How To: Create an Android App with AdMob Ads

NB: As of 1st May 2012 AdMob for mobile websites is discontinued. Use AdSense for mobile websites. AdMob is still valid for mobile applications however.

I found the documentation or a simple “How To” to get a simple Android App with AdMob ads lacking so here are my notes for reference (AdMob SDK 4.3.1). It’s a long post but it’s explicit so hopefully you should find it easy to follow.
Get the AdMob Publisher ID and SDK

1. Choose an App Name and a package name e.g. com.coultard.Test (Java package names are domain names in reverse by convention to enforce uniqueness).
2. Sign up for an Admob Account at http://www.admob.com
1. Go to Sites and “Add Site/Apps”
2. Choose Android App
3. Enter App Name, Package Url (e.g. market://details?id=com.coultard.Test) and other details.
3. Get the AdMob SDK and “Publisher Id”:
1. Under Apps/Sites; Click on your application, click ‘Manage Settings’. Publisher Id is listed under the title and the SDK is available under “Get Publisher Code”. Personally I find this navigation obscure.
2. Download and extract the SDK

Create an App
I have covered getting started with eclipse and Android Apps in another post here. Follow that and the Hello World example. Load up that app or create a new one and follow these directions (or the official ones):

1. Import The AdMob SDK:
1. In Eclipse Project Explorer Create a folder called ‘lib’ under the application.
2. Right click the folder and select Import; General; File System; Choose the downloaded SDK (extracted) folder and select the GoogleAdMobAdsSdk[version].jar
2. Add the SDK to the build path: Right click on the jar file in Project Explorer and select Build Path; Add to Build Path. You’ll see it’s filename added directly under the Project folder with a jar icon.
3. Target Android >=3.2 (Android SDK 13): Right click the project in Project Explorer and select Properties; Android, then tick 3.2.
   Optionally you might need to change the uses-sdk element in the AndroidManifest.xml. As of writing the AdMob SDK 4.3.1 requires 3.2 or you’ll get an error in the manifest as below, note you can use a different ‘uses-sdk’ version but you are then responsible for checking you do not use any backwards incompatible code.
   If you target the wrong SDK you’ll get: ”Error: String types not allowed (at 'configChanges' with value 'keyboard|keyboardHidden|orientation|
   screenLayout|uiMode|screenSize|smallestScreenSize').
   If you get this error try a clean: Project (menu); Clean
4. Add necessary elements to manifest:
1. uses-permissions:
   <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />
   <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE" />
2. AdMob activity:
   <activity android:name="com.google.ads.AdActivity"
   android:configChanges="keyboard|keyboardHidden|orientation|screenLayout|uiMode|screenSize|smallestScreenSize" />   
5. Add your AdMob PublisherID as a value: Open [Project]\res\values\strings.xml and add a string named admob_pub_id or similar:
   <string name="admob_pub_id">[publisher id e.g. f12k78d8h62834s2]</string>
6. Add the AdMob layout element to your res\layout\main.xml:
1. Add the xmlns:ads property to LinearLayout:
   <LinearLayout  …   xmlns:ads="http://schemas.android.com/apk/lib/com.google.ads"…/>
2. Add the actual AdMob element (You can add a AdMob element dynamically too):
   <com.google.ads.AdView
           android:id="@+id/adView"
           android:layout_width="wrap_content"
           android:layout_height="wrap_content"
           ads:adSize="BANNER"
           ads:adUnitId="@string/admob_pub_id" />
   You might like to have the ads at the bottom of the view so to do this add a new LinearLayout above it (as a sibling) and add the android:layout_height and android:layout_weight property so you end up with a file constructed like this:
   <LinearLayout with xmlns:ads…>
     <LinearLayout
       android:layout_height="0dp"
       android:layout_weight="1"…>
     [Your apps main content goes here]
     </LinearLayout>
     <com.google.ads.AdView… />
   </LinearLayout>
7. Add code in the main Activity to load adverts after setContentView(R.layout.main);
   adView.loadAd(new AdRequest());
   Or for testing use:
   AdRequest adRequest = new AdRequest();
   adRequest.addTestDevice(AdRequest.TEST_EMULATOR); // Emulator
   AdView adView = (AdView) this.findViewById(R.id.adView);
   adView.loadAd(adRequest);
   
   NB you can get your device ID on running the code: see below.

Launch it
Using an emulator: Click Debug or Run and select the relevant emulator.
Using your phone:

1. Ensure you have the phone connected and debugging enabled: Settings; Applications; Development; USB debugging.
2. To get ads in test mode run it in  Debug mode and you’ll get a message like the following in LogCat at the bottom of the eclipse screen:
     ”To get test ads on this device, call adRequest.addTestDevice("[device id]");”
   Add a new constant for your device’s id:
     private static final string TEST_DEVICE = “[device id goes here]”;
   And insert the line:
     adRequest.addTestDevice(TEST_DEVICE); // Test Android Phone
   After the one adding the emulator mentioned above.