Banner & MREC Ads

Banner and MREC ads are rectangular ad formats that occupy a portion of an app’s layout—often positioned at the top or bottom of the screen or placed inline within scrollable content. They remain visible as users interact with the app, allowing for uninterrupted gameplay or usage, and can be refreshed automatically after a set period.

The following sections show you how to load and then show and hide a banner or MREC ad.

See also

“Why mobile banners ads persist in a video and playable world” from AppLovin’s Blog.

Loading a Banner or MREC

To load a banner or MREC, call create_banner() or create_mrec(). Pass that method your Ad Unit ID, desired ad view position, and (for banners) desired background color. MAX sizes the ad for you automatically:

Banners

local banner_ad_unit_ids = {
  android = "«android-ad-unit-ID»",
  ios = "«ios-ad-unit-ID»"
}

function initialize_banner_ads()
  local ad_unit_id

  local sysinfo = sys.get_sys_info()
  if sysinfo.system_name == "Android" then
    ad_unit_id = banner_ad_unit_ids["android"]
  elseif sysinfo.system_name == "iPhone OS" then
    ad_unit_id = banner_ad_unit_ids["ios"]
  end

  -- Banners are automatically sized to 320x50 on phones and 728x90 on tablets
  applovin.create_banner(ad_unit_id, "bottom_center")

  -- Set background color for banners to be fully functional
  -- this sets it to black - USE HEX STRINGS ONLY
  applovin.set_banner_background_color(ad_unit_id, "#000000");

MRECs

local mrec_ad_unit_ids = {
  android = "«android-ad-unit-ID»",
  ios = "«ios-ad-unit-ID»"
}

function initialize_mrec_ads()
  local ad_unit_id

  local sysinfo = sys.get_sys_info()
  if sysinfo.system_name == "Android" then
    ad_unit_id = mrec_ad_unit_ids["android"]
  elseif sysinfo.system_name == "iPhone OS" then
    ad_unit_id = mrec_ad_unit_ids["ios"]
  end

  -- MRECs are sized to 300x250 on phones and tablets
  applovin.create_mrec(ad_unit_id, "centered")

The complete list of position options are:

• top_left
• top_center
• top_right
• centered
• bottom_left
• bottom_center
• bottom_right

MAX automatically sizes banners to 320×50 on phones or 728×90 on tablets. It sizes MRECs to 300×250 on both phones and tablets.

Showing and Hiding a Banner or MREC

To show a banner or MREC, call showBanner() or showMRec():

Banners

applovin.show_banner(«ad-unit-ID»)

MRECs

applovin.show_mrec(«ad-unit-ID»)

To hide a banner or MREC, call hideBanner() or hideMRec():

Banners

applovin.hide_banner(«ad-unit-ID»)

MRECs

applovin.hide_mrec(«ad-unit-ID»)

Stopping and Starting Auto-Refresh

You may want to stop auto-refresh for an ad. For instance, you may want to do this when you hide an ad or you want to manually refresh. Stop auto-refresh with the following code:

Banners

applovin.show_banner(«ad-unit-ID»)
applovin.stop_banner_auto_refresh(«ad-unit-ID»)

MRECs

applovin.show_mrec(«ad-unit-ID»)
applovin.stop_mrec_auto_refresh(«ad-unit-ID»)

Start auto-refresh for an ad with the following code:

Banners

applovin.start_banner_auto_refresh(«ad-unit-ID»)

MRECs

applovin.start_mrec_auto_refresh(«ad-unit-ID»)