---
name: ads-mediation-checks
description: Diagnose and verify ad mediation in a mobile app or game before and after store release - Google AdMob (Ad Inspector), AppLovin MAX (Mediation Debugger) and Unity LevelPlay / ironSource (validateIntegration) with their networks - app ids and ad unit ids, adapter versions, test devices, no-fill before launch, app-ads.txt on the developer website, SKAdNetwork ids, ATT, privacy manifests, consent, COPPA and Data safety / App Privacy answers. Use when ads do not load, a network reports invalid ids, the user adds an ad SDK, or prepares ads for launch.
---

# Ad mediation checks (AdMob, AppLovin MAX, LevelPlay)

No CLI needed apart from `storebound validate --play` (app-ads.txt) and `storebound privacy-manifest`; these are checks
to run and read. Ask the owner before changing any dashboard setting. Most apps without ads can skip this skill.

## Every mediation platform
1. **Ids per platform**: iOS and Android have different app ids / keys and ad unit ids. Production ids only in release
   builds; test ids or registered test devices during development (real units with test traffic can get the account
   flagged).
2. **Debug tool on a test device**: every network listed with its adapter and SDK versions as a supported pair, test
   ads loading per format.
3. **No fill before launch is normal**: networks start filling once the app is live and its store URLs are set in
   the mediation dashboard.
4. **app-ads.txt** at the root of the developer website named in both listings (`https://<domain>/app-ads.txt`; IAB
   spec: https://github.com/InteractiveAdvertisingBureau/Supply-Chain-Validation/blob/main/app-ads.txt.md): the
   platform's own line plus each network's lines from the dashboard. Put them in `ads.appAdsTxt` so
   `storebound validate --play` checks the file. The listing website domain must match exactly (AdMob: the developer
   website; on iOS the marketing URL; verification can take a day, https://support.google.com/admob/answer/9363762).
5. **iOS**: SKAdNetwork ids of every network in Info.plist (from each network's list or generator),
   `NSUserTrackingUsageDescription` and the ATT prompt before the ad SDK starts, privacy manifests of every SDK
   (`storebound privacy-manifest --ios ios/App`, `privacy-manifest` skill).
6. **Android**: `com.google.android.gms.permission.AD_ID` and the Play advertising ID declaration; the AdMob app id in
   the manifest when any AdMob adapter is present (the app crashes at launch without it).
7. **Privacy and audience**: consent (CMP) in the EU / EEA / UK / CH or non-personalized ads; "not directed at
   children" unless the app is for kids (Families policy otherwise); Data safety and App Privacy list the ad data as
   shared / tracking (`store-declarations`).
8. **Placement**: no ads at launch, on exit or mid-task / mid-round; close buttons visible; rewarded ads always
   optional. Reviewers test the first minutes.

## Google AdMob
- Ad Inspector (SDK 20.0.0+, test devices only) shows each ad unit's mediation waterfall, adapter status and errors:
  https://developers.google.com/admob/android/ad-inspector (iOS: the same page under /admob/ios/).
- Register test devices in the AdMob UI or in code; use Google's demo ad unit ids during development.

## AppLovin MAX
- Mediation Debugger: `AppLovinSdk.getInstance(context).showMediationDebugger()` (iOS: the SDK's
  `showMediationDebugger`). It lists integration status per network, missing SKAdNetwork ids and the app-ads.txt
  entries; enable test mode per network under Completed Integrations > Test Ad, then restart the app.
  https://support.applovin.com/en/max/android/testing-networks/mediation-debugger/
- SKAdNetwork: AppLovin's Info.plist generator for the networks you use
  (https://support.applovin.com/en/max/ios/overview/skadnetwork).

## Unity LevelPlay (ironSource)
1. After init call the SDK's `validateIntegration()`; the device log (Xcode console, Android logcat tag
   `IntegrationHelper`) must list every network as "Adapter - Version x - VERIFIED". Adapter + network SDK versions
   must be a pair from Unity's adapter tables.
2. **Unity Ads "Invalid Game ID" / iOS "Initialization failed: not found"** is often account-side: compare
   `https://publisher-config.unityads.unity3d.com/games/<gameId>/configuration` for your id with Unity's demo id
   `14851`. If yours 404s or is empty, the Unity Ads project / game id is not set up or not linked to the LevelPlay app
   (Monetization > Projects, and the LevelPlay network setup with exactly those ids).
3. **509 "Mediation No fill"** before launch: the LevelPlay app is not live / not linked to store URLs yet.
4. app-ads.txt: `ironsrc.com, <id>, DIRECT` plus the network lines from LevelPlay's app-ads.txt page
   (https://docs.unity.com/en-us/grow/programmatic/ironsource-exchange/app-ads-txt).

## Gotchas
- A network failing to init does not break mediation; the others still fill once the app is live.
- Adding a network can add Data safety / App Privacy data types and SKAdNetwork ids: update both before release.