Google’s July 2025 AdMob release fundamentally changes three levers publishers rely on: more bidders inside real-time auctions, a mandatory SDK upgrade that unlocks placement-ID revenue, and the sunset of impression-level ad-revenue (ILAR) data for Partner Bidding. Together, these shifts raise upside on fill and eCPM — but only for developers who migrate fast and reroute their reporting stacks.
Open-Bidding gets new muscle
Google’s mediation team confirmed that Moloco and LINE Ads Network join InMobi, ironSource, Unity, Liftoff and Mintegral in AdMob’s bidder roster — the largest single-wave expansion since open-bidding left beta. The public announcement on 7 July highlights fresh demand and shorter optimisation loops thanks to new eCPM-floor and A/B-testing tools that now surface results in as little as three days.
Moloco reinforced the news two weeks later, noting its SDK is now “officially certified by Google AdMob and Google Ad Manager,” giving publishers programmatic access to its performance buyers without extra adapters. On the regional side, Google published integration docs for the LINE Ads Network, signalling readiness for high-value Japanese and Taiwanese demand to flow through bidding as soon as the adapter is flipped live.
Why it matters
More real-time bidders raise auction pressure — and historically lift rewarded-video CPM 8-12% within a month of activation. With LINE and Moloco filling geographic and performance gaps, publishers that enable every source early should see the quickest revenue delta.
SDK 24.5.0: placement IDs for every format
The Google Mobile Ads SDK 24.5.0, shipped 24 July, allow-lists publishers for placement-ID support across all ad types. Placement IDs unlock granular reporting in AdMob’s eCPM Trends dashboard and, when paired with Moloco or Unity demand, pass richer context signals for machine-learning bids. Apps that stay on 24.4 or lower simply cannot receive that extra data, leaving money on the table.
Upgrade checklist
- Android minimum API 23+ — 24.x requires it.
- Replace deprecated addNetworkExtras() with addNetworkExtrasBundle() per release notes.
Reporting pivot: ILAR pulled from Partner Bidding
Google quietly posted a Help-Center note: impression-level ad-revenue will no longer be delivered via the Mobile Ads SDK for Partner Bidding impressions after 17 July 2025. Standard AdMob ad-unit traffic keeps ILAR, but for open-bidding fills developers must move to server-side revenue logs or third-party aggregators.
This change lands just weeks after AdMob shortened data-retention windows for Ads Activity and User Activity reports beginning September 2025, signalling a broader privacy-driven trim of on-device analytics.
Mitigation steps
- Activate AdMob’s SSV or mediation-adapter callbacks to pipe impression revenue directly into your backend.
- Update BI dashboards to merge SDK ILAR (for waterfalls) with server logs (for bidding) to keep LTV models intact.
Brand-safety&workflow perks
The July rollout also migrates third-party bidder creatives into the Ad Review Center and adds bulk line-item editing plus search-by-ID in the mediation UI. For UA teams, quicker eCPM-floor tests (Google now suggests three-day windows) mean faster optimisation cycles before peak Q4 spend.
Key takeaways for Q3 roadmaps
- Enable every new bidder — Moloco and LINE unlock incremental demand with no extra code once the adapter is installed.
- Ship SDK 24.5.0 — placement IDs and crash fixes come free, but only if you compile.
- Move ILAR off-device — server-side revenue pipes become compulsory for Partner Bidding.
- Audit brand-safety — ARC now sees bidder creatives; use it.
Google’s latest AdMob sprint gives publishers more auction pressure and sharper optimisation dials, but it also shifts revenue data out of the SDK. Teams that patch quickly will capture the upside and keep their LTV math whole; laggards will fly blind just as holiday CPMs peak.
