Testing the Facebook App Ads SDK for Android

Question

I need to evaluate the Facebook sdk for ads that advertise an app. On the iPhone, when viewing the feed page, after scrolling for a while an ad will be shown listing an app along with a button to install it. Facebook will then launch the Apple app store where user can install it.

For Android, I have struggled to find a single ad that illustrates the same thing. In fact, even if I do a Google image search for Facebook ads showing apps that can be installed, all the images are for the iPhone.

This raises the question as to just how much Facebook even supports ads on Android. But another important question is how a developer can even test the ad sdk. Since I am interested in tracking the number of installs of an app, how can I even see an ad listing my app? If I cannot see the ad for testing purposes, what's the point of even installing the sdk when there is no way of verifying the ad and the installation of the ad's app?

Answer 1

It looks like there are a couple questions in there:

Q1: How do I verify I've implemented App Events correctly?
Use the Event Debugger at https://www.facebook.com/analytics/[App ID]/?section=most_recent. You can filter for Android only.

Q2: How do I preview an app install ad on Android?
Create an app install ad (you'll need to make sure your App Events are firing correctly first). Use the Ad Preview functionality (icon looks like an eyeball) on your ad to see it on your device(s). Make sure to preview Android install ads on an Android device (and same for iOS).

Q3: To what extent does Facebook support ads on Android?
Ads on Android are fully supported. According to this study, Android ad revenue surpassed iOS ad revenue in Q4 2016, and it continues to grow. I'd be shocked if Facebook ignored that trend. In fact, based on this recruiting page, it seems Facebook is investing more heavily in Android than iOS.