Admob live ads not appearing in libgdx application - Failed to load ad: 0

Question

I'm currently working on a libgdx andriod app using eclipse luna and attempting to display a banner ad through admob.

My app is running fine and displaying the test banner ads with no issues.

When I remove my phone as a test device to receive live ads I get this error in logcat:

 There was a problem getting an ad response. ErrorCode: 0 Failed to load ad: 0 

I've tested my app on a Galaxy Note 4 and a Samsung S5 both running android version 6.0.1. There are no custom ROMs or ad blockers on either device and the test ads work on both.

I followed this guide on implementation with some references from google's android guide .

Here is where I think the issue is..

Via my SDK Manager I have Google Play services revision 39 and Google Repository revision 44 installed.

The guide says to attach the google-play-services_lib located at:

C:\\Users\\...\\AppData\\Local\\Android\\sdk\\extras\\google\\google_play_services

However the file no longer exists, after following the information from this answer to the problem, I found google-play-services_lib rev 29 and added it to my projects library which works. Does the Google Play Services revision on the SDK Manager matter if its different from the one I manually added?

Either way this shouldn't matter as the test ads are working, however I'm not sure, have I missed anything that might be causing this error?

I also asked for assistance from google groups (Google Mobile Ads SDK Developers) with no luck.

My app unit ID:

Ad Unit ID: ca-app-pub-3059505755009716/4168523587

Ap ID: ca-app-pub-3059505755009716~2178916381

My Java implementation (AndriodLauncher.java):

public class AndroidLauncher extends AndroidApplication implements AdsController {

    private static final String BANNER_AD_UNIT_ID = "ca-app-pub-3059505755009716/4168523587";
    // ca-app-pub-3059505755009716/8048823189
    // ca-app-pub-3059505755009716/4168523587
    AdView bannerAd;

    @Override
    protected void onCreate (Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        AndroidApplicationConfiguration config = new AndroidApplicationConfiguration();

        // Create a gameView and a bannerAd AdView
        View gameView = initializeForView(new Boot(this), config);
        setupAds();

        // Define the layout
        RelativeLayout layout = new RelativeLayout(this);
        layout.addView(gameView, ViewGroup.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT,
                ViewGroup.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT);
        RelativeLayout.LayoutParams params = new RelativeLayout.LayoutParams(
                ViewGroup.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT,
                ViewGroup.LayoutParams.WRAP_CONTENT);
        params.addRule(RelativeLayout.ALIGN_PARENT_BOTTOM);
        layout.addView(bannerAd, params);

        setContentView(layout);
    }

    public void setupAds() {
        bannerAd = new AdView(this);
        bannerAd.setVisibility(View.GONE);
        bannerAd.setBackgroundColor(Color.argb(0, 0, 0, 0)); // black
        bannerAd.setAdUnitId(BANNER_AD_UNIT_ID);
        bannerAd.setAdSize(AdSize.BANNER);
    }

    @Override
    public void showBannerAd() {
        runOnUiThread(new Runnable() {
            @Override
            public void run() {
                bannerAd.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
                AdRequest.Builder builder = new AdRequest.Builder();


                //builder.addTestDevice("9F2779F709CED00E2ADF6123C0D17A4C");
                //builder.addTestDevice("ECDD91BD30440E7B3F4DA0E90F1D67A9");
                AdRequest ad = builder.build();

                bannerAd.loadAd(ad);
            }
        });
    }

    @Override
    public void hideBannerAd() {
        runOnUiThread(new Runnable() {
            @Override
            public void run() {
                bannerAd.setVisibility(View.INVISIBLE);
            }
        });
    }
}

Snippet of where the showBannerAd() method is called:

public Boot(AdsController adsController){
    this.adsController = adsController;
}

@Override
public void create() {
//Gdx.app.log(TITLE, "started..");

// Display ads (andriod launch)
adsController.showBannerAd();

setScreen(new Splash());

Timer.schedule(new Task(){
    @Override
    public void run() {
        assets = new Assets();
        assets.load();
        assets.manager.finishLoading();

        Audio.create();
        Audio.bgm.play();
        Audio.bgm.setLooping(true);
        setScreen(new MainMenu());
    }
}, 3f);
}

AndriodManifest.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    package="com.game"
    android:versionCode="1"
    android:versionName="1.0" >

    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE" />

    <uses-sdk
        android:minSdkVersion="9"
        android:targetSdkVersion="25" />

    <application
        android:allowBackup="true"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_launcher"
        android:label="@string/app_name"
        android:theme="@style/GdxTheme" >
        <activity
            android:name="com.game.AndroidLauncher"
            android:configChanges="keyboard|keyboardHidden|orientation|screenSize"
            android:label="@string/app_name"
            android:screenOrientation="landscape" >
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />

                <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
            </intent-filter>
        </activity>
        <activity
            android:name="com.google.android.gms.ads.AdActivity"
            android:configChanges="keyboard|keyboardHidden|orientation|screenLayout|uiMode|screenSize|smallestScreenSize" />

        <meta-data
            android:name="com.google.android.gms.version"
            android:value="@integer/google_play_services_version" />
    </application>

</manifest>

EDIT : Noticed the line

compile 'com.google.android.gms:play-services-ads:10.0.1'

was missing from the android dependencies within build.grandle, refreshed dependencies still no live ads.

Answer 1

According to Google

"It could be that you have only recently created a new Ad Unit ID and requesting for live ads. It could take a few hours for ads to start getting served if that is that case. If you are receiving test ads then your implementation is fine. Just wait a few hours and see if you are able to receive live ads then. If not, can send us your Ad Unit ID for us to look into."

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!category-topic/google-admob-ads-sdk/android/fBe3YL3ffpo

so wait for a few hours.