Hey Folks,

We all know that our user’s experience is the most critical aspect to all of our apps important to our developer community.  Keeping people engaged and within the app is key to building a healthy audience.  With this in mind, I want to share some insights and resources on ad control error handling in your apps. There are five main causes of errors, per the MSDN documentation here.

The good news is that there are two easy things you can do to prepare for any of the scenarios above and avoid bad user experiences (e.g., black boxes within your app). 

Tip#1: Hard code a house ad into the real-estate where an ad will appear.  There will be times when STR is less than 100%.  In the event that an advertiser’s ad is not served within your app, you can still generate value and protect the user experience by building a house ad to appear in the ad real estate.  House ads can be used to promote your other apps on Windows 8, promote the same app on Windows Phone, and drive in-app purchases.  You can also do something as simple as posting your logo in the space.  If an advertiser’s ad is served, it will simply and seamlessly cover your house ad. 

Tip#2: Collapse the ad control when no ad is served.  The Microsoft Advertising SDK allows you to collapse the ad control if no ad is served.  This is an elegant solution that requires minimal effort.  Here are some resources on MSDN to help: link.

I’m including some great examples of partners that have implemented these two tips.

If you have questions, I invite you to visit our Forum or e-mail Global Publisher Support at psupport@microsoft.com.

Thanks again for your continued partnership!

Cheers,
Ian