Example code to hide and show the Google Play Services Smart Banner AdView depending on the data connection

A smart banner ad is displayed at the bottom of the app

The Smart Banner ad unit type in the legacy AdMob SDK (6+) can render screen-wide banner ads on any screen size in any orientation. Using it is easy - simply declare the AdView component as a smart banner type with appropriate attributes in an Android activity layout XML file and it will be ready to serve ads - all without having to write a single line of Java code. The Smart Banner will automatically hide or show itself, depending whether the data connection is disabled or enabled when the app is opened; if there is no data connection, then the ad will be hidden. If the data connection is closed after the app has been opened, keep the ad displayed.


However, the old AdMob 6+ SDK will be replaced with the new ads SDK in the Google Play Services. Java code is required to use the Smart Banner AdView. I wanted  the AdView in the new Google Play Services SDK to behave as in the legacy AdMob SDK i.e. hide itself when there is no data connection, and show itself when there is. The following example code snippets show how to do it.

Declare the Smart Banner AdView in the activity layout XML file

<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"

xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"

android:id="@+id/LinearLayout1"

android:layout_width="match_parent"

android:layout_height="match_parent"

android:orientation="vertical"

tools:context=".MainActivity" >

<!-- 

Add your layout views here. The total layout weight should be 1...

    <FrameLayout 

        android:id="@+id/map_detail_container"

        android:layout_width="match_parent"

        android:weightSum="1"

        android:layout_height="0dip"

        />

-->

<fragment        

android:id="@+id/eventListFragment"

android:name="com.dom925.EventListFragment"

android:layout_width="fill_parent"

android:layout_height="0dp"

android:layout_weight="1.0" />

<com.google.android.gms.ads.AdView

xmlns:ads="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"

android:id="@+id/mainAdView"

android:layout_gravity="center_horizontal"

android:layout_width="match_parent"

android:layout_height="wrap_content"

ads:adSize="SMART_BANNER"

ads:adUnitId="a152fa33f70c96X"

/>

Code an Ad Listener class to hide and show the AdView
This listener will hide the AdView when it is constructed. When an ad has been loaded, it will display the AdView.

package com.dom925.cadmon.seattle;

import android.content.Context;

import android.view.View;

import android.widget.Toast;

import com.google.android.gms.ads.AdListener;

import com.google.android.gms.ads.AdRequest;

import com.google.android.gms.ads.AdView;

public class GoogleAdListener extends AdListener {

private Context _context;

private AdView _adView;

public GoogleAdListener(Context context, AdView adView) {

this._context = context;

_adView = adView; 

//Hide the AdView on creation

_adView.setVisibility(View.GONE);

}

@Override

public void onAdLoaded() {

//Display the AdView if an Ad is loaded

_adView.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);

}

}

Code the Activity to use the AdView

public class MainActivity extends FragmentActivity

{

//Declare a variable for my AdView

private AdView _adView = null;

@Override

protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {

super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

//Initialize my AdView and assign the Ad listener to the view

_adView = (AdView)findViewById(R.id.mainAdView);

_adView.setAdListener(new GoogleAdListener(this, _adView));

//Make a request for an ad

requestGoogleAd(_adView);

}

@Override

protected void onResume() {

super.onResume();

//Show the AdView if the data connection is available

if (checkDataConnection()==true){

_adView.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);

}        

_adView.resume();

}

@Override

protected void onPause() {

_adView.pause();

super.onPause();

}

@Override

protected void onDestroy() {

_adView.destroy();

super.onDestroy();

}

private void requestGoogleAd(AdView adView){

AdRequest adRequest = new AdRequest.Builder()

.addTestDevice(AdRequest.DEVICE_ID_EMULATOR)

.addTestDevice("541603DA032A1B8626E5C8EA6FA2AADX")

.build();

adView.loadAd(adRequest);                        

}

private boolean checkDataConnection(){

boolean status = false;

ConnectivityManager connectivityMgr = (ConnectivityManager)getSystemService(Context.CONNECTIVITY_SERVICE);

if (connectivityMgr.getActiveNetworkInfo()!=null && 

connectivityMgr.getActiveNetworkInfo().isAvailable() &&

connectivityMgr.getActiveNetworkInfo().isConnected()) {

status = true;

} 

return status;

}    

}

The AdView is not displayed when the app is started without a data connection. 

When the data connection is enabled, the AdView is shown when the app is resumed