MRAID, or “Mobile Rich Media Ad Interface Definitions” is the common API (Application Programming Interface) for mobile rich media ads that will run in mobile apps. This is a standardized set of commands designed to work with HTML5 and JavaScript that developers creating rich media ads use to communicate what those ads do (expand, resize, get access to device functionalities such as the accelerometer, etc) with the apps into which they are being served.
Without MRAID different apps (incorporating different rich media vendors’ SDKs) have disparate requirements in terms of the APIs that creative developers must use to communicate with the app. Therefore, the same creative must be rewritten in order to run across different apps. MRAID offers a single API that diverse SDK vendors will support, which means that MRAID-compliant rich media ads will run within applications using any MRAID-compliant SDK. MRAID therefore enables creative agencies and rich media shops to more quickly and easily build rich creative that will run in different publishers’ mobile apps.
MRAID has been developed by the IAB Tech Lab Mobile Rich Media Ad Interface Definition (MRAID) Working group and the IAB Mobile Marketing Center of Excellence.
The MRAID working group is happy to announce the availability of a new best practices document and a new compliance ad suite for MRAID 3.0. With the new compliance ads, the test coverage has improved to include new MRAID 3.0 features such as proper initialization, event timing, viewability, and even has a compliance ad for negative cases to show what not to do.
The IAB Tech Lab and the MRAID working group has developed multiple tools and utilities to help developers test and validate their MRAID ads as well as MRAID implementations in their app or ads SDK.
MRAID v2.0 Test Ads:
The compliance test consists of six test ads created and vetted by the IAB’s MRAID Working Group. These tests serve as an objective verification that the SDK being tested has correctly implemented all the features of the MRAID v2 specification, ensuring greater certainty for the industry. Documentation for each of the six test ads, including links to where the creative can be accessed for testing, can be downloaded via the following:
Resize Ad Designed to Cause MRAID Errors
MRAID Ads SDK Tester: To test MRAID ads in specific SDKs, users can download the IAB MRAID Ads SDK Tester app from here.