AdMob is Google's advertising network and monetization platform for mobile applications. A developer builds Google's software development kit (SDK) into an Android or iOS app, creates ad units for the places where ads should appear, and AdMob fills those slots with ads from Google's own advertisers and from competing networks, paying the developer a share of the revenue each month. It exists because apps are not web pages: there is no browser to load a tag, inventory is fragmented across millions of small developers, and most of those developers have no sales team. Google describes it as "a mobile ad network and monetization platform for mobile developers", according to its AdMob help centre. As of October 2026 it sits alongside AdSense, for websites, and Google Ad Manager, for large publishers with direct sales, in Google's publisher business.

How AdMob serves an ad

The developer starts by registering an app in the AdMob console and creating ad units, each with an identifier and a format. Google's SDKs support six formats: banner, interstitial, rewarded, rewarded interstitial, native and app open, an ad shown while an app loads. A rewarded ad gives the user something, such as an extra life in a game, for watching.

When the app needs an ad, the Google Mobile Ads SDK sends a request carrying the ad unit ID, device and consent signals. AdMob then matches the request against the developer's mediation groups, sets of targeting rules defined by format, platform and country. If several groups match, the one with the lowest priority number wins; groups "don't waterfall or daisy-chain from one to another", according to Google. Requests that match nothing go to a default group served by the AdMob Network, which Google defines as its own demand from Google Ads and Display & Video 360 (DV360), plus third-party bidding sources added to every account automatically.

Inside a group, two mechanisms run together. Bidding asks participating sources for a real-time price at once. The waterfall calls the remaining networks one by one, ranked by average effective cost per thousand impressions (eCPM), a historical estimate. AdMob places the winning bid into the waterfall at its price. In Google's own example, a network averaging $5 eCPM is tried before an exchange bidding $4, so a historical average can still outrank a live offer. The mechanics of that sequence are covered in PPC Land's mediation waterfall explainer, and the wider category in its mediation platform explainer.

Third-party networks plug in through adapters, small libraries that translate between Google's SDK and each partner's. Google does not publish AdMob's own revenue split in its help centre, unlike AdSense.

Money moves monthly. Earnings are finalised on the 3rd of the following month and paid on the 21st, according to Google's payment schedule. Google extended Hyperwallet payouts to 21 Latin American and Caribbean territories in June 2026.

Supply-chain controls sit around the transaction. Developers publish an app-ads.txt file on their website listing who may sell their inventory, a mechanism PPC Land covers in its app-ads.txt explainer. AdMob made verification mandatory for newly added apps from January 2025, extending it to existing apps through the year. In the European Economic Area, consent is collected through Google's User Messaging Platform SDK, and in November 2025 AdMob added consent syncing across a publisher's apps.

From startup to Google subsidiary

AdMob was founded in 2006 by Omar Hamoui, then a student at the Wharton School. TechCrunch also named Russell Buckley among its founders. In August 2009 it bought AdWhirl, an aggregator that let iPhone developers switch between networks.

Google announced on November 9, 2009 that it would buy AdMob for $750 million in stock. "AdMob is the quintessential Silicon Valley startup," Susan Wojcicki, then Google's vice-president of product management, said, according to TechCrunch. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) closed its inquiry by a 5-0 vote on May 21, 2010, because Apple had bought Quattro Wireless and launched its own iAd network. "The Commission has reason to believe that Apple quickly will become a strong mobile advertising network competitor," the FTC statement said. The deal closed on May 27, 2010.

Google then rebuilt the product on its own infrastructure. At Google I/O on May 16, 2013 it introduced a "new AdMob" built with technology from AdSense, adding mediation, category filters and local-currency payments, according to the Google Ads Developer Blog. AdWhirl closed on September 30, 2013. The standalone Android SDK followed: Google Play stopped accepting apps using it from August 1, 2014, and legacy AdMob was switched off on August 31, 2014, according to Google. In May 2017 the console was redesigned and linked to Google Analytics for Firebase, when Google said AdMob had paid developers more than $3.5 billion across more than one million apps, according to MediaPost.

Bidding arrived in March 2018. Google opened a closed beta with OpenX, Smaato and Index Exchange, built on technology from its DoubleClick exchange. "No priority is given to any ad source," Sissie Hsiao, Google's vice-president of product for mobile app advertising, told AdExchanger. The feature was marketed as Open Bidding for three years before Google expanded it to all developers in July 2021 and renamed it AdMob bidding, citing access to more than 200 real-time bidders. Google's own March 2018 announcement already used the phrase "AdMob bidding", so the naming history depends on which source is read.

Reporting followed: Google launched a dedicated AdMob API in September 2019, replacing the AdSense API, which defined metrics differently.

Why AdMob matters to marketers

For buyers, AdMob is one of the largest routes into in-app inventory, and it is reached indirectly. A Google Ads app campaign or a DV360 line item can serve inside AdMob apps without the advertiser ever choosing AdMob. That is why changes to the SDK show up in campaign delivery. When the Android rewarded video format failed to render for about 188 hours in August 2026, developers could not fix it from their consoles because rendering sits inside Google's SDK.

For Google, AdMob carries weight in a shrinking segment. Philipp Schindler, Google's chief business officer, credited AdMob with driving network revenue growth in the fourth quarter of 2021, when the segment rose 28%. By the first quarter of 2026, Google Network revenue had fallen 4% to $6.97 billion. Alphabet does not break out AdMob's share.

Limitations and disputes

The central criticism is structural. AdMob runs the auction and also sells Google's demand into it. AdExchanger's report on the 2018 launch noted that Google's "last look" advantage on desktop, which let it outbid an auction's original winner, had helped trigger header bidding, and asked whether the app auction would be different. Google has said all networks compete "on an equal footing, including Google," according to AdExchanger, but the auction logic is not independently audited. The hybrid design, where waterfall estimates can outrank live bids, is the gap that has pushed parts of the industry toward pure bidding.

Enforcement is another source of friction. Google applies ad serving limits at account or app level when it suspects invalid traffic, such as developers clicking their own ads or not using test ads. Its troubleshooter says limits typically last less than 30 days but "may be instituted for longer duration in some cases". AdMob reviews limits automatically and may reinstate one if new issues appear after it is lifted.

Consent rules narrow demand in Europe. Since early 2024, AdMob's Technical Ad Delivery lets ads serve without consent or legitimate interest under the Transparency and Consent Framework, but only from non-Google waterfall mediation demand. Google's own equivalent on the web is described in PPC Land's limited ads explainer.

AdMob compared with adjacent terms

AdMob versus AdSense. AdSense monetises websites; AdMob monetises apps. They share policies and some infrastructure, but metrics and APIs differ.

AdMob versus Google Ad Manager. Ad Manager is an ad server for large publishers with direct-sold campaigns across web, apps, video and games. It uses the same Google Mobile Ads SDK and offers mediation, but adds trafficking of direct-sold campaigns and a single place to manage every inventory type, according to Google.

AdMob versus a mediation platform. Mediation is one function of AdMob. Rivals such as AppLovin MAX and Unity LevelPlay offer mediation and can call AdMob as one source among many.

AdMob versus the Google Mobile Ads SDK. The SDK is the code inside the app; AdMob is the account, network and console.

Recent developments

On July 7, 2025, Google added InMobi, ironSource and Unity as bidders for all AdMob publishers and introduced bidding eCPM floors at mediation group level. A month later it enabled playable end cards on select inventory, as PPC Land's playable ad explainer records.

The SDK is being replaced. Google released the Google Mobile Ads Next-Gen SDK for Android in beta on January 22, 2026, and on July 6, 2026 made it the preferred Android SDK, setting the legacy version 25.x on a path to sunset on June 30, 2028. Support for the legacy SDK ends on June 30, 2027. PPC Land's reporting is inconsistent on whether full support ran "through" or began on July 1, 2026. Google's release notes describe the legacy SDK as in maintenance mode. Google has not published an equivalent iOS timetable.

AdMob also moved into Google's Advertising and Measurement Developers Hub on April 6, 2026.

The antitrust case against Google's advertising technology largely passes AdMob by. Judge Leonie Brinkema issued her remedies order on September 2, 2026, and the parties filed a proposed final judgment on October 2. As reported by PPC Land, that judgment does not apply to AdMob and excludes mobile apps from its definition of open-web display.

Timeline

  • 2006: Omar Hamoui founds AdMob
  • August 2009: AdMob acquires the AdWhirl ad aggregator
  • November 9, 2009: Google announces it will buy AdMob for $750 million in stock
  • December 2009: Apple buys Quattro Wireless
  • May 21, 2010: The FTC closes its investigation by a 5-0 vote, citing Apple's entry
  • May 27, 2010: Google completes the AdMob acquisition
  • May 16, 2013: Google introduces a rebuilt AdMob at Google I/O, using AdSense technology
  • September 30, 2013: AdWhirl closes and developers are pointed to AdMob Mediation
  • August 1, 2014: Google Play stops accepting apps using the legacy AdMob SDK
  • August 31, 2014: Legacy AdMob is switched off
  • May 17, 2017: Redesigned AdMob launches with Firebase integration; Google reports more than $3.5 billion paid to developers
  • March 2018: AdMob bidding enters closed beta with OpenX, Smaato and Index Exchange
  • September 2019: Google launches the AdMob API in beta
  • July 12, 2021: Open Bidding opens to all developers and is renamed AdMob bidding
  • January 30, 2024: AdMob announces Technical Ad Delivery for traffic without consent
  • January 2025: App-ads.txt verification becomes mandatory for new AdMob apps
  • July 7, 2025: InMobi, ironSource and Unity become bidders for all publishers; bidding floors added
  • November 10, 2025: Consent syncing across apps enters beta
  • January 22, 2026: Google Mobile Ads Next-Gen SDK for Android enters beta
  • April 6, 2026: AdMob joins Google's Advertising and Measurement Developers Hub
  • July 6, 2026: Next-Gen SDK becomes Google's preferred Android SDK
  • August 20, 2026: Android rewarded video stops rendering for about 188 hours
  • September 2, 2026: Remedies order issued in the US ad tech case
  • September 17, 2026: Legacy Android SDK 25.5.0 raises the minimum API level to 24
  • October 2, 2026: Proposed final judgment filed, excluding AdMob
  • June 30, 2027: Legacy Android SDK scheduled to lose technical support
  • June 30, 2028: Legacy Android SDK scheduled to sunset

Summary

Who. Google operates AdMob, which it bought from founder Omar Hamoui's company in 2010. App developers use it to sell inventory; Google Ads and DV360 advertisers, third-party bidders and mediated ad networks supply the demand.

What. A mobile ad network and monetization platform combining the Google Mobile Ads SDK, a console for apps and ad units, mediation through bidding and waterfalls, reporting, consent tools and monthly payments.

When. Founded in 2006, acquired by Google in May 2010, rebuilt on AdSense technology in 2013, given bidding from 2018 and moving to a new Android SDK between 2026 and 2028.

Where. Inside Android and iOS apps, plus Unity and Flutter games, with auctions and configuration running on Google's servers.

Why. App developers need a way to earn from free apps without building sales teams, and Google needs app inventory for its advertisers. The same company running the auction and bidding in it keeps questions of neutrality open.