storebound/skills/ads-mediation-checks/SKILL.md

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description

ads-mediation-checks

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.