Google AdMob Ads Android Fundamentals

1. Overview
2. Requirements
3. Incorporating the SDK
   1. Adding the SDK JAR
   2. AdActivity
   3. Permissions
4. Adding a com.google.ads.AdView
5. The Result
6. What's Next?

Overview

Google AdMob Ads banners use a small portion of the screen to entice users to "click through" to a richer, full-screen experience such as a website or app store page.
To display banners in your Android app, simply incorporate the SDK into your Eclipse project and add a com.google.ads.AdView to your UI.

Requirements

The Google AdMob Ads SDK for Android requires Android 1.5 or later. Make sure you have the latest copy of the Android SDK and that you're compiling against at least Android v3.2 (set target in default.properties to android-13).

Incorporating the SDK

Incorporating Google AdMob Ads into your app is a three step process:

1. Add the SDK JAR to your Eclipse project.
2. Declare com.google.ads.AdActivity in AndroidManifest.xml.
3. Set up required network permissions in the manifest.

Adding the SDK JAR

The decompressed SDK consists of a JAR, a javadoc folder and a README.

1. Right click on your app project in Eclipse and choose Properties.

2. Select Java Build Path and the Libraries tab. Then click Add External JARs... to add the Google AdMob Ads JAR.

com.google.ads.AdActivity

The AdMob Ads SDK requires that com.google.ads.AdActivity be declared in your app's AndroidManifest.xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
          package="com.company"
          android:versionCode="1" android:versionName="1.0">
  <application android:icon="@drawable/icon" android:label="@string/app_name"
               android:debuggable="true">
    <activity android:label="@string/app_name" android:name="BannerExample">
      <intent-filter>
        <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN"/>
        <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER"/>
      </intent-filter>
    </activity>
    <activity android:name="com.google.ads.AdActivity"
              android:configChanges="keyboard|keyboardHidden|orientation|screenLayout|uiMode|screenSize|smallestScreenSize"/>
  </application>
</manifest>

Permissions

Making ad requests requires the networking permissions INTERNET and ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE, so these must also be declared in the manifest:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
          package="com.company"
          android:versionCode="1" android:versionName="1.0">
  <application android:icon="@drawable/icon" android:label="@string/app_name"
               android:debuggable="true">
    <activity android:label="@string/app_name" android:name="BannerExample">
      <intent-filter>
        <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN"/>
        <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER"/>
      </intent-filter>
    </activity>
    <activity android:name="com.google.ads.AdActivity"
              android:configChanges="keyboard|keyboardHidden|orientation|screenLayout|uiMode|screenSize|smallestScreenSize"/>
  </application>
  <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET"/>
  <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE"/>
</manifest>

You should now be able to rebuild your project without any errors.

Adding a com.google.ads.AdView

Android apps are composed of View objects, Java instances the user sees as text areas, buttons and other controls. AdView is simply another View subclass displaying small HTML5 ads that respond to user touch.
Like any View, an AdView may be created either purely in code or largely in XML.
The five lines of code it takes to add a banner:

• Import com.google.ads.*
• Declare an AdView instance
• Create it, specifying a unit ID—your AdMob publisher ID
• Add the view to the UI
• Load it with an ad

The easiest place to do all this is in your app’s Activity.

import com.google.ads.*;
public class BannerExample extends Activity {
  private AdView adView;

  @Override
  public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    setContentView(R.layout.main);

    // Create the adView
    adView = new AdView(this, AdSize.BANNER, MY_AD_UNIT_ID);

    // Lookup your LinearLayout assuming it’s been given
    // the attribute android:id="@+id/mainLayout"
    LinearLayout layout = (LinearLayout)findViewById(R.id.mainLayout);

    // Add the adView to it
    layout.addView(adView);

    // Initiate a generic request to load it with an ad
    adView.loadAd(new AdRequest());
  }

  @Override
  public void onDestroy() {
    adView.destroy();
    super.onDestroy();
  }
}

Warning: Make sure you're in test mode during development to avoid being disabled for clicking your own ads. See the Best Practices guide for more details on enabling test ads.

You can download an example project containing this code here and may alternately create your banner in XML.

The Result

When you now run your app you should see a banner at the top of the screen: