App removed from Google play > Admob ads no longer being served.

Hi All,

My free fan app was removed from Google Play due to a DMCA takedown notice. However, I’ve also noticed that Admob are no longer serving ads for the app. I get the following error in logcat: “Ad request successful, but no ad returned due to lack of ad inventory.”

I can see that it’s against Google ad policies to place ads next to copyright materials, so fair enough, but I’ve had NO notification from Admob that this is what they’re doing and why. FWIW, still no payment from Admob this month:mad:

Anyone else had this experience? Are there any workarounds? I can’t change the Admob publisher ID without updating the existing app:(

My AdMob account was banned once (although I had not violated the TOS). While the account was banned, and I couldn’t log in to the dashboard, it continued to serve ads in my app. As far as I could tell, it kept showing ads for the ~10 days until my account was reinstated.

What country are you testing from? Is it possible that this is simply coincidence, and the lack of inventory is due to the location?

The UK. I can still log into the dashboard, but the publisher ID / app in question is showing a red status in the Admob dashboard. Impressions have gone from 15-20k a day pre-DMCA takedown notice to zero afterwards. :frowning:

Well since Google own the Play Store and Admob, it’s suffice to say that Admob can disable the traffic with said app quite easily. It probably states in their T&Cs that they can terminate their services with you at any time with, or without notification.
The shit we have to agree to is ridiculous.

A miracle of sorts - I’ve had a reply from Admob support!

"Hello,

Thanks for writing in.
This app has been recognised as violating copyright laws and hence serving of ads was disabled. Should you wish to appeal the decision you can do so, through this form: https://support.google.com/admob/contact/disablement_appeal

Sincerely,
The Google AdMob Team"

Fair enough. Interestingly, the ban applies to the publisher ID used with the app, not the package ID of the app itself. Lesson learnt. I’m changing my other apps so I can push out a new publisher ID over the web if I have to, if this happens again.

Glad to hear you got a reply. While I wouldn’t recommend creating a new publisher ID if your app still contains infringing material, I think that idea of pushing dynamic settings to the app is definitely a good one. Based on my experience, even if you’re trying to do the right thing, mistakes can be made (either by you or third parties) and the ability to update settings remotely is very handy.

Hi,
My app has been removed from google play store due to copyright problem too . As discussed above, I guess admod will stop serving ads for my app soon. what I concern is I also has an ios version of this app. This version and the android version use the same admod account. My question is if admod will just stop serving ads on my android version or it will stop on my ios version too. Note that my ios version still working fine in apple store.

I guess it depends how evil you were with your copyright problem :wink: I got banned someday for content & spam policy, but my AdMob account is still there for months. Revenue is below $1/day however :wink:

My app is classic one which is abundant on app stores. I see the other apps out live for years on apple stores. This app is originated from a popular flash game on PC and I use most of its icons. Definitely my fault when thinking so natively that those sources are too popular to be claimed for copyright. There is nothing to accuse. But what i hope is that admod just stop serving ads for android version ( that is fair) not IOS version ( Apple shows no sign of bringing down my app). Because ios app brings most of my revenue. If admod doesn’t serve ads on ios app then I lost all revenue from ios users who downloaded the app already.

Ahah, by the way, as long as your admod account is still there, they still pay you, right? I have not received payment for this month yet but they advised me the invoice one day before my app was removed. Do you think any chance I get the money of the invoice this month, and also the money in my balance now?

Yes, they pay.
One more thing, as I remember I did not have AdMob in this banned app. It was only present on other apps on banned account.

Hello,
I have one app with high AdMob CTR (~ 6%). Today CTR was even higher (~ 8%) and suddenly the status became inactive and no ads has been served anymore. Is this because of the high CTR? Should I expect the status to become active again? I didn’t receive any message yet.