What are AdMob Campaigns for? How to use?

You usually do not pay AdMob for running campaigns within the AdMob console. In fact, one type of campaign (Direct Sold) is designed to help you make money, and the other (House Ads) is free to run.

Here is the breakdown of what AdMob campaigns are for and how the costs work.

1. What are AdMob Campaigns for?

AdMob campaigns are a tool that lets you control what specific ads show up in your app’s ad slots, rather than just letting Google fill them automatically with random network ads.

They are used for two main purposes:

• House Ads (Cross-Promotion):
  • Goal: To use your app’s ad space to promote your own other apps.¹
  • Example: You have a popular calculator app, and you just released a new puzzle game. You can use an AdMob campaign to show ads for your puzzle game inside your calculator app.
  • Cost: Free.² You are using your own inventory.³
• Direct Sold Campaigns:
  • Goal: To sell ad space directly to a specific advertiser (like a local business or a specific brand) bypassing the general ad network auction.⁴
  • Example: A local pizza shop approaches you and wants to pay you $500 to show their banner in your app for a month. You create a “Direct Sold” campaign to ensure their ad appears exactly as agreed.
  • Cost: Free to set up. (Actually, you get paid by the advertiser directly, outside of AdMob).

2. Do I need to pay for it?

No, you do not pay AdMob to run these campaigns, but there is a confusing step you should be aware of:

• The “Billing Info” Requirement: To unlock the Campaigns tab, AdMob often requires you to link a Google Ads account and add a payment method (credit card) to that Google Ads account.⁵
• Why? This is for verification and because the “Campaigns” tech shares infrastructure with Google Ads.
• Will I be charged? You will NOT be charged if you only run House Ads or Direct Sold campaigns. You would only be charged if you accidentally created a paid ad campaign (like an “App Install” campaign) inside the Google Ads dashboard itself to advertise your app on other people’s properties (Search, YouTube, etc.).

Summary Table

Campaign Type	Purpose	Do you pay AdMob?
House Ads	Promote your own apps inside your other apps.	No (It’s free).
Direct Sold	Show ads for a specific advertiser who pays you directly.	No (You keep 100% of what the advertiser pays you).
Paid User Acquisition	Paying Google to show your ad on other apps/YouTube.	Yes (This is done via Google Ads, not strictly “AdMob Campaigns”).

Important Note on “Opportunity Cost”

While House Ads are “free” in terms of cash, they do have a hidden cost: Opportunity Cost.

If you fill a slot with a House Ad for your own game, you are blocking a paying ad (e.g., from Coca-Cola or Samsung) that might have paid you $0.05 for that impression. You are essentially “paying” for your own ad by giving up the revenue you would have earned from a network ad.6

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How to set up a House Ad campaign to cross-promote your apps without blocking your highest-paying ads?

This is a great strategy. Using your own “unsold” inventory to grow your other apps is one of the smartest ways to scale without spending cash.

Here is the step-by-step guide to setting up a House Ad Campaign, including the crucial settings to ensure you don’t accidentally block high-paying ads.

Phase 1: Create the Campaign

1. Go to the Campaigns Tab:
   • Log in to AdMob.
   • Click Campaigns in the sidebar. (If asked to link a Google Ads account, you must do this first, even though you won’t be charged).
2. Create New Campaign:
   • Click Create new campaign.
   • Campaign Type: Select House Ads.
3. Goal Type (The Most Important Setting):
   • You will be asked to choose a Goal Type. This determines when your ad shows.
   • Option A: Mediated Ads (Recommended for beginners): Choose “Google optimized for backfill.”
     • What it does: AdMob will only show your House Ad if nobody else wants to show a paying ad.
     • Benefit: You lose $0 revenue.
     • Downside: Your House Ad might rarely show if your app is popular.
   • Option B: eCPM (Manual): You assign a “virtual value” to your ad (e.g., $5.00).
     • What it does: AdMob treats your House Ad as if it pays $5.00. It will only show a paying ad from Coca-Cola or Samsung if they bid more than $5.00.
     • Benefit: You get way more exposure for your new app.
     • Downside: You might block paying ads that were bidding $3.00, effectively “paying” $3.00 to show your own ad.

Phase 2: Design the Ad

Once the campaign settings are saved, you need to create the actual ad (the “Creative”).

1. New Ad: Click New Ad inside your campaign.
2. Ad Format: Choose the format (Banner, Interstitial, or Video).
   • Tip: Interstitials (full screen) usually drive the most installs for games.
3. Destination:
   • Select App Store/Play Store Link and find your other app.
4. Upload Assets:
   • Upload the image or video file.
   • Headline/Body: Write catchy text (e.g., “Bored? Try our new Puzzle Game!”).
5. Ad Unit Targeting:
   • Select which of your current apps/ad units should display this ad.

Phase 3: The “Safe” Strategy (How to avoid losing money)

If you are worried about losing revenue, follow this specific setup:

1. Start with “Backfill”: Set your campaign to Google optimized for backfill. Run this for 1 week.
2. Check Impressions: Look at how many times your House Ad was shown.
   • If it showed 1,000 times: Great! You got free exposure on inventory that was worth $0 anyway.
   • If it showed 0 times: This means your ad slots are 100% filled by paying advertisers (which is good!). But if you really want to push your new app, you need to switch to Manual eCPM.
3. Gradual Manual eCPM:
   • Edit the campaign and change the Goal to Manual eCPM.
   • Set the “Floor” price low (e.g., $0.50).
   • This means: “Only show my House Ad if the paying ads are cheap (junk ads).”
   • If you still don’t get views, raise it to $1.00, then $2.00, until you find the sweet spot where you get installs but don’t kill your revenue.

Summary Checklist

• [ ] Linked Google Ads account (required for access).
• [ ] Created “House Ad” campaign.
• [ ] Uploaded images/video for the ad.
• [ ] Targeted the specific ad units in your other apps.
• [ ] Selected “Backfill” (for safety) or “Manual eCPM” (for aggression).