Google AdMob Explained: The Complete Guide to Earning Money From App Ads

What Is Google AdMob?

Google AdMob is Google's mobile advertising network built specifically for app developers. It lets you plug ads into your Android or iOS app and get paid whenever those ads are shown, clicked, or — in the case of video — watched to completion. AdMob taps into Google's massive advertiser demand (the same pool that powers Google Ads and AdSense), which is why it's the default choice for most free-to-download apps.

Unlike Google Play itself, which only pays developers when money changes hands through paid apps, in-app purchases, or subscriptions, AdMob turns pure attention into revenue — even users who never spend a rupee or dollar in your app can still generate income just by seeing ads.

AdMob doesn't monetize your app. It monetizes your users' attention. The bigger and more engaged your audience, the more that attention is worth.

How AdMob Actually Works

At a technical level, AdMob runs on a real-time bidding auction. Here's the simplified flow every time an ad slot loads in your app:

• Your app sends an ad request to AdMob via the SDK
• AdMob runs an auction among advertisers bidding for that impression
• The highest eligible bid wins and the ad is served to your user
• Depending on the format, you earn money when the ad is shown (impression-based) or when specific actions happen (click or completed view)
• Your earnings accumulate in your AdMob dashboard and get paid out monthly

Google takes no separate "platform fee" on top of this the way Play Store does with purchases — your AdMob revenue share is already baked into what advertisers pay, and you keep the full reported eCPM shown in your dashboard.

AdMob Ad Formats Explained

Choosing the right mix of ad formats matters more than almost anything else for your revenue. Each format has a different balance of user experience impact versus earning potential.

1. Banner Ads

Small rectangular ads (usually 320x50 or 300x250) that sit at the top or bottom of the screen and stay visible while the user interacts with the rest of the app. They're the least intrusive format and the easiest to implement, but they also carry the lowest per-impression value.

2. Interstitial Ads

Full-screen ads that appear at natural transition points — between levels in a game, after completing an action, or when navigating between screens. Because they command the user's full attention, they earn considerably more than banners, but overusing them hurts retention fast.

3. Rewarded Video Ads

The user chooses to watch a short video (typically 15-30 seconds) in exchange for an in-app reward — extra lives, coins, unlocked content, or ad-free time. Because the user opts in voluntarily, completion rates and advertiser value are both extremely high, making this the top-earning format per impression.

4. Native Ads

Ads styled to match your app's own UI — a sponsored card in a feed, a recommended item in a list. They blend in rather than interrupt, which tends to produce higher click-through rates and a less jarring user experience.

5. Rewarded Interstitials

A newer hybrid format that shows a full-screen ad automatically (not user-initiated like standard rewarded video) but still offers a reward for watching. It's useful for monetizing natural break points without needing a dedicated "watch ad" button.

6. App Open Ads

Ads shown while your app is loading — right after a user opens it or returns from the background. Effective for monetizing app launches without adding an extra screen, though they need careful timing to avoid feeling jarring.

AdMob CPM and eCPM Rates by Format

Two numbers matter in AdMob reporting: CPM (what advertisers bid) and eCPM (what you actually earn per 1,000 impressions after real performance). eCPM is the number on your dashboard and the one that determines your payout.

These ranges swing heavily based on three factors: geography, app category, and seasonality. US, UK, Canada, and Australian traffic routinely pays 5-10x more than traffic from lower-CPM regions. Finance, gaming, and shopping apps attract premium advertiser demand; utility and education apps typically see lower rates. Q4 (October-December) sees a global eCPM spike as advertisers ramp up holiday spending.

A Realistic AdMob Earnings Example

Let's model an actual app with moderate traffic and a balanced ad mix:

• Daily active users: 10,000
• Ad impressions per user per day: 3 (mix of banner + interstitial + occasional rewarded)
• Blended average eCPM: $5.00
• Daily impressions: 30,000
• Daily revenue: 30,000 ÷ 1,000 × $5 = $150
• Monthly revenue: ~$4,500

Scale that same app to 100,000 daily active users and you're looking at roughly $45,000/month. Push the ad mix toward more rewarded video (which most games can support) and blended eCPM often climbs toward $8-$12, pushing monthly revenue significantly higher without adding a single new user.

How to Integrate AdMob Into Your App

At a high level, getting AdMob running takes five steps:

• Create an AdMob account and link it to your Google Play Console (or App Store Connect for iOS)
• Register your app inside the AdMob dashboard and generate your App ID and ad unit IDs
• Add the AdMob SDK to your project (via Gradle for Android, CocoaPods/SPM for iOS, or the Firebase/Flutter/React Native plugin if you're cross-platform)
• Implement ad units in your code — load and display banners, interstitials, or rewarded ads at the right screens and trigger points
• Test with test ad unit IDs first — never test with live ad units, as accidental clicks on real ads can trigger policy violations

Once live, all impressions, clicks, fill rate, and eCPM data flow into your AdMob dashboard in near real time, broken down by ad unit, country, and format.

What Affects Your AdMob Earnings

User Geography

This is the single biggest lever. A US user can be worth 10-20x what a Tier 3 country user is worth for the exact same ad format and placement. If your app has a global audience, expect your blended eCPM to sit well below headline US numbers.

App Category

Finance, gaming, shopping, and travel apps attract high-value advertisers bidding aggressively for conversions. Simple utility or reference apps generally see softer demand and lower eCPM.

Ad Placement and Density

Ads placed at natural breakpoints (level completions, content transitions) perform far better than ads jammed into every screen. Overloading your app with ads triggers user drop-off and, in extreme cases, violates AdMob's ad density policies.

Fill Rate

Fill rate is the percentage of ad requests that actually get filled with an ad. Low fill rate — common in smaller markets or niche categories — means wasted impressions and lost revenue even with a decent eCPM.

User Engagement and Session Length

Longer, more frequent sessions naturally generate more ad opportunities per user. Apps built around habitual daily use (games, news, fitness trackers) tend to out-earn apps used sporadically.

AdMob Mediation: Squeezing Out More Revenue

Mediation lets you run AdMob alongside other ad networks — Meta Audience Network, Unity Ads, AppLovin, ironSource, and others — inside a single unified auction. Instead of relying only on Google's advertiser demand, every ad request gets bid on by multiple networks simultaneously, and the highest bidder wins.

Benefits of setting up mediation once your app has meaningful traffic:

• Higher fill rate, especially in markets where AdMob alone under-delivers
• Increased eCPM from genuine cross-network competition (typically a 15-40% lift)
• Reduced dependency risk on a single ad network
• Access to network-specific demand (some networks pay better for gaming, others for lifestyle apps)

Mediation adds setup complexity, so most developers start with AdMob alone, validate the app's core retention and engagement, and layer in mediation once daily active users are large enough to make the extra optimization worthwhile.

Common AdMob Mistakes That Cost You Revenue (or Your Account)

• Too many interstitials — tanks retention and session length, which lowers total impressions over time even if per-impression eCPM looks fine
• Ads placed near buttons — leads to accidental clicks, which AdMob's invalid traffic detection can flag and penalize
• Incentivizing clicks ("tap the ad for a bonus") — a direct policy violation that can get your account suspended
• Ignoring mediation too long — leaving fill rate and eCPM gains on the table once traffic justifies the setup
• Not testing with test ad units — accidentally generating invalid clicks on live ads during development
• One-size-fits-all ad placement — not adapting ad frequency and format to different user segments (new users vs. power users)

How AdMob Payments Work

AdMob pays out on a monthly cycle. Earnings accrue throughout the month, finalize around the 3rd of the following month, and are paid roughly between the 21st and the end of that month — provided your balance has crossed the minimum payment threshold, typically $100 USD (varies slightly by country/currency).

• Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT): Direct bank deposit — the standard method in most countries
• Wire transfer: Available in select regions, sometimes with a minimum balance requirement

If your balance doesn't cross the threshold in a given month, it simply rolls over and accumulates until it does. All of this is tracked transparently in the AdMob dashboard, alongside detailed breakdowns by app, ad unit, country, and format.

AdMob vs. Other Ad Networks

Most developers don't have to pick one — the standard approach is AdMob as the primary network, layered with mediation partners once traffic justifies the added complexity.

Building a Smart Ad Monetization Strategy

The apps that earn the most from AdMob rarely just "add some ads and hope." A deliberate strategy looks like this:

• Lead with rewarded video wherever possible — it's the highest-earning format and the only one users actively opt into
• Use interstitials sparingly, tied to natural transition points, not fixed timers
• Keep banners low-friction — don't let them push against buttons or core content
• Segment ad frequency by user type — show more to free/casual users, less (or none) to paying subscribers
• Layer in mediation once you have consistent daily traffic to optimize against
• Monitor eCPM and retention together — a format that boosts revenue but tanks Day-7 retention is a net loss

Conclusion

Google AdMob remains the single most accessible way to turn a free app's user base into real revenue — no upfront payment wall, no friction for the user, just ads served against genuine attention. But the developers who actually make meaningful money from it treat it as a system to optimize, not a switch to flip: the right ad format mix, thoughtful placement, geographic awareness, and eventually mediation are what separate an app earning $50/month from one earning $50,000/month with a similar user base.

Start simple — banners and interstitials, test ad units first, live traffic once you're confident — then layer in rewarded video, native ads, and mediation as your daily active users grow. AdMob rewards apps that respect the user experience while making thoughtful use of every impression.