Publish an app with ads

You publish an app with ads like any other app: see Publish. This page covers what changes because of the ads.

What Bloxks does on its own

• Adds Google’s ad library to your app.
• Writes the sentence Apple shows under its tracking question, and adds the list of ad networks Google recommends for iPhone.
• Fills in the store privacy declarations: on the App Store, the use of data for tracking and advertising, and "advertising" in the age rating; on Google Play, hints for the Data safety form.
• Sets your store listing’s website to your app’s Bloxks support page when it is empty: that is where Google looks for app-ads.txt (see below).

When publishing is blocked

Bloxks stops publishing, with a clear message, rather than shipping an app that would earn nothing, when:

• the App ID of the platform you publish on is missing;
• a format your app uses has no real ad unit;
• a Google test ID is used;
• the ad units come from a different AdMob account than the App ID;
• the ads are not wired up when the app starts (consent): ask the AI to fix it in the chat.

Fix IDs in the AdMob card (see Add ads to your app), then publish again.

Two answers to give on Google Play

Google offers no way for Bloxks to answer these two questions for you. In Play Console, open Policy, then App content:

1. Ads: answer "Yes, my app contains ads".
2. Advertising ID: say that your app uses it, for advertising and analytics.

Done when both sections show as completed in App content.

app-ads.txt

Google requires an app-ads.txt file: a small public list saying which AdMob accounts may sell ads in your app. Since January 2025, Google must verify new apps with it before serving ads normally.

• Nothing to do in most cases. Bloxks hosts bloxks.app/app-ads.txt, which lists the AdMob account of every app whose publication was started with Bloxks, and points your store listing to it. The list updates in less than an hour.
• Your store listing already shows your own website? Then Google looks for the file on your website. Add a file named app-ads.txt at the root of your domain (for example yoursite.com/app-ads.txt), with this line, where the pub- number is yours (it is in AdMob, in the app-ads.txt section):

google.com, pub-XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0

After publication: link and verify your app in AdMob

1. Once your app is live on the store, open it in AdMob, then App settings, and link it to its store listing (App store details).
2. Still in App settings, click Verify app, then Check for updates: Google reads your app-ads.txt file.
3. Google checks the file within 24 hours, sometimes longer. If it fails, check the website on your store listing, then try again.

Done when your app shows as ready in AdMob and app-ads.txt as verified.

Official guides: Link your app to an app store, Set up an app-ads.txt file, Verify your app with app-ads.txt.