Quick Start

This guide walks you through everything you need to do before your first ad request reaches the auction. The first two steps happen in the Elo dashboard; the third one happens in your app.

1. Create your Elo account and get your IDs

   Sign in at dashboard.elo.ad to create your publisher account. Once you’re in, you’ll need two identifiers before the SDK can serve ads:

   • Publisher ID - identifies your account to Elo. Every ad request the SDK makes is attributed to this ID for reporting and revenue.
   • Ad Unit ID - identifies a single ad placement inside your app. You create one ad unit per surface where Elo ads appear (for example, the main chat thread). Targeting, formats, and floor prices are configured at the ad-unit level, so creating a new ad unit is how you experiment with placement-specific settings without affecting the rest of your inventory.

   Both IDs are required. You can find your Publisher ID on the dashboard home page; create an ad unit under the Ad Units tab to get an Ad Unit ID.

2. Authorize Elo on your developer domain

   On the dashboard’s Analytics page, you’ll find an Authorize Elo card with a one-line authorization record. Add that line to the ads.txt and app-ads.txt files hosted at your domain. The files must be hosted at the same domain you use for your app store listing.

   Advertisers use this line to verify that you’ve authorized Elo to sell your inventory; without it, demand is significantly limited.

   See ads.txt / app-ads.txt for the full hosting instructions.

3. Integrate the Elo SDK and networks

   Elo serves its own ads; if you also run another ad network, the fallback stays in your code.

   Download and integrate the Elo SDK

   The Elo SDK fetches ads from the Elo network and handles the tracking, analytics, and attribution we need to serve ads and report back to advertisers. Pick the SDK that fits your app:

   Android SDK

   Native Android integration for chat apps.

   iOS SDK

   Native iOS integration for chat apps.

   Web SDK

   npm package for React and other web chat apps.

   Running another network alongside Elo

   Elo is a single demand source and does not mediate other networks. If you also run another one, request Elo first and hand the slot to the other network when Elo has no fill. The Other Ad Networks page shows the pattern and how to compare prices.

Explore further

• How Elo Works - the auction, contextual matching, and what’s happening under the hood
• Privacy & Consent - GDPR, CCPA, and COPPA handling
• ads.txt / app-ads.txt - declare Elo as an authorized seller of your inventory