AdMob Rewarded Video Failure Lasts Eight Days on Android

A rewarded video format in AdMob stopped working on Android devices for eight days in late August. The failure, which lasted from August 20 to August 28, meant that users tapping on videos saw a static play icon instead of the actual content. Google's dashboard marked the incident as 'service information,' the lowest disruption tier available.

The issue was not with AdMob account settings but rather with the Google Mobile Ads SDK, which controls rendering. The failure was not due to an oversight but was structural in nature. This meant that publishers had no configuration to change or workaround to implement, and they had to wait for Google's engineering team to fix the problem.

The incident raises questions about governance and maintenance within large technology companies like Alphabet, which owns Google. The failure of a crucial format like rewarded video can have significant financial consequences for publishers, who rely on it for revenue. The incident also highlights the challenges of migrating from legacy systems to new ones, as Google is requiring Android developers to move off the Mobile Ads SDK by 2028.