Apple iAd on the first day of an ios app

Question

Is it normal for the first day your app is accepted into the ios App Store for the app not to be showing your ads?

In my testing, it always shows the test banner, and in iTunes Connect it says "Live: This app is receiving live ads."

So, does it take a couple extra days for this to process? I'm in the US, so would it be an issue with the area?

Answer 1

A lot goes on when an iAd banner is displayed:

• First, your ios device connects to the WiFi or cellular
• Then, iAd makes sure that you're device is infact an ios device, and not a bot. It also makes sure that the iPhone is verified (We don't want people making bots to click on ads, now do we?)
• Next, it contacts Apple's iAd Servers. The servers then go through a list of thousands of ads to find the one that would best fit the app that it is being displayed on. (Let's say you have a driving game. You don't want ads of you're competitors, or other driving games on your app! Apple will not display ads that are not related, or ads of your competitors).
• Lastly, iAd sends the ID of the ad, along with the picture of the ad, and everything that happens when the user taps on it (This could be as simple as opening up a video, or as complicated as creating an entire game for users to play)

Due to all of the above, it can take a while for ads to load, based upon how strong your signal is. You should try letting it sit, and waiting for the ad to load, or connecting to a stronger network. It's completely normal for ads to take a while to load.