For a while now I have had an app on the app store. I decided to try to add support for the Apple iAd Network in a recent update. It has been live for over a month now (at first I thought time would fix it) but I have come to the realisation that the app is still not making any money off of the ad revenue. Currently all my apps are free to download but I need to allow ads to keep them that way.
I am testing ads using this app because it is not my most popular app but if I can get them to work then I will look to update my other apps to support iAds in the future as well.
I cannot see if my live app is making ad requests because I get this error in the iAd Network part of iTunes Connect:
The status of this app is Ready for Sale. Below is a screenshot of my app to demonstrate that the iAd banner has been implemented correctly in Xcode to the best of my knowledge.
So my question is why is iAd not making me any money from ad revenue as I would expect it to? Have I done something wrong or is the problem with Apple?
UPDATE
I have now made and published another app with iAds successfully implemented but I still have no ads on this one!
Could it be due to a lack of popularity?
Some of the issues you are facing could be occurring since you haven't setup the contracts for iAds in itunes connect. Also, this may be unrelated, but when no ad loads, is the banner view visible?
Answer
The reason was simply that Apple has delays in processing at their end. I still don't know why one of my apps took so much longer than the other, however it was just a matter of time until the revenue started showing up as I had implemented everything correctly in Xcode.
Advise
Make sure you follow the official Apple guidelines, make sure to use the proper iAd banner and show it all the time (it will hide automatically when it needs to). Don't forget to setup all your information properly on iTunes connect either, although Apple makes it quite clear in their documentation what needs to be done there.
Be patient! Apple takes time to process these things.
Related
I am developing my first mobile application and hope to submit it to Apple soon for approval.
I have incorporated iAd banners and interstitials in my app.
But I am confused about the future of iAds and it's application to app publishers/developers.
Apple announced (Jan 15, 2016):
iAd App Network will be Discontinued
The iAd App Network will be discontinued as of June 30, 2016. Although
we are no longer accepting new apps into the network, advertising
campaigns may continue to run and you can still earn advertising
revenue until June 30. If you’d like to continue promoting your apps
through iAd until then, you can create a campaign using iAd Workbench.
We will continue to keep you updated, but if you have any questions,
contact us.
Which seems pretty plain and simple - no more iAd integration for new apps that are not currently in the iAd program.
Other new sources (unofficial to Apple themselves) quote the development as a good thing for mobile developers in general. Although exactly how this is good for mobile app developers escapes me.
Add the fact that there are still so many active questions, answers and dialogues at StackOverflow surrounding iAds and their implementation in apps currently under development.
If iAds is closing down, why are people still integrating them into their current projects (for apps not yet released)?
Can anyone please explain this to me?
I emailed Apple iAd support last week.
This is the response I got today:
Hi XXX,
Thanks for your interest. After June 30th, the iAd app network will
no longer be available to help monetize your app. No new apps will
be accepted into the network if you are not live already. We have
campaigns live within our network up until that date. You should
connect with another provider as an alternative to iAd. Workbench
will still be available to promote your app. Thanks for being a part
of our network.
Please go to our developer site to get the latest news regarding iAd
here
Best,
Louis
Note the specific line :
You should connect with another provider as an alternative to iAd.
So, for all new apps that have not already been submitted to the App Store and approved by Apple, you cannot use any iAds.
Search and you will find. Apparently they are just shutting down the part that is called "iAd App Network".
Quote from the link below:
The iAd program as a whole is not shutting down. What is
happening, is that the similarly-named iAd App Network, which allows
developers to advertise their own apps through iAds, is going away.
http://www.engadget.com/2016/01/15/apple-iad-shutdown-june-30th/
Hey after 1 week of waiting my app got rejected. The reason from apple i got: Your iTunes Connect settings indicate that your app serves advertisements. However, we were unable to locate ads in your app.
The thing is that i'm sure that my app contain ads. So I suppose apple didn't have internet on when they reviewed. What could the problem possibly be?
It could be a lot of reasons:
it's simply review team can't locale steps to reproduce ads in your app.
maybe your ads provider do not show ads in the region where review team seat.
maybe your ads provider was not available at the time your app was in review.
As an example: my app third time rejected the same reason.
All you should do, imho: send screenshot of ads in your application and steps to locale this ads.
Best wishes.
Apple definitely has internet on when they test apps, reason being that many apps have to connect to servers and log on in order to work.
If you're sure your app has ads but Apple can't see them, there might be an issue with your code. Run over your code again to see if there are any errors. Double check your ads provider to see that its working. Also, it may be that the ads are being served in a screen that the team couldn't access, like behind a login. Without any code snippets, I can't give you more detailed advice than that.
If you think the code is right, then it is quite possible that Apple had an issue on their end. Apple's great at responding to developers. I've emailed them countless times, and gotten a call right to my cellphone with someone managing my case personally. Just send them an email with your case number and issue, as well as steps detailing how to view your ads, and they'll respond to you.
So I submitted my app last week and it was approved 2 days ago. I have iAd impleted in the app. As soon as the app was "ready for sale" I downloaded it from the App Store. When I launched the app everything worked. iAd was displaying ads on the screen. But then about 10 minutes later the ads stopped. It's been 2 days since the ads stopped and they still aren't showing up. I have even tried redownloading the app from the store several times. And it's not just me. It's happening to everyone who downloads the app. I'm sure I just need to contact Apple however it's the weekend and I just want to know as soon as possible, has anyone else had this problem? Or is it even a problem? I've read other questions asking similar things, however I believe mine may be different seeing as the ads displayed for the first 10 minutes. Also! When I go to iAds on iTunes Connect, it says "AD Status: live ads" and it's lit up green. Also in iAds it says "recieving live ads"
The app is free and if you'd like to see for yourself here is a link to the app: https://appsto.re/us/FB4u5.i
Other Information:
The app is an arcade game
Ages 4+
iAd works perfectly in the Xcode version of the app
I have tried the game on different wifi routers and on 4g to see if there was some connection issue
The ads that are meant to be displayed are banner ads at the bottom of the screen
I have an answer! I just contacted apple iAd support and its is very clear now as to why I haven't been seeing ads the past few days. Some people stated in the comments that even once your app has been approved and is ready for sale, the iAd has its own separate reviewing process, and this is exactly true. However, I revieved some extra information from the support team that should be able to clear things up without confusion for anyone having this problem in the future. First of all, while Apple may review apps on the weekend, the iAd team does not, my app was approved on Friday and this is why I haven't seen any ads all weekend. Second, even if your ad status in the iAd network is green and says "live: recieving live ads" this does not mean that iAd has reviewed your app yet, it simply means that you have done everything required on your end. Lastly, I was told that the separate iAd reviewing process usually takes two to three business days. I hope that this information will help others in the future not to be concerned if they are experiencing this behavior.
I had exactly the same problem after updating my app. The ads were not displayed for about 2-3 days. After writing to Apple the problem was magically solved. I event did not get any answer from them.
I heard that Apple has an independent review process for iAds, maybe this could be the reason?
Have you tried contacting Apple's iAd support about this? I've experienced similar problems in the past and contacting them cleared it up. I've read other solutions where issuing an update to the application fixed the problem also. iAd has to approve your app to receive ads even after your app has been accepted and made available for download. Perhaps they just over looked yours.
My app has been approved, and its now on the App Store it runs correctly and in the simulator the adBanners work as they are supposed to, but the problem is that in my published app there are no ads so i first tough that it must be because of the number of downloads but as i kept looking on the internet i found that it could be because of the contract in iTunes connect, but I've filled all the contracts.
My question is : "Do I need a minimum of downloads for the ads to appear or my implementation of the iAd workbench in my app is incorrect?"
After my app was approved, it took 3 weeks to show the banner correctly. During these weeks, I sent 2 emails to Apple Developer Program to check the status. They said If you could see the test banners on your device, it's not your problem. Just be patient.
Also, the amount of ads you got somewhat depends on the number of downloads. According to most developers, the more your app is downloaded, the higher the fill rate. But even if your download is 0, you should get at least some of the ads. If you don't get any ads, it's not the main reason.
Hope this solves your problem!
No it just takes times for ads to show up in the app, could take up to a week but usually only takes a few days.
See this post for reference: How long do iAd apps take to start generating impressions?
I'm updating my app and although iAds are still not being served to my app due to its recent approval, the test ads aren't showing anymore in xCode. Will the test advertisements disappear after approval even in the simulator?
Ok so i talked to developer support on the phone and got the answer and the problem has actually been solved today. Once your app is accepted, iAd most likely will not be implemented immediately; and contrary to popular belief this does effect how it shows on your xCode testing as well. Its been about 24 hours since it was accepted and iAd just appeared. So hopefully that can help someone in the future.
iAds are only shown if there are iAds available to be shown. Apple has to sell ads to make them available. I rarely see iAds in my apps. My guess is that there are more people displaying iAds than have been sold.
I use ad AdMob aggregator to show both iAds and Google Ads. Makes beer money that way at least.
He has a thread going in the Apple developer forums as well:
https://devforums.apple.com/message/939808#939808
iAds will show test ads in a debug build on occasion (based on a setting). In the simulator or a test device, you can go into Settings - Developer - and change the Fill Rate or other settings as appropriate if you want to test always or never getting an ad. By default, it's around 50% or so.
Having your app released in the store has nothing to do with the test ads that get displayed in the debug builds not from the store.
So, the issue is most likely a bug in the code if ads, not even test ones, never appear.