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How does Apple count impressions of iAd banners. I realise that this is not specifically a programming question, but it affects implementation of iAds drastically. I am using a shared banner instance-the same banner on all view controllers.

I have an app that hides the banner when a viewController modally presents another view controller. If the banner is visible, but than becomes invisible during the transition to the second view controller(only for a short period of time), is that an impression? Is there a time period that needs to pass in order for a banner to count as impression? Must that time period be contagious or am I allowed to show add for eg. 5 seconds, 3 seconds the add is invisible, than that same add is visible for another 25 seconds? Is that still an impression? How about using a shared banner instance? If I make a transition from one VC to another, that shared banner instance is not visible for a 0.5 second. Does this break causes impressions to not be generated? Are impression counted by the number of times the ad load in bannerViewDidLoadAd method?

potato
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  • What are you trying to achieve exactly? Perhaps there's a better way to approach your problem. – Daniel Storm Sep 23 '15 at 13:34
  • Between view controller transitions, there is small gap of time, where my banners aren't visible. I am worried that such interruption of banner visibility would cause impression drop due to not counting the impressions that weren't visible for the whole time. – potato Sep 23 '15 at 13:43

1 Answers1

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Apple does not go into much detail on the subject.

From iAd Workbench glossary of terms:

impressions The number of times that users are exposed to your ad on iOS devices, whether or not they tap your ad banner.

Try contacting them directly.

I'd assume that for every ADBannerView filled and displayed on screen for a minimal duration of seconds counts as an impression.

Daniel Storm
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  • That "minimal duration" is what I am especially worried. I've read forums where people talked about 30s being that duration. No one ever confirmed this. No app, if it is not a game, is gonna hold the user in one view controller for 30s. If VC changes, the add goes away for a slight period of time, than comes back and BAM, no impression because the add wasn't visible for 30seconds. – potato Sep 23 '15 at 13:39
  • The 30 seconds they're referring to is the ad refresh rate. When I say minimal duration I'm suggesting a second or two for an impression to count. If your requests to impressions ratio is way off, 100:1, then maybe I'd suspect impressions not being logged but generally I would not be too concerned with this. – Daniel Storm Sep 23 '15 at 13:45
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    ok. I guess will see. The contact page you are linking me to, is that like "Requesting Technical Support". You only get 2 of those request per Developer membership for free, thats why I am asking. – potato Sep 23 '15 at 13:49
  • @krompir2 it's a Contact Us form. Choose iAd App Network as the topic and navigate through the rest of the options. Turn around for an reply usually takes awhile so be patient. If they supply you with a suitable answer please submit it as an answer to your question. – Daniel Storm Sep 23 '15 at 13:55
  • im sorry, but it isn't possible to contact them from that page. http://prntscr.com/8jlupc – potato Sep 23 '15 at 15:17
  • @krompir2 choose a different topic for #2 – Daniel Storm Sep 23 '15 at 15:24
  • no matter what topics I choose, there is always just "Done" and "Start Over" button. – potato Sep 23 '15 at 15:28
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    @krompir2 iAd App Network>General iAd App Network Questions>General iAd App Network Inquiry. – Daniel Storm Sep 23 '15 at 15:44
  • well that was well hidden :D – potato Sep 23 '15 at 16:12