How to Get Rid of Google AdMob

Thinking about moving on from Google AdMob is a common crossroads for app developers. Whether you're looking for a better ad partner, simplifying your app's monetization, or dealing with policy frustrations, the process involves more than just deleting a line of code. This guide walks you through the entire process, covering how to cleanly remove the AdMob SDK from your app and how to properly wind down your account.

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First Things First: A Pre-Removal Checklist

Before you dive into your codebase and start deleting, taking a few minutes to plan can save you from major headaches later. A rushed exit can lead to lost revenue and missing data. Here’s a quick gut-check before you proceed.

1. Identify Your Reason for Leaving

Understanding why you're leaving helps clarify your next steps. Are you leaving because of:

• Performance Issues: Low eCPM (effective Cost Per Mille) or fill rates? Your goal will be to find a new network and carefully track metrics to ensure it’s an upgrade.
• Policy Violations: Received a dreaded "ad serving has been limited" or a strike? Your priority might be to ensure your app is compliant before even thinking about a new ad network.
• Switching to a New Network or Mediation: Moving to a platform like Unity Ads, AppLovin, or using a mediation service like MAX or ironSource? Make sure you have the new SDK ready to integrate. Running an app with no ads at all, even briefly, can result in a significant revenue dip.
• Pivoting to a Different Business Model: Are you moving to a subscription or one-time purchase model? In this case, your focus will be on removing the ad experience and replacing it with your new purchase flow.

2. Secure Your Outstanding Payments

This is a big one. Check your current AdMob balance. Google issues payouts on a monthly schedule, typically if your balance exceeds a certain threshold (usually $100). Make sure all your payment information is up to date and you know when to expect your final payment. Don't close an associated AdSense account until you’ve received every cent you're owed.

3. Back Up Your Historical Performance Data

Once your account is deactivated, accessing your old reports can become difficult or impossible. Your historical data on impressions, eCPM, and revenue per user is valuable for benchmarking the performance of your next monetization strategy. Export key reports from your AdMob dashboard as CSV files. At a minimum, consider grabbing:

• Monthly and daily revenue summaries
• Performance by ad unit
• Performance by country
• Ad format performance (banners vs. interstitials vs. rewarded videos)

Having this data in a spreadsheet will be incredibly useful for comparing your new ad network’s performance against a historical baseline.

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Phase 1: Removing the AdMob SDK from Your Application

This is the technical part of the process where you remove the AdMob code from your app. The exact steps will depend on the platform you're developing for. In either case, after removing the code, make sure to thoroughly test the app to ensure you haven't accidentally broken something or left behind an orphaned ad call that could cause a crash.

For Android (Kotlin/Java)

Removing AdMob from an Android Studio project involves three main steps: removing the dependency, stripping out the metadata from your manifest, and deleting the implementation code.

1. Remove the Gradle Dependency

Open your app-level build.gradle file (or build.gradle.kts). Find the line that declares the AdMob dependency and delete it. It will look something like this:

dependencies {
 // ... other dependencies
 implementation 'com.google.android.gms:play-services-ads:23.0.0' // <-- DELETE THIS LINE
}

After deleting the line, be sure to sync your project with the Gradle files.

2. Remove Metadata from AndroidManifest.xml

Open your AndroidManifest.xml file. You need to remove the AdMob application ID metadata tag that you added during setup. It looks like this:

<application>
  <!-- ... other tags -->
  <meta-data
     android:name="com.google.android.gms.ads.APPLICATION_ID"
     android:value="ca-app-pub-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx~yyyyyyyyyy"/>
</application>

(Note: The <!-- DELETE THIS --> comment was in the original docs, so remove both the tag and the comment.)

3. Remove Ad Code from Your Activities/Fragments

Finally, search your codebase for any code related to AdMob and remove it. This includes:

• MobileAds.initialize(this) { }, which is usually found in your Application class or main Activity.
• Any AdView, InterstitialAd, or RewardedAd implementations.
• XML layouts that contain com.google.android.gms.ads.AdView banners.
• All Listeners and callbacks associated with AdMob like AdLoadCallback or FullScreenContentCallback.

Your compiler will help you find these, as they will now show errors since you removed the dependency in the first step.

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For iOS (Swift / Objective-C)

The process for iOS is conceptually similar: remove the package, take out the info.plist keys, and delete the Swift or Objective-C code.

1. Remove the SDK Package

How you do this depends on how you installed it:

• Swift Package Manager: In Xcode, go to your project settings, find the "Package Dependencies" tab, select the Google-Mobile-Ads-SDK, and click the minus (-) button to remove it.
• CocoaPods: Open your Podfile, delete the line pod 'Google-Mobile-Ads-SDK', then run pod install or pod update in your terminal.

2. Remove Keys from Info.plist

Open your Info.plist file. Find and delete the GADApplicationIdentifier key and any SKAdNetwork identifiers you may have added for AdMob.

3. Remove Ad Code from Your Source Files

Scrub your project of all AdMob-related code. Look for:

• import GoogleMobileAds at the top of your files.
• The initialization call, GADMobileAds.sharedInstance().start(completionHandler: nil), usually in your AppDelegate.
• Implementations of GADBannerView, GADInterstitialAd, or GADRewardedAd in your View Controllers.
• Any delegates like GADBannerViewDelegate or GADFullScreenContentDelegate attached to your view controllers.

Phase 2: Cleaning Up and Closing Your AdMob Account

Merely removing the SDK from your app doesn't close your account. AdMob will just notice that your app is no longer sending ad requests. To fully cut ties, you need to take a few steps within the AdMob dashboard.

Unlink Connected Services

If you've linked AdMob to other Google services, you should disconnect them first. Navigate to the Settings area in AdMob and check for linked accounts like Google Analytics (Firebase) and Google Ads. Follow the prompts to unlink them.

Remove Your Apps and Ad Units (Optional)

You can effectively archive apps within AdMob. In the "Apps" tab, you can select the app and choose to hide it. This keeps your account clean but preserves the historical data in case you ever want to reference it. You can also disable or archive the individual ad units within that app. This is a good middle ground if you aren't 100% certain you're done with AdMob forever.

Cancelling Your AdMob Account

This is where it gets a little tricky. You can't technically "delete" an AdMob account on its own because AdMob is part of a larger Google ecosystem, primarily tied to Google AdSense. To effectively close AdMob, you must cancel the associated AdSense account.

Warning: This is a permanent action. If you use AdSense for anything else (like monetizing a YouTube channel or a blog), cancelling it will affect those properties as well. Proceed with caution.

To do this:

1. Ensure you’ve been paid any final, outstanding balance from AdSense/AdMob.
2. Sign in to your AdSense account (the one tied to AdMob).
3. Navigate to Account > Settings > Account information.
4. Click "Close account." Follow the final steps to confirm the closure.

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What Comes Next? Measuring Success Post-AdMob

You've successfully removed AdMob, and perhaps you've integrated a new ad network. Your work isn't done yet. The most important step is now tracking performance to validate your decision.

You'll need to answer critical questions like:

• Is my new ad network generating a higher ARPDAU (Average Revenue Per Daily Active User)?
• How does the fill rate and eCPM compare, especially in key geographic regions?
• If I switched to subscriptions, is my overall revenue greater than what I was making with ads?

Answering these questions often becomes a manual chore. The data you need is scattered across different platforms. You’ll find yourself logging into your new ad network dashboard, then into Google Analytics to check user counts, then maybe your RevenueCat or Stripe account to see subscription revenue. You then spend the rest of your afternoon trying to consolidate all that data in a spreadsheet just to get a clear picture of your app's true health.

Final Thoughts

Removing Google AdMob is a two-part process that requires carefully deleting code from your app and properly managing the administrative side of your account. By following a structured approach and keeping your historical data, you can transition to a new monetization strategy smoothly and confidently.

That frustrating process of manually pulling reports from a dozen different services to understand performance is exactly why we built Graphed. Instead of piecing together CSV files, we connect directly to your app analytics and monetization platforms. We bring all your data into one place, allowing you to ask questions in plain English, like "Show me a comparison of my total app revenue from last month with AdMob versus this month with Unity Ads," and get an answer with real-time charts in seconds, not hours.