Test creative types

  • The Google Mobile Ads C++ SDK is deprecated and will be end-of-maintenance on June 17, 2025; developers should use the iOS or Android SDKs instead.

  • The SDK allows specifying desired creative types for test queries using the ft_ctype parameter in test mode.

  • This feature is applicable to Google ads only and may result in more no fills due to restricted ad availability.

  • Valid ft_ctype values include html5, image_app_install, image_display, partial_slot, text_app_install, text_display, trueview, and video_app_install, each corresponding to specific creative types and ad formats.

  • For support, consult the Google Mobile Ads SDK Technical Forum.


Google Mobile Ads SDK provides an API that lets you specify a creative type for test queries. When the parameter is set, only creatives of the specified type are retrieved and rendered.

Usage

To specify a creative type, include the ft_ctype parameter in an extras object and pass it to the ad request. This may restrict which ads are available and result in no fill.

Android 

AdRequest ad_request;

ad_request.add_extra(
  /*adapter_class_name=*/"com.google.ads.mediation.admob.AdMobAdapter",
  /*extra_key=*/"ft_ctype",
  /*extra_value=*/"video_app_install");

iOS 

AdRequest ad_request;

ad_request.add_extra(
  /*adapter_class_name=*/"GADExtras",
  /*extra_key=*/"ft_ctype",
  /*extra_value=*/"video_app_install");

The following table lists the valid values for ft_ctype:

Creative Type ft_ctype Format
HTML5 html5 Banner, Interstitial, Rewarded
App install image image_app_install Banner, Native, Interstitial, Rewarded
Display image image_display Banner, Interstitial
Display partial slot partial_slot Banner, Native, Interstitial
App install text text_app_install Banner, Native, Interstitial
Display text text_display Banner, Native, Interstitial
Trueview trueview Interstitial, Rewarded
App install video video_app_install Banner, Native, Interstitial, Rewarded

This feature impacts Google ads only. If your ad unit enables mediation, ads returned from third-party ad sources don't respect the ft_ctype parameter. We recommend testing with an ad unit that doesn't have mediation enabled.