); 
 } 
  
 

See the Ad Delegate example for an implementation of banner delegate methods in the iOS API Demo app.

Swift Objective-C

Use cases

Here are some example use cases for these ad event methods.

Add a banner to the view hierarchy once an ad is received

You may want to delay in adding a GADBannerView to the view hierarchy until after an ad is received. You can do this by listening for the bannerViewDidReceiveAd: event:

Swift

  func 
  
 bannerViewDidReceiveAd 
 ( 
 _ 
  
 bannerView 
 : 
  
 BannerView 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 // Add banner to view and add constraints. 
  
 addBannerViewToView 
 ( 
 bannerView 
 ) 
 } 
 

Objective-C

  - 
 ( 
 void 
 ) 
 bannerViewDidReceiveAd: 
 ( 
 GADBannerView 
  
 * 
 ) 
 bannerView 
  
 { 
  
 // Add bannerView to view and add constraints as above. 
  
 [ 
 self 
  
 addBannerViewToView 
 : 
 self 
 . 
 bannerView 
 ]; 
 } 
 

Animate a banner ad

You can also use the bannerViewDidReceiveAd: event to animate a banner ad once it's returned, as shown in the following example:

Swift

  func 
  
 bannerViewDidReceiveAd 
 ( 
 _ 
  
 bannerView 
 : 
  
 BannerView 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 bannerView 
 . 
 alpha 
  
 = 
  
 0 
  
 UIView 
 . 
 animate 
 ( 
 withDuration 
 : 
  
 1 
 , 
  
 animations 
 : 
  
 { 
  
 bannerView 
 . 
 alpha 
  
 = 
  
 1 
  
 }) 
 } 
 

Objective-C

  - 
 ( 
 void 
 ) 
 bannerViewDidReceiveAd: 
 ( 
 GADBannerView 
  
 * 
 ) 
 bannerView 
  
 { 
  
 bannerView 
 . 
 alpha 
  
 = 
  
 0 
 ; 
  
 [ 
 UIView 
  
 animateWithDuration 
 : 
 1.0 
  
 animations 
 :^ 
 { 
  
 bannerView 
 . 
 alpha 
  
 = 
  
 1 
 ; 
  
 }]; 
 } 
 

Pause and resume the app

The GADBannerViewDelegate protocol has methods to notify you of events, such as when a click causes an overlay to be presented or dismissed. If you want to trace whether these events were due to ads, register for these GADBannerViewDelegate methods.

To catch all types of overlay presentations or external browser invocations, not just those that come from ad clicks, your app is better off listening for the equivalent methods on UIViewController or UIApplication . Here is a table showing the equivalent iOS methods that are invoked at the same time as GADBannerViewDelegate methods:

GADBannerViewDelegate method iOS method
bannerViewWillPresentScreen: UIViewController's viewWillDisappear:
bannerViewWillDismissScreen: UIViewController's viewWillAppear:
bannerViewDidDismissScreen: UIViewController's viewDidAppear:

Additional resources

Examples on GitHub

Next steps

Collapsible banners

Collapsible banner ads are banner ads that are initially presented as a larger overlay, with a button to collapse the ad to a smaller size. Consider using it to further optimize your performance. See collapsible banner ads for more details.

Inline adaptive banners

Inline adaptive banners are larger, taller banners compared to anchored adaptive banners. They are of variable height, and can be as tall as the device screen. Inline adaptive banners are recommended over anchored adaptive banner ads for apps that place banner ads in scrollable content. See inline adaptive banners for more details.

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