Dominoes (Admob + GDPR + Android Studio)

Introduction

In today's digital world, it's essential for mobile apps to generate revenue. One of the most popular and effective ways to do this is by displaying ads. AdMob, a mobile advertising platform developed by Google, is a popular choice for monetizing mobile apps. However, with the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union, app developers need to ensure that they comply with the new regulations when handling user data.

In this tutorial, we will learn how to integrate AdMob into an Android app, while also ensuring compliance with GDPR. We will be using Android Studio as our Integrated Development Environment (IDE).

Step 1: Setting up AdMob

To get started with AdMob, you need to create an account and set up your ad units. Follow these steps:

1. Go to the AdMob website and create an account if you haven't already.
2. Click on "Create a new app" and select "Android" as your platform.
3. Fill in the required information, such as your app name, package name, and app ID.
4. Click on "Create app" to create your AdMob app.
5. Once your app is created, you will be taken to the AdMob dashboard.
6. Click on "Monetize" and then "Add a banner ad" or "Add a interstitial ad" depending on the type of ad you want to display.
7. Fill in the required information, such as your ad unit name and ad size.
8. Click on "Save" to save your ad unit.

Step 2: Adding the AdMob SDK to your Android project

To add the AdMob SDK to your Android project, follow these steps:

1. Open your Android project in Android Studio.
2. Go to the "Build" menu and select "Rebuild Project" to ensure that your project is up to date.
3. Go to the "File" menu and select "New" > "New Module...".
4. Select "Android Library" as your module type and click on "Next".
5. Fill in the required information, such as your module name and package name.
6. Click on "Finish" to create the new module.
7. In the "Module" view, right-click on the new module and select "Open Module Settings".
8. In the "Android SDK" section, click on the "SDK Tools" tab.
9. Check the box next to "Google Repository" and click on "Apply" and then "OK".
10. Go back to the "Project" view and right-click on the new module.
11. Select "Properties" > "Android SDK" > "Add SDK" and select the "Google Repository" you just added.
12. Click on "Apply" and then "OK".

Step 3: Adding the AdMob code to your Android activity

To add the AdMob code to your Android activity, follow these steps:

1. Open the activity where you want to display the ad.
2. Add the following code to the activity's Java file:

   
   import com.google.android.gms.ads.AdRequest;
   import com.google.android.gms.ads.AdView;
   import com.google.android.gms.ads.InterstitialAd;
   import com.google.android.gms.ads.MobileAds;

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity { private AdView adView; private InterstitialAd interstitialAd;

@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

    MobileAds.initialize(this, "YOUR_ADMOB_APP_ID");
    adView = findViewById(R.id.adView);
    interstitialAd = new InterstitialAd(this);
    interstitialAd.setAdUnitId("YOUR_ADMOB_AD_UNIT_ID");
}

@Override
protected void onResume() {
    super.onResume();
    AdRequest adRequest = new AdRequest.Builder().build();
    adView.loadAd(adRequest);
}

public void showInterstitialAd() {
    if (interstitialAd.isLoaded()) {
        interstitialAd.show();
    }
}

}

Replace "YOUR_ADMOB_APP_ID" with your actual AdMob app ID, and "YOUR_ADMOB_AD_UNIT_ID" with your actual ad unit ID.

**Step 4: Requesting consent for GDPR**

To comply with GDPR, you need to request consent from users before collecting or processing their personal data. You can do this by adding the following code to your app:
```java
import android.content.Context;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.content.SharedPreferences;
import android.content.pm.PackageManager;
import android.net.Uri;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.os.PersistableBundle;
import android.preference.PreferenceManager;
import android.support.v4.content.ContextCompat;
import android.view.View;
import android.widget.Button;
import android.widget.Toast;

import com.google.android.gms.ads.AdRequest;
import com.google.android.gms.ads.AdView;
import com.google.android.gms.ads.InterstitialAd;

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
    private AdView adView;
    private InterstitialAd interstitialAd;
    private SharedPreferences sharedPreferences;

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

        sharedPreferences = PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences(this);
        if (!sharedPreferences.getBoolean("gdprConsent", false)) {
            Intent intent = new Intent(this, GdprConsentActivity.class);
            startActivityForResult(intent, 1);
        }

        MobileAds.initialize(this, "YOUR_ADMOB_APP_ID");
        adView = findViewById(R.id.adView);
        interstitialAd = new InterstitialAd(this);
        interstitialAd.setAdUnitId("YOUR_ADMOB_AD_UNIT_ID");

        Button button = findViewById(R.id.button);
        button.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onClick(View v) {
                showInterstitialAd();
            }
        });
    }

    @Override
    protected void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) {
        if (requestCode == 1 && resultCode == RESULT_OK) {
            sharedPreferences.edit().putBoolean("gdprConsent", true).apply();
        }
    }
}

This code requests consent from the user when the app is first launched, and stores the user's response in a shared preference.

Step 5: Displaying the ad

To display the ad, you can call the showInterstitialAd() method from your activity:

public void showInterstitialAd() {
    if (interstitialAd.isLoaded()) {
        interstitialAd.show();
    }
}

This method will display the interstitial ad if it's loaded.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we learned how to integrate AdMob into an Android app, while also ensuring compliance with GDPR. We created an AdMob app, added the AdMob SDK to our Android project, added the AdMob code to our Android activity, requested consent for GDPR, and displayed the ad. By following these steps, you can monetize your Android app with AdMob and comply with GDPR regulations.