Search Unity

  1. Welcome to the Unity Forums! Please take the time to read our Code of Conduct to familiarize yourself with the forum rules and how to post constructively.

Question Will Unity Ads (legacy) still run without switching to Unity LevelPlay?

Discussion in 'Unity Ads & User Acquisition' started by Cybearcode, Nov 12, 2022.

  1. Cybearcode

    Cybearcode

    Joined:
    Dec 7, 2020
    Posts:
    10
    Hello,
    I'm a bit confused about the communication around Unity Ads.
    In the dashboard an announcement invites to update my package to Unity Ads 4.4.1.
    upload_2022-11-12_18-54-27.png

    But when I updated Unity Ads from 3.7.5 to 4.4.1, I received this warning
    upload_2022-11-12_18-54-45.png

    So I looked for more information about advertising with Mediation, reading the migration guide at https://docs.unity.com/mediation/AdsWithMediationMigrationGuide.html.

    I started to remove the legacy Unity Ads dependencies and now I was about to install the Unity Advertisement with Mediaiton package via the package manager and I saw this note:

    upload_2022-11-12_18-58-3.png

    Now let's check on Unity LevelPlay at https://unity.com/unity-ads-ironsource.
    And here is my biggest confusion

    upload_2022-11-12_18-59-34.png


    My question is, will the Unity (legacy) ads be maintained over time or am I forced to adopt Unity LevelPlay even if I don't use the mediation?
    If not, what is correct and not up to date between all these recommendations?

    Thank you for the clarification.
     
    mbhagat likes this.
  2. Unity_Adamski

    Unity_Adamski

    Unity Technologies

    Joined:
    Jul 20, 2020
    Posts:
    110
    Hi, we apologize for any confusion around the recent changes to ads.
    the Advertisement (Legacy) package will eventually become unsupported. At this time we advise developers who are freshly integrating advertisements into their applications to use Level Play.
    Whilst the Advertisement (Legacy) package will be unsupported Unity Ads will still be available as an ad source in Level Play and the Android and iOS SDKs will still be available.
     
  3. Coks

    Coks

    Joined:
    Jul 23, 2012
    Posts:
    28
    In my opinion this is a strange combination. Because if I using the Level Play I can not disable the IronSource as an advertising source. It's very BAD!
     
    luca1994venti likes this.
  4. Emery-Monzerol

    Emery-Monzerol

    Joined:
    Nov 1, 2012
    Posts:
    19
    Hi! When you say that the Advertisement (Legacy) package will be unsupported, do you mean that for any live game currently using the legacy package, the advertisements will stop working? Could you please describe what all the expected repercussions will be for such a game when the plug gets pulled on the legacy package?
     
    Last edited: Dec 19, 2022
  5. Unity_Adamski

    Unity_Adamski

    Unity Technologies

    Joined:
    Jul 20, 2020
    Posts:
    110
    Hi @Emery-Monzerol at this time I don't have the exact details. But I assure you that all of the details will be provided closer to the time
     
  6. RSH1

    RSH1

    Joined:
    Jul 9, 2012
    Posts:
    240
    Why are there so many conflicting instructions? This is a mess.
     
    DustinHollis, Karmate and hawken like this.
  7. Bazzajunior

    Bazzajunior

    Joined:
    May 23, 2015
    Posts:
    20
    I fully agree with @RSH1 - Unity Ads is a disaster at the moment. There’s three different ad systems in the Package Manager, with one of them being partnered with IronSource and then there’s their installation advice on their website - use their SDK? Use the Package Manager one? I’m just so confused now :mad:

    I applied for an IronSource account and received an email asking for my bank details so that I can be charged for user acquisition (never mind the fact that emailing my bank details is just so disconcerting).

    I’m now at the stage that I’ll just let my game on the Google Play Store be removed by Google when it eventually fails to meet their standards.

    This is just so disappointing because whilst my game has never made any real revenue via Unity Ads, it was at least an option to effectively promote my game, with the free game pulling people across to the paid version of my game when they wanted to stop seeing the ads.

    Unity is great for indie developers but it’s also becoming a mess in so many areas (don’t get me started on the hours I spent trying to fix the Package Manager). I’m now at the stage where I’m honestly considering other engines like Unreal or Godot…
     
    Hoorza, newlife, RSH1 and 1 other person like this.
  8. Karmate

    Karmate

    Joined:
    Aug 30, 2014
    Posts:
    41
    I am totally lost
     
    pistoleta and RSH1 like this.
  9. pistoleta

    pistoleta

    Joined:
    Sep 14, 2017
    Posts:
    499
    But in order to integrate LevelPlay we have to integrate the SDK and create an account with ironsource directly, correct?
     
  10. ej-Unity

    ej-Unity

    Unity Technologies

    Joined:
    May 13, 2021
    Posts:
    26
  11. imrankarimi009

    imrankarimi009

    Joined:
    Dec 10, 2020
    Posts:
    3
    How to fix unity sdk failed due to environment check
     
  12. newlife

    newlife

    Joined:
    Jan 20, 2010
    Posts:
    972
    I think that @Bazzajunior is right, implementing ads in Unity has become a mess.
    I have to decide which of the three (!) packages use for my unreleased project.

    Unity Ads seems the oldest one, dont know if its possible to use it for a new project
    Unity Ads with Mediation seems well supported in the dashboard
    Ironsource seems something new and not really ready (its an external package, shady procedures like asking for bank credentials via email)

    I would go with Unity Ads with Mediation.

    Thoughts?
     
    RSH1 likes this.
  13. ap-unity

    ap-unity

    Unity Technologies

    Joined:
    Aug 3, 2016
    Posts:
    1,508
    I want to give a little bit of context to hopefully clear up some of the (very reasonable) confusion here.

    Unity Ads refers to the Unity Ads network and the SDKs used to interface with that ad network. There is a native iOS SDK and a native Android SDK.

    There is a C# wrapper for those native SDKs available in the Unity Package Manager. That package is currently called Advertisements Legacy. (It was previously just called Advertisements).

    A mediation SDK integrates with multiple ad networks to potentially generate more revenue, while adding some additional complexity.

    Unity developed and released a mediation SDK called Unity Mediation (Advertisements with Mediation in the Package Manager) as an option for publishers. This would include Unity Ads as a network, which meant it would have its own C# adapter to the native SDKs.

    It didn't make sense to maintain two packages that are both C# wrappers for the native Unity Ads SDKs. That was the motivation for renaming the Unity Ads C# package to Advertisements Legacy and adding the message encouraging people to move to Unity Mediation.

    Last year, Unity merged with ironSource, which had its own mediation SDK, LevelPlay. We opted to move forward with LevelPlay, since it was the more mature product. LevelPlay has its own C# wrapper for all of its ad networks, including Unity Ads. This is currently available as the Ads with Mediation package in Package Manager.

    As Adam mentioned, LevelPlay (Ads with Mediation) is our recommended ads integration.

    Unity Mediation (Advertisements with Mediation) is no longer available for new integrations. Once we have any plans to share around this, we will let you know.

    The Advertisement Legacy package does still work. Once we have any plans to share around this, we will let you know.
     
  14. newlife

    newlife

    Joined:
    Jan 20, 2010
    Posts:
    972
    You mean that the package Ads with mediation is currently managed by level play? Cause the documentation it says that in order to integrate level play is necessary to download an external package from level play website
     
  15. newlife

    newlife

    Joined:
    Jan 20, 2010
    Posts:
    972
  16. ap-unity

    ap-unity

    Unity Technologies

    Joined:
    Aug 3, 2016
    Posts:
    1,508
    @newlife

    Yes. This can be confirmed from the package documentation:
    Use the Ads Mediation package to monetize your app with Unity LevelPlay, a monetization tool that allows multiple ad networks to compete for your impressions. This package includes a suite of growth solutions, such as in-app bidding, waterfall ad strategies, A/B testing, and cross promotion.

    Yeah, we are working on getting the documentation updated. Basically, you can substitute the first step in the these integration instructions with installing the Ads Mediation package from package manager:
    https://developers.is.com/ironsource-mobile/unity/unity-plugin/#step-1

    Where did you see that URL linked? I don't know if that will be a valid URL or not, so if it was published somewhere, we'll get it updated to the correct site.
     
  17. 71kris

    71kris

    Joined:
    Aug 13, 2013
    Posts:
    13
    I'd like to add that as I'm developing my project that is not published yet I had to move from Unity to Unity Mediation (with success, I got it working). Now I tried to move from Unity Mediation to LevelPlay. This is giving me headaches. Apart form getting an email to reply back with my account detail (FFS), they also requested links to stores to my app plus other details.
    As my app is not published yet I am unable to activate ironsource account so it seems! This just ridiculous.

    On top of that for the last 4 days I'm fighting this not ready solution that is Level Play.

    I'm unable to make IronSource DemoScene load ads to my android device.

    I'm unable to load test ads to android device in my own game either.

    I'm going through 3 different ads solution in a space of a year or so. Complete nightmare. I now have unity mediation merged into levelplay so I have no way back to unity mediation. levelplay is not working. Ads with Unity is a complete catastrophe if you ask me.
    Please sort it out.
     
    kidsfab likes this.
  18. ChakirN

    ChakirN

    Joined:
    Jan 8, 2021
    Posts:
    2
    Hello to who it may consern in unity 3d Ads I totally agree with 71kris , unity ads system is in big issues seemed like they don't know what they are doing and also not caring about devs who are tired and wasting a lot of their time , I'm tired of their recent irresponsibilty toward devs , before they had good ads system I mean Advertisement Legacy => then updated it and it was perfect initialising the ads at the start of the game ones only => then they changed to mediation beta => then mediation became official => then no mediation is under support anymore or legacy so what ?? => levelyplay and Ironsource S*** , a lot of integrations and nothing clear or working well but even thought I totally managed to deal with it ((integrating it + fixing the resolver dependencies and gradlew.bat file people went though this can understand what I'm saying)) for about a week of hard work and tests but always the same issues , ads not shwowing properly and they way I want and as I used to do before under test not the charboost one or ironsource , but neither unity interstitial the only one I can see on test is unity banner and rewarded video , also their mediation sucks because even I change the placement name to the ironsouce one still showing unity test only , anyways by the end I'm stucked here not being able to use lagacy and mediation and levelplay they should have been staying on their legacy only was perfect . this is just me simple dev doesn't have any power to change anything and besides that the day when they decide what to do and what is better for them and go on beta and official version and after a year I can think back of using Unity mobile ads . good luck everybody :(
     
    Hoorza likes this.
  19. timbo_unity

    timbo_unity

    Joined:
    Apr 29, 2022
    Posts:
    9
    Is there plans for the IS mediation solution to be refactored so it works 'neatly' with the package manager and feels more 'native'. ie no need for IS account, all managed through the Unity hub, I can essentially turn off everything except Unity Ads and have a 'Unity Ads Only'-like end result?

    Currently it is a bit of a mess.

    Installing Unity Ads tells you to use Unity Mediation. Then Untiy Mediation says its no longer being 'enhanced' and to move on the IS mediation. Oof.
     
    RSH1 likes this.
  20. timbo_unity

    timbo_unity

    Joined:
    Apr 29, 2022
    Posts:
    9
    We just want a nice, clean integration experience. Unity Ads (Legacy) is perfect - easy and clean. No project bloat.
     
    RSH1 likes this.
  21. timbo_unity

    timbo_unity

    Joined:
    Apr 29, 2022
    Posts:
    9
    Also is there an ETA on how long Unity Ads Legacy will be supported?
     
    RSH1 likes this.
  22. mbhagat

    mbhagat

    Joined:
    Dec 15, 2013
    Posts:
    49
    One thing you forgot to mention.
    Mediation was supported through external tar ball before few months.
    Now it has changed too.
    First I was looking here and there. Then found aha now it comes with package maanger.
    Then oh no , you need to go for another product called level play,
    Oh no you have to make account with them too. Oh share app link oh share bank details.
    We have enough time to waste in our life , do not we have plenty of time?

    Unity thinks we developer get dream about product they are going to launch and they are super easy to integrate.
    No email , no notification , suddenly product implementation strategy changes over the night .
    Shame on you !
     
  23. hippogames

    hippogames

    Joined:
    Feb 5, 2015
    Posts:
    192
    I also was really confused. Don't use Ads Legacy, use Ads with Mediation. Then don't use Ads with Mediation, use Iron Source. So I'm thinking about to continue using Ads Legacy till this chaos will end. Also want to know about ETA on how long Unity Ads Legacy will be supported.
     
    RSH1 likes this.
  24. newlife

    newlife

    Joined:
    Jan 20, 2010
    Posts:
    972
    Im also interested in this. Hopefully some Unity guy will reply ASAP
     
  25. TangoChen

    TangoChen

    Joined:
    Dec 1, 2012
    Posts:
    6
    Same as most of you here. My first time trying to integrate ads with Unity went through setting up Unity Ads(Legacy?) => Advertisement with Mediation(Not supporting as well? Okay I'll use the latest thing) => LevelPlay(Cannot build) => 3rd party asset(Cannot build) => Maybe trying Unity Ads again. It's been several days without success.

    I'm using Macbook with M1. I cannot build one Ad demo on my iOS device. There were issues building a proper Xcode project with cocoapods(solved), Admob(bitcode issue). Now I'm trying to use Unity Ads with Unity Mediation and got a new issue: [Mediation]: Warning, failed to retrieve game id from Dashboard on Unity 2022.2.9. I'm not providing details here(They are too many to summarize at once, I've been trying to solving them one by one with other posts) but I mean, it is very disappointing with all these changes and mess at the moment. I hope to see the day integrating ads with Unity becomes easy and stable. But it may not be that soon. It's already going to affect many people' plans and progress on their new apps.
     
  26. BurningthumbStudios

    BurningthumbStudios

    Joined:
    Apr 28, 2008
    Posts:
    93
    I want to add my voice here. I started with IronSource. What a disaster. I couldn't get it to serve ads at all. Their advice was to try their sample project (when I went for support) which is no support at all. In the end I just reverted back to Unity's Legacy system since its easy to integrate.

    To the folks at Unity. You have created a nightmare for developers. Do you not understand that? What you need to do is make the new system, easy to use like the old system, and then transition to it. I wasted two weeks on IronSource thinking it was the right thing to do.

    Overall, and I don't know why the folks at Unity are not hearing this, you really messed this up and you need to fix it. An apology would be a good place to start.