How google ads are shown on Android?

Question

I did some testing with ads on my device and then pushed app to the play with with production unit ID. After a while when the version was available on play I deleted the debug build from my device and installed from playstore .

The code is same as what developer site suggests

mInterstitialAd = new InterstitialAd(callerActivity);
mInterstitialAd.setAdUnitId(callerActivity.getString(R.string.interstitial_ad_unit_id));
AdRequest adRequest = new AdRequest.Builder().build();
mInterstitialAd.loadAd(adRequest);
if (mInterstitialAd.isLoaded()) {
    Log.i(TAG," Interstitial Add :Loaded");
    mInterstitialAd.show();
}
else {
    Log.i(TAG,"Could not load Interstitial Add");
}

But surprisingly I see following in logs

2:38.743 16617-16617/com.osfg.tictactoe I/Ads﹕ Starting ad request. 06-17 18:22:38.743 16617-16617/com.osfg.tictactoe I/Ads﹕ Use AdRequest.Builder.addTestDevice("235F7FAA8F49FF2CAA1DD2FAFE6B9E8A") to get test ads on this device. 06-17 18:22:40.529 16617-16617/com.osfg.tictactoe I/GamePlayOnClickListener﹕ Game Over. Some player won 06-17 18:22:43.551 16617-16617/com.osfg.tictactoe I/GamePlayOnClickListener﹕ Could not load Interstitial Add 06-17 18:22:43.551 16617-16617/com.osfg.tictactoe I/GamePlayOnClickListener﹕ Resetting game

It is still using my device as test device? Not sure what is happening here. Anyone has any prior experience on this? I know it calculates the hash but does it store it on admob server but again this is client call. How would it know? I am confused. Any suggestion is appreciated.

Answer 1

Most likely you're encountering this issue because mInterstitialAd.loadAd(adRequest); is calling a background thread to load a new ad, but you're checking to see if the ad has been loaded immediately. You don't give that background thread a chance to connect to the server, get the ad, etc.

To fix this, you need to place your code for when the ad has been loaded inside an AdListener, like so:

mInterstitialAd.setAdListener(new AdListener() {
    @Override
    public void onAdLoaded() {
        Log.i(TAG," Interstitial Add :Loaded");
    }
    @Override
    public void onAdFailedToLoad(int error) {
        Log.i(TAG,"Could not load Interstitial Add");
    }
}
mInterstitialAd.loadAd(adRequest);

The if statement if (mInterstitialAd.isLoaded()) is for checking at a later time if the ad has been loaded, such as after the user does some action. Not when an activity begins or anything similar.