The AdWhirl SDK provides a framework that allows developers to display banner ads from different ad networks in their iOS and Android applications. You simply tell AdWhirl what ad networks you want to use and the percentage of requests to allocate to each network, and AdWhirl handles the ad requests. But how do you choose an acceptable refresh rate, and what settings should you use for both AdWhirl and your individual ad networks?
AdWhirl has its own refresh rate; when it comes time to refresh, AdWhirl removes the current network’s ad view, chooses a new ad network, and creates a new ad view for that network. So how is this different from the AdMob refresh rate? Well, the AdMob refresh rate determines when its own ad view will request a new ad.
AdWhirl does not know about the specific ad networks’ refresh rates. Most networks expose the refresh rate on the client side; AdWhirl takes advantage of this by turning off refreshing for these networks. AdMob, however, only supports configuring the refresh rate on the server side. Therefore, AdWhirl must rely on you, the developer, to turn off the network refresh rate. Forgetting to do so may result in unexpected refreshes. This is best demonstrated with an example.
Let’s say AdWhirl has selected the AdMob network for displaying an ad, and your AdMob refresh rate is 29 seconds while your AdWhirl refresh rate is 30 seconds. AdWhirl will load up an AdMob view, and then the AdMob view will request and show an ad. After 29 seconds, AdMob decides it's time to refresh, grabs a new ad on it's own, and displays a new ad. AdWhirl has no idea that AdMob just refreshed. One second later, AdWhirl decides it’s time to refresh (30 seconds have passed), and removes the AdMob view and picks a new ad network from which to show an ad.
In the above example, AdMob displayed a new ad that was shown for only one second--it had virtually no chance of being clicked. This results in extra impressions that reduce your click through rate and confuse your customers. To avoid having AdMob refresh on its own, make sure to turn off automatic refreshing for the AdMob publisher ID you are mediating with!
Please post to the forum for any questions regarding refresh rates. You’re also welcome to attend one of our office hours hangouts.
Eric Leichtenschlag , AdMob Team
