IMA SDKs make it easy to integrate multimedia ads into your websites and apps. IMA SDKs can request ads from any VAST-compliant ad server and manage ad playback in your apps. With IMA client-side SDKs, you maintain control of content video playback, while the SDK handles ad playback. Ads play in a separate video player positioned on top of the app's content video player.
This guide demonstrates how to integrate the IMA SDK into an empty Android Studio project using the Android VideoView to display content and ads. To follow along with a completed sample integration, download the BasicExample from GitHub.
IMA client-side overview
Implementing IMA client-side involves four main SDK components, which are demonstrated in this guide:
-
AdDisplayContainer: A container object that specifies where IMA renders ad UI elements and measures viewability, including Active View and Open Measurement . -
AdsLoader: An object that requests ads and handles events from ads request responses. You should only instantiate one ads loader, which can be reused throughout the life of the application. -
AdsRequest: An object that defines an ads request. Ads requests specify the URL for the VAST ad tag, as well as additional parameters, such as ad dimensions. -
AdsManager: An object that contains the response to the ads request, controls ad playback, and listens for ad events fired by the SDK.
Prerequisites
1. Create a new Android Studio project
To create your Android Studio project, complete the following steps:
- Start Android Studio.
- Select Start a new Android Studio project .
- In the Choose your project page, select the Empty Activity template.
- Click Next .
- In the Configure your project page, name your project and select Java for the language.
- Click Finish .
2. Add the IMA SDK to your project
First, in the application-level build.gradle
file, add imports for the IMA SDK to the
dependencies section. Because of the size of the IMA SDK, implement and enable multidex here. This
is necessary for apps with minSdkVersion
set to 20 or lower. Also, add new compileOptions
to specify the Java version compatibility information and enable
library desugaring.
The IMA SDK requires library desugaring enabled, which you must do by setting coreLibraryDesugaringEnabled true
and adding coreLibraryDesugaring 'com.android.tools:desugar_jdk_libs:2.1.5'
as a dependency in
the build.gradle
file. For more details, see Java 11+ APIs available through desugaring with the nio specification
.
apply plugin: 'com.android.application' android { namespace 'com.google.ads.interactivemedia.v3.samples.videoplayerapp' compileSdk 36 // Java 17 required by Gradle 8+ compileOptions { // Required by IMA SDK v3.37.0+ coreLibraryDesugaringEnabled true // Java 17 required by Gradle 8+ sourceCompatibility JavaVersion . VERSION_17 targetCompatibility JavaVersion . VERSION_17 } defaultConfig { applicationId "com.google.ads.interactivemedia.v3.samples.videoplayerapp" minSdkVersion 21 targetSdkVersion 36 multiDexEnabled true versionCode 1 versionName "1.0" } buildTypes { release { minifyEnabled true proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile ( 'proguard-android.txt' ), 'proguard-rules.pro' } } } repositories { google () mavenCentral () } dependencies { coreLibraryDesugaring 'com.android.tools:desugar_jdk_libs:2.1.5' implementation ( platform ( "org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-bom:1.8.0" )) implementation 'androidx.appcompat:appcompat:1.7.1' implementation 'androidx.browser:browser:1.9.0' implementation 'androidx.media:media:1.7.0' implementation 'com.google.ads.interactivemedia.v3:interactivemedia:3.37.0' }
3. Update the app layout
Update the app's layout to include a VideoView
to play both content and ads:
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools" android:id="@+id/container" android:layout_width="match_parent" android:layout_height="match_parent" android:orientation="vertical" tools:context=".MyActivity" tools:ignore="MergeRootFrame"> <RelativeLayout android:background="#000000" android:layout_width="match_parent" android:layout_height="0dp" android:layout_weight="0.4" android:orientation="vertical" android:id="@+id/videoPlayerContainer" > <VideoView android:id="@+id/videoView" android:layout_width="match_parent" android:layout_height="match_parent" /> <ImageButton android:id="@+id/playButton" android:contentDescription="@string/play_description" android:layout_width="match_parent" android:layout_height="match_parent" android:src="@drawable/ic_action_play_over_video" android:background="@null" /> </RelativeLayout> <FrameLayout android:layout_width="match_parent" android:layout_height="0dp" android:layout_weight="0.6" android:id="@+id/videoDescription" > <TextView android:id="@+id/playerDescription" android:text="@string/app_name" android:textAlignment="center" android:gravity="center_horizontal" android:layout_width="match_parent" android:layout_height="match_parent" android:paddingVertical="@dimen/font_size" android:textSize="@dimen/font_size" /> </FrameLayout> </LinearLayout>
4. Import IMA into the main activity
Add the import statements for the IMA SDK:
import android.content.Context ; import android.content.res.Configuration ; import android.media.AudioManager ; import android.os.Bundle ; import android.util.Log ; import android.view.View ; import android.widget.MediaController ; import android.widget.VideoView ; import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity ; import com.google.ads.interactivemedia.v3.api.AdDisplayContainer ; import com.google.ads.interactivemedia.v3.api.AdErrorEvent ; import com.google.ads.interactivemedia.v3.api.AdEvent ; import com.google.ads.interactivemedia.v3.api.AdsLoader ; import com.google.ads.interactivemedia.v3.api.AdsManager ; import com.google.ads.interactivemedia.v3.api.AdsRenderingSettings ; import com.google.ads.interactivemedia.v3.api.AdsRequest ; import com.google.ads.interactivemedia.v3.api.ImaSdkFactory ; import com.google.ads.interactivemedia.v3.api.ImaSdkSettings ; import com.google.ads.interactivemedia.v3.api.player.VideoProgressUpdate ; import java.util.Arrays ;
Update the MyActivity
class to extend AppCompatActivity
. The AppCompatActivity
class allows for support of newer platform features on older
Android devices. Then, add a set of private variables which will be used in the app:
/** Main activity. */ public class MyActivity extends AppCompatActivity { private static final String LOGTAG = "IMABasicSample" ; private static final String SAMPLE_VIDEO_URL = "https://storage.googleapis.com/gvabox/media/samples/stock.mp4" ; /** * IMA sample tag for a single skippable inline video ad. See more IMA sample tags at * https://developers.google.com/interactive-media-ads/docs/sdks/html5/client-side/tags */ private static final String SAMPLE_VAST_TAG_URL = "https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?iu=/21775744923/external/" + "single_preroll_skippable&sz=640x480&ciu_szs=300x250%2C728x90&gdfp_req=1&output=vast" + "&unviewed_position_start=1&env=vp&correlator=" ; // Factory class for creating SDK objects. private ImaSdkFactory sdkFactory ; // The AdsLoader instance exposes the requestAds method. private AdsLoader adsLoader ; // AdsManager exposes methods to control ad playback and listen to ad events. private AdsManager adsManager ; // The saved content position, used to resumed content following an ad break. private int savedPosition = 0 ; // This sample uses a VideoView for content and ad playback. For production // apps, Android's Exoplayer offers a more fully featured player compared to // the VideoView. private VideoView videoPlayer ; private MediaController mediaController ; private VideoAdPlayerAdapter videoAdPlayerAdapter ; private ImaSdkSettings imaSdkSettings ;
5. Create the VideoAdPlayerAdapter class
Create a VideoAdPlayerAdapter
class with the VideoView
,
and adapt it to IMA's VideoAdPlayer
interface. This class will handle content and ad playback, and will contain the set of
methods that a video player must implement to be used by the IMA SDK:
import android.media.AudioManager ; import android.media.MediaPlayer ; import android.net.Uri ; import android.util.Log ; import android.widget.VideoView ; import com.google.ads.interactivemedia.v3.api.AdPodInfo ; import com.google.ads.interactivemedia.v3.api.player.AdMediaInfo ; import com.google.ads.interactivemedia.v3.api.player.VideoAdPlayer ; import com.google.ads.interactivemedia.v3.api.player.VideoProgressUpdate ; import java.util.ArrayList ; import java.util.List ; import java.util.Timer ; import java.util.TimerTask ; /** Example implementation of IMA's VideoAdPlayer interface. */ public class VideoAdPlayerAdapter implements VideoAdPlayer { private static final String LOGTAG = "IMABasicSample" ; private static final long POLLING_TIME_MS = 250 ; private static final long INITIAL_DELAY_MS = 250 ; private final VideoView videoPlayer ; private final AudioManager audioManager ; private final List<VideoAdPlayerCallback> videoAdPlayerCallbacks = new ArrayList <> (); private Timer timer ; private int adDuration ; // The saved ad position, used to resumed ad playback following an ad click-through. private int savedAdPosition ; private AdMediaInfo loadedAdMediaInfo ; public VideoAdPlayerAdapter ( VideoView videoPlayer , AudioManager audioManager ) { this . videoPlayer = videoPlayer ; this . videoPlayer . setOnCompletionListener ( ( MediaPlayer mediaPlayer ) - > notifyImaOnContentCompleted ()); this . audioManager = audioManager ; }
6. Override the VideoAdPlayer methods
Override the following VideoAdPlayer
methods:
The playAd()
method sets the content or ad URL and sets a listener to start
playback once the media is loaded.
@Override public void addCallback ( VideoAdPlayerCallback videoAdPlayerCallback ) { videoAdPlayerCallbacks . add ( videoAdPlayerCallback ); } @Override public void loadAd ( AdMediaInfo adMediaInfo , AdPodInfo adPodInfo ) { // This simple ad loading logic works because preloading is disabled. To support // preloading ads your app must maintain state for the currently playing ad // while handling upcoming ad downloading and buffering at the same time. // See the IMA Android preloading guide for more info: // https://developers.google.com/interactive-media-ads/docs/sdks/android/client-side/preload loadedAdMediaInfo = adMediaInfo ; } @Override public void pauseAd ( AdMediaInfo adMediaInfo ) { Log . i ( LOGTAG , "pauseAd" ); savedAdPosition = videoPlayer . getCurrentPosition (); stopAdTracking (); } @Override public void playAd ( AdMediaInfo adMediaInfo ) { videoPlayer . setVideoURI ( Uri . parse ( adMediaInfo . getUrl ())); videoPlayer . setOnPreparedListener ( mediaPlayer - > { adDuration = mediaPlayer . getDuration (); if ( savedAdPosition > 0 ) { mediaPlayer . seekTo ( savedAdPosition ); } mediaPlayer . start (); startAdTracking (); }); videoPlayer . setOnErrorListener ( ( mediaPlayer , errorType , extra ) - > notifyImaSdkAboutAdError ( errorType )); videoPlayer . setOnCompletionListener ( mediaPlayer - > { savedAdPosition = 0 ; notifyImaSdkAboutAdEnded (); }); } @Override public void release () { // any clean up that needs to be done. } @Override public void removeCallback ( VideoAdPlayerCallback videoAdPlayerCallback ) { videoAdPlayerCallbacks . remove ( videoAdPlayerCallback ); } @Override public void stopAd ( AdMediaInfo adMediaInfo ) { Log . i ( LOGTAG , "stopAd" ); stopAdTracking (); } /** Returns current volume as a percent of max volume. */ @Override public int getVolume () { return audioManager . getStreamVolume ( AudioManager . STREAM_MUSIC ) / audioManager . getStreamMaxVolume ( AudioManager . STREAM_MUSIC ); }
7. Set up ad tracking
In order for ad events to be registered, VideoAdPlayerCallback.onAdProgress
must be called as content and ads progress. To support this, set up a timer to call onAdProgress()
at a set interval.
private void startAdTracking () { Log . i ( LOGTAG , "startAdTracking" ); if ( timer != null ) { return ; } timer = new Timer (); TimerTask updateTimerTask = new TimerTask () { @Override public void run () { VideoProgressUpdate progressUpdate = getAdProgress (); notifyImaSdkAboutAdProgress ( progressUpdate ); } }; timer . schedule ( updateTimerTask , POLLING_TIME_MS , INITIAL_DELAY_MS ); } private void notifyImaSdkAboutAdEnded () { Log . i ( LOGTAG , "notifyImaSdkAboutAdEnded" ); savedAdPosition = 0 ; for ( VideoAdPlayer . VideoAdPlayerCallback callback : videoAdPlayerCallbacks ) { callback . onEnded ( loadedAdMediaInfo ); } } private void notifyImaSdkAboutAdProgress ( VideoProgressUpdate adProgress ) { for ( VideoAdPlayer . VideoAdPlayerCallback callback : videoAdPlayerCallbacks ) { callback . onAdProgress ( loadedAdMediaInfo , adProgress ); } } /** * @param errorType Media player's error type as defined at * https://cs.android.com/android/platform/superproject/+/master:frameworks/base/media/java/android/media/MediaPlayer.java;l=4335 * @return True to stop the current ad playback. */ private boolean notifyImaSdkAboutAdError ( int errorType ) { Log . i ( LOGTAG , "notifyImaSdkAboutAdError" ); switch ( errorType ) { case MediaPlayer . MEDIA_ERROR_UNSUPPORTED : Log . e ( LOGTAG , "notifyImaSdkAboutAdError: MEDIA_ERROR_UNSUPPORTED" ); break ; case MediaPlayer . MEDIA_ERROR_TIMED_OUT : Log . e ( LOGTAG , "notifyImaSdkAboutAdError: MEDIA_ERROR_TIMED_OUT" ); break ; default : break ; } for ( VideoAdPlayer . VideoAdPlayerCallback callback : videoAdPlayerCallbacks ) { callback . onError ( loadedAdMediaInfo ); } return true ; } public void notifyImaOnContentCompleted () { Log . i ( LOGTAG , "notifyImaOnContentCompleted" ); for ( VideoAdPlayer . VideoAdPlayerCallback callback : videoAdPlayerCallbacks ) { callback . onContentComplete (); } } private void stopAdTracking () { Log . i ( LOGTAG , "stopAdTracking" ); if ( timer != null ) { timer . cancel (); timer = null ; } } @Override public VideoProgressUpdate getAdProgress () { long adPosition = videoPlayer . getCurrentPosition (); return new VideoProgressUpdate ( adPosition , adDuration ); }
8. Initiate IMA in the onCreate
method
Overwrite the onCreate
method and add the required variable assignments to initiate
IMA. In this step, create the instances of the following:
-
ImaSdkSettings -
AdsLoader -
VideoAdPlayerAdapter
@Override protected void onCreate ( Bundle savedInstanceState ) { super . onCreate ( savedInstanceState ); setContentView ( R . layout . activity_my ); // Initialize the IMA SDK as early as possible when the app starts. If your app already // overrides Application.onCreate(), call this method inside the onCreate() method. // https://developer.android.com/topic/performance/vitals/launch-time#app-creation sdkFactory = ImaSdkFactory . getInstance (); sdkFactory . initialize ( this , getImaSdkSettings ()); // Create the UI for controlling the video view. mediaController = new MediaController ( this ); videoPlayer = findViewById ( R . id . videoView ); mediaController . setAnchorView ( videoPlayer ); videoPlayer . setMediaController ( mediaController ); // Create an ad display container that uses a ViewGroup to listen to taps. AudioManager audioManager = ( AudioManager ) getSystemService ( Context . AUDIO_SERVICE ); videoAdPlayerAdapter = new VideoAdPlayerAdapter ( videoPlayer , audioManager ); AdDisplayContainer adDisplayContainer = ImaSdkFactory . createAdDisplayContainer ( findViewById ( R . id . videoPlayerContainer ), videoAdPlayerAdapter ); // Create an AdsLoader. adsLoader = sdkFactory . createAdsLoader ( this , getImaSdkSettings (), adDisplayContainer );
Set up the play button to request ads, then hide when clicked:
// When the play button is clicked, request ads and hide the button. View playButton = findViewById ( R . id . playButton ); playButton . setOnClickListener ( view - > { videoPlayer . setVideoPath ( SAMPLE_VIDEO_URL ); requestAds ( SAMPLE_VAST_TAG_URL ); view . setVisibility ( View . GONE ); });
ImaSdkSettings
: private ImaSdkSettings getImaSdkSettings () { if ( imaSdkSettings == null ) { imaSdkSettings = ImaSdkFactory . getInstance (). createImaSdkSettings (); // Set any IMA SDK settings here. } return imaSdkSettings ; }
9. Add AdsLoader listeners
Add listeners for addAdErrorListener
and addAdsLoadedListener
. In the AdsLoadedListener
, create the AdsManager
, and set up the AdsManager
error listener:
// Add listeners for when ads are loaded and for errors. adsLoader . addAdErrorListener ( new AdErrorEvent . AdErrorListener () { /** An event raised when there is an error loading or playing ads. */ @Override public void onAdError ( AdErrorEvent adErrorEvent ) { Log . i ( LOGTAG , "Ad Error: " + adErrorEvent . getError (). getMessage ()); resumeContent (); } }); adsLoader . addAdsLoadedListener ( adsManagerLoadedEvent - > { // Ads were successfully loaded, so get the AdsManager instance. AdsManager has // events for ad playback and errors. adsManager = adsManagerLoadedEvent . getAdsManager (); // Attach event and error event listeners. adsManager . addAdErrorListener ( new AdErrorEvent . AdErrorListener () { /** An event raised when there is an error loading or playing ads. */ @Override public void onAdError ( AdErrorEvent adErrorEvent ) { Log . e ( LOGTAG , "Ad Error: " + adErrorEvent . getError (). getMessage ()); String universalAdIds = Arrays . toString ( adsManager . getCurrentAd (). getUniversalAdIds ()); Log . i ( LOGTAG , "Discarding the current ad break with universal " + "ad Ids: " + universalAdIds ); adsManager . discardAdBreak (); } });
10. Handle IMA ad events
Listen for IMA ad events with AdsManager.addAdEventListener
. Using a switch statement, set up actions for the following IMA events:
The code snippet includes comments with more information on how to use the events. Once the
events are set up, call AdsManager.init()
:
adsManager . addAdEventListener ( new AdEvent . AdEventListener () { /** Responds to AdEvents. */ @Override public void onAdEvent ( AdEvent adEvent ) { if ( adEvent . getType () != AdEvent . AdEventType . AD_PROGRESS ) { Log . i ( LOGTAG , "Event: " + adEvent . getType ()); } // These are the suggested event types to handle. For full list of // all ad event types, see AdEvent.AdEventType documentation. switch ( adEvent . getType ()) { case LOADED - > // AdEventType.LOADED is fired when ads are ready to play. // This sample app uses the sample tag // single_preroll_skippable_ad_tag_url that requires calling // AdsManager.start() to start ad playback. // If you use a different ad tag URL that returns a VMAP or // an ad rules playlist, the adsManager.init() function will // trigger ad playback automatically and the IMA SDK will // ignore the adsManager.start(). // It is safe to always call adsManager.start() in the // LOADED event. adsManager . start (); case CONTENT_PAUSE_REQUESTED - > // AdEventType.CONTENT_PAUSE_REQUESTED is fired when you // should pause your content and start playing an ad. pauseContentForAds (); case CONTENT_RESUME_REQUESTED - > // AdEventType.CONTENT_RESUME_REQUESTED is fired when the ad // you should play your content. resumeContent (); case ALL_ADS_COMPLETED - > { // Calling adsManager.destroy() triggers the function // VideoAdPlayer.release(). adsManager . destroy (); adsManager = null ; } case CLICKED - > { // When the user clicks on the Learn More button, the IMA SDK fires // this event, pauses the ad, and opens the ad's click-through URL. // When the user returns to the app, the IMA SDK calls the // VideoAdPlayer.playAd() function automatically. } default - > {} } } }); AdsRenderingSettings adsRenderingSettings = ImaSdkFactory . getInstance (). createAdsRenderingSettings (); // Add any ads rendering settings here. // This init() only loads the UI rendering settings locally. adsManager . init ( adsRenderingSettings ); });
11. Handle switching between ads and content
In this section, create the pauseContentForAds
and resumeContent
methods referenced in the previous steps. These methods will reuse the player to play
both content and ads. You will need to keep track of the content position in order to
resume playback following the ad break.
private void pauseContentForAds () { Log . i ( LOGTAG , "pauseContentForAds" ); savedPosition = videoPlayer . getCurrentPosition (); videoPlayer . stopPlayback (); // Hide the buttons and seek bar controlling the video view. videoPlayer . setMediaController ( null ); } private void resumeContent () { Log . i ( LOGTAG , "resumeContent" ); // Show the buttons and seek bar controlling the video view. videoPlayer . setVideoPath ( SAMPLE_VIDEO_URL ); videoPlayer . setMediaController ( mediaController ); videoPlayer . setOnPreparedListener ( mediaPlayer - > { if ( savedPosition > 0 ) { mediaPlayer . seekTo ( savedPosition ); } mediaPlayer . start (); }); videoPlayer . setOnCompletionListener ( mediaPlayer - > videoAdPlayerAdapter . notifyImaOnContentCompleted ()); }
12. Request ads
Now add the requestAds
method to build an AdsRequest
and use it to call AdsLoader.requestAds()
:
private void requestAds ( String adTagUrl ) { // Create the ads request. AdsRequest request = sdkFactory . createAdsRequest (); request . setAdTagUrl ( adTagUrl ); request . setContentProgressProvider ( () - > { if ( videoPlayer . getDuration () < = 0 ) { return VideoProgressUpdate . VIDEO_TIME_NOT_READY ; } return new VideoProgressUpdate ( videoPlayer . getCurrentPosition (), videoPlayer . getDuration ()); }); // Request the ad. After the ad is loaded, onAdsManagerLoaded() will be called. adsLoader . requestAds ( request ); }
You're now successfully requesting and displaying ads with the IMA SDK. To learn about more advanced features, explore the other guides or the samples on GitHub .
