Test creative types

  • The Google Mobile Ads C++ SDK is deprecated as of June 17, 2024 and should not be adopted in new projects.

  • Instead of the Google Mobile Ads C++ SDK, consider using the iOS and Android SDKs from AdMob.

  • The Google Mobile Ads SDK provides an API to specify a creative type for test queries using the ft_ctype parameter.

  • The ft_ctype parameter only works in Test Mode and impacts only Google ads, not ads from third-party sources through mediation.

  • The ft_ctype parameter can be added to an AdRequest using the add_extra method with a specified adapter_class_name, extra_key of "ft_ctype", and a valid extra_value from the provided table.

Google Mobile Ads SDK provides an API that lets you specify a creative type for test queries. When the parameter is set, only creatives of the specified type are retrieved and rendered.

Usage

To specify a creative type, include the ft_ctype parameter in an extras object and pass it to the ad request. This may restrict which ads are available and result in no fill.

Android

AdRequest ad_request;

ad_request.add_extra(
  /*adapter_class_name=*/"com.google.ads.mediation.admob.AdMobAdapter",
  /*extra_key=*/"ft_ctype",
  /*extra_value=*/"video_app_install");

iOS

AdRequest ad_request;

ad_request.add_extra(
  /*adapter_class_name=*/"GADExtras",
  /*extra_key=*/"ft_ctype",
  /*extra_value=*/"video_app_install");

The following table lists the valid values for ft_ctype:

Creative Type ft_ctype Format
HTML5 html5 Banner, Interstitial, Rewarded
App install image image_app_install Banner, Native, Interstitial, Rewarded
Display image image_display Banner, Interstitial
Display partial slot partial_slot Banner, Native, Interstitial
App install text text_app_install Banner, Native, Interstitial
Display text text_display Banner, Native, Interstitial
Trueview trueview Interstitial, Rewarded
App install video video_app_install Banner, Native, Interstitial, Rewarded

This feature impacts Google ads only. If your ad unit enables mediation, ads returned from third-party ad sources don't respect the ft_ctype parameter. We recommend testing with an ad unit that doesn't have mediation enabled.

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Last updated 2026-04-01 UTC.