What a 4.4 KB ad tag does, and why the ad cannot touch your page

adPluga — Sat, 03 Oct 2026 13:22:18 +0000

Most ways of putting an ad on a website ask you to trust a lot of third-party JavaScript on your page. This post walks through a tag built the other way round: small, and unable to run code inside your page. I work on it, so take the enthusiasm with salt, but every claim below is checkable in the browser.

The whole integration

<script async src="https://cdn.adpluga.com/v1/tag.js"
        data-adpluga-key="pk_test_kvhgusa3wauuklgogatyovhbohlpc"></script>

<div data-adpluga-slot="35490c85-1933-4764-bf04-647005ea6db5"></div>

That key and slot are the public demo ones: they serve test ads, nothing is charged, nothing counts toward any quota. Paste both lines into an HTML file and open it. On WordPress the same two lines go into a Custom HTML block; in Google Tag Manager, into a Custom HTML tag.

1. Discovery

The script reads its key from its own <script> element, then looks for every element with data-adpluga-slot. A MutationObserver keeps watching, so a slot rendered later by React, Vue or a router change is picked up without calling anything. If you need control, window.AdPluga.refresh(el) re-fetches a slot and window.AdPluga.destroy(el) tears one down.

2. One request per slot

Each slot makes one call to /v1/serve on the edge host. The response carries the creative and a signed token. If there is no advertiser for that space, the response is still an ad: a house ad from adPluga, so the page never shows an empty box.

3. The sandbox

The creative is rendered in an iframe with this attribute:

sandbox="allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"

There is no allow-scripts and no allow-same-origin. The ad cannot execute JavaScript, cannot read your cookies or storage, and cannot reach into your DOM. A click can still open the advertiser's page, but only because the user clicked. referrerpolicy="no-referrer" keeps your URLs out of the advertiser's logs.

The trade-off is that the creative cannot be interactive in the JavaScript sense. Carousel ads, for example, are built with CSS scroll-snap only. That cost about half a kilobyte and kept the tag at 4.4 KB gzipped.

4. Counting only what was seen

The tag reports an impression as viewable only when at least 50% of the ad was on screen for at least one second, the IAB definition. An ad that loaded at the bottom of a page nobody scrolled to is not reported as seen.

5. Test and live

The key prefix decides the mode: pk_test_ serves real test creatives with no billing, pk_live_ is the real thing and needs the site to be verified first (DNS record, meta tag or a file at the root).

Try it without an account

The playground has the demo key filled in. Press Render and watch the network tab: one serve call, one iframe, and the tracking call once the ad is in view.

A runnable copy of the HTML above is in github.com/adpluga/examples.

How to add ads to a Flutter app in 5 minutes

adPluga — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 22:51:24 +0000

This guide shows how to get an ad showing in a Flutter app, first in test mode and then for real. You do not need a billing account or a card to reach the end.

What you need

A Flutter 3.10 or newer app (Dart 3).
A free adPluga account.
Two minutes in the dashboard to create the key and the space.

1. Create the key and the space in the dashboard

Under Properties, create the property for your app.
Under Slots, create a space, for example a 320×50 banner at the bottom of the screen. Keep the slot id.
Under Integration, copy the publishable test key. It starts with pk_test_.

The test key shows real ads in your app, but nothing is charged, nothing is paid and nothing counts toward the quota.

2. Install the SDK

flutter pub add adpluga_flutter

The package works on Android and iOS.

3. Initialise once

Do it when the app starts, before showing any ad:

import 'package:adpluga_flutter/adpluga_flutter.dart';

Future<void> main() async {
  WidgetsFlutterBinding.ensureInitialized();
  await AdPluga.initialize(publisherKey: 'pk_test_...');
  runApp(const MyApp());
}

4. Show a banner

The banner is a widget like any other. Put it where you want the ad to show:

AdPlugaBanner(
  slotId: 'your-slot-id',
  onImpression: () {},
  onClick: () {},
  onError: (err) {},
)

When there are no advertisers for that space yet, an adPluga ad shows instead. The space is never empty.

5. Show an interstitial

An interstitial fills the whole screen between two moments of the app, for example at the end of a level:

final ad = await InterstitialAd.load(slotId: 'your-interstitial-slot-id');
await ad.show(context);

The SDK also has native, rewarded and carousel formats.

6. Go live

When everything works in test, swap pk_test_ for pk_live_. To use the live key, first confirm in the dashboard that the property is yours. We do not ask for a card for that: the free plan serves live up to 100,000 decisions a month, and a decision is each ad request the app makes.

Already using AdMob?

You do not have to remove it. Under Mediation in the dashboard, add AdMob and other networks (Meta, InMobi, Unity, Liftoff) and let them compete for the same space with adPluga. The best offer wins each time. The AdMob alternative page explains how.

The full SDK reference is at SDKs and the shortest path at Quickstart.

I work on adPluga. A complete Flutter example app is at github.com/adpluga/examples.

DEV Community: adPluga