Sunsetting ironSource Ads
Learn about what's changing with Unity's Grow solutions portfolio
We have made the decision to sunset the direct demand business of the ironSource Ads (iAds) network on April 30th, 2026. There are currently no planned changes to the IronSource Exchange or programmatic campaigns. You should keep the iAds SDK integrated to ensure iSX continues delivering programmatic campaigns to your inventory.
With the progress of Unity Vector, we’re confident that we can deliver better growth for you in the Unity Ads Network, and we are committed to making that transition seamless for you. In fact, Unity Vector has been updated and enhanced specifically to provide continuity in performance for campaigns you have been running in iAds, leveraging your existing account history, and established audience signals so your new campaigns will bypass the typical learning phase and accelerate immediately.
Please review the Frequently Asked Questions below for more information.
Announced on March 26, 2026.
Frequently asked questions
General
We have made the decision to sunset the direct demand business of the ironSource Ads network on April 30th, 2026. There are currently no planned changes to the IronSource Exchange or programmatic campaigns.
This change applies to all advertisers and publishers currently using ironSource Ads direct demand network. Programmatic campaigns via the ironSource Exchange will continue to be supported.
- March 26, 2026: You'll be able to continue to manage your ironSource Ads for a few more weeks. Starting on April 15th, 2026, the onboarding of new iAds publishers will cease along with the creation of new iAds campaigns and creatives, and new iAds ad units for LevelPlay customers.
- April 30, 2026: The iAds network will officially stop serving direct demand campaigns, and information from iAds are leveraged by Unity Vector.
Starting April 30, 2026, your access to the iAds dashboard will transition to reporting-only access. On this date, all operational and campaign management pages will be removed to streamline focus on our core platform. However, both Publishers and Advertisers will still be able to log in to the Reporting page to download historical data. Publishers will still be able to manage their iSX supply configurations and instances. Separately, your access to LevelPlay or other mediation historical data will be fully maintained and remains unaffected.
Your data will be retained for one year after April 30, 2026. The iAds Dashboard will then focus on reporting, with operational and campaign management pages becoming unavailable after that date. Here's the detail on the types of reports you'll be able to access:
- Advertisers - iAds direct campaigns reporting: Available until April 30, 2027. We encourage you to download and save your historical reports prior to this date.
- Publishers - iAds earnings reporting: Available while iAds SDK remains active and generating earnings from programmatic demand.
- Publishers - LevelPlay Mediation reporting: Accessible since LevelPlay won't be impacted due to ironSource Ads sunsetting.
- Publishers - Historical mediation data: Always accessible via your third-party mediation platform.
For any questions, technical assistance, or help setting up campaigns on Unity Ads, please submit a support ticket through this link and our support team will be ready to assist you. If you have a managed account, you may also contact your dedicated Client Partner or Account Manager for further questions.
It depends on your current setup:
- If you are a publisher and your app is live with iAds SDK, you will continue receiving programmatic demand through your existing integration and we recommend keeping it.
- If your app is not yet live with Unity Ads, you can integrate and activate the Unity Ads SDK.
If you use Ad Quality natively, no action is required. However, if your Ad Quality reporting is bundled with the iAds SDK and you decide to remove the iAds SDK, you will need to migrate to a native Ad Quality SDK integration to maintain reporting continuity.
It depends on your current setup:
- Advertisers: In most cases, you will have opportunities to leverage Unity Ads to help achieve your existing goals. If you choose to do so, we recommend you to set up your campaigns, budgets, and creatives within the Unity Ads platform before April 30, 2026. This is a simple, self-serve process designed to get your campaigns running quickly on our primary engine.
- Publishers: Ensure you have integrated the latest Unity Ads SDK and that the ad network is activated within your mediation solution. We recommend keeping the iAds SDK in your monetization stack for the time being, as programmatic campaigns will continue to serve through the ironSource Exchange.
Need help? For guidance on setting up your campaigns or for technical assistance, please refer to this guide, or you can also submit a support ticket through this link. If you have a managed account, your dedicated Client Partner will also be reaching out directly with tailored recommendations for your business.
No. LevelPlay Mediation remains our core, open mediation platform. Retiring the ironSource Ads network is simply removing an ad network from a mediation platform and the remaining ad networks, including Unity Ads, will still work the same with LevelPlay.
Advertisers
With the progress of Unity Vector, we’re confident that we can deliver better growth for you in the Unity Ads Network, and we are committed to making that transition seamless for you. In fact, Unity Vector has been updated and enhanced specifically to provide continuity in performance for campaigns you have been running in iAds, leveraging your existing account history, and established audience signals so your new campaigns will bypass the typical learning phase and accelerate immediately.
If you need support, we will assist you in setting up your creatives, audiences, and budgets on Unity Ads. To ensure continuity for campaigns you have been running in ironSource Ads, we will leverage your ironSource Ads account history and established audience signals in Unity Vector. These historical insights help inform our models so your new Unity Ads campaigns start from a strong baseline, not from scratch.
Regarding campaign editing, pending campaigns, and creatives:
- Starting March 26, 2026, the iAds dashboard will remain unchanged until April 15, 2026.
- Starting April 15, 2026, new creative uploads to existing campaigns and new campaign creation will no longer be supported in the iAds platform.
- Advertisers will need to manually reconfigure their campaigns, budgets, and creatives in the Unity Ads platform before April 30, 2026. Setting up your campaigns on Unity Ads is a simple, fully self-served process.
Final invoices will be issued on May 15, 2026. This final billing cycle will include all account activity from April, as well as any late installs recorded during the first five days of May. To request copies of past invoices in the future, please reach out to the finance team directly at ar.finance@unity3d.com.
You do not need to manually turn off your existing campaigns, as iAds direct demand campaigns will automatically stop serving on April 30, 2026. However, all budgets and campaigns will need to be reconfigured in the Unity Ads platform before that deadline if you wish to do so.
Yes, you'll be able to edit existing iAds campaigns. But starting April 15, 2026, all new activity on your ironSource account will be paused. This means the creation of new iAds campaigns and new creative approvals will be disabled at that time.
We evaluate all advertising accounts and campaigns based on our standard network policies, which have not changed as a result of retiring the iAds network. If you are interested in setting up campaigns on Unity Ads, your account and creatives will be subject to our standard review process to ensure they meet our current operational and quality guidelines. If you believe your account aligns with these policies, please submit a support ticket through this link to request an account review.
We offer a wide range of campaign solutions within Unity Ads designed to help you achieve your performance goals. To explore the best alternatives for your specific campaign objectives, please submit a support ticket through this link and our team will gladly assist you in finding the right solution. If you have a managed account, you may also consult directly with your dedicated Client Partner.
Publishers
There will be no changes to your payment schedule. All unpaid iAds earnings are secure and will continue to be processed and paid out according to your account's regular payment terms.
We plan to continue to maintain the iAds SDK, and it should remain part of your monetization stack. Programmatic campaigns will continue to serve through the ironSource Exchange (iSX) as long as the iAds SDK remains integrated. Publishers will be able to continue to add and manage monetization instances via the ironSource dashboard, which will be serving iSX demand only starting on April 30, 2026. Additionally, if your app utilizes Ad Quality, the iAds SDK must remain in place to ensure reporting continuity until you are able to integrate the standalone native Ad Quality SDK.
Your programmatic monetization through iSX remains fully active. As long as the iAds SDK is integrated, iSX will continue delivering programmatic campaigns. You can seamlessly monitor your ongoing iSX performance and revenue directly within your iAds and LevelPlay dashboards. To ensure long-term scale and continuity, we are encouraging publishers to adopt the Unity Ads SDK so that this premium inventory becomes seamlessly available through the Unity Ads Exchange (UX).
LevelPlay remains our core, neutral mediation platform, and your overall mediation setup is completely unaffected. However, with iAds retiring as a separate direct demand network on April 30, 2026, there may be a temporary adjustment in scale. To maximize your yield and capture the growing advertiser budgets consolidating on Unity Vector, please ensure you are integrated with the latest Unity Ads SDK and that the network is active within your LevelPlay network strategy.
The iAds network will automatically stop serving direct demand on April 30, 2026, so you do not need to take immediate action to turn it off. However, to ensure you don't lose out on revenue, we highly recommend setting up and activating the Unity Ads SDK in your mediation to capture our demand. As mentioned above, keeping the iAds SDK integrated allows you to continue receiving programmatic demand via iSX.
No, you will not lose access to managing your LevelPlay account. While the iAds direct demand tools are being retired, LevelPlay remains a core, fully supported product. Your LevelPlay management capabilities will remain active.
You will have until May 31, 2026, to submit disputes, and it will take up to 14 business days to investigate the dispute.