AppLovin ALX DSP response

AppLovin runs an in-app exchange that its MAX demand partner documentation calls AppLovin RTB, also abbreviated ALX. AppLovin's public pages document the bid response contract, so this profile checks responses only.

Direction and version

AppLovin sends bid requests to DSPs. The profile checks the bid response a DSP sends back to AppLovin.

OpenRTB 2.5 with Native 1.2 event trackers. Native markup may go in bid.adm_native or as an escaped JSON string in adm, and SKOverlay flags are integers.

The RTBlint profile applovin-alx checks responses against the published contract.

Rules beyond the OpenRTB spec

Each bid needs id, impid, price, adomain, burl, cat, crid, and adm (or adm_native for native). Only the first adomain entry is used.
The whole bid response may be at most 4 KB.
cur must be USD, and an omitted currency means USD.
bid.ext.crtype must name a supported format: HTML, MRAID 1.0 to 3.0, native, or VAST 2.0 to 4.2.
VPAID 1.0, VPAID 2.0, and ORMMA are not supported, and Native creatives may not include video assets.
bid.bundle must be the advertised app. A bid that reuses the publisher's app.bundle is rejected.
HTML bids that carry SKAdNetwork data need bid.ext.clicktrackers, and CTV video bids need bid.ext.duration.
SKAdNetwork responses use version 2.0 or later, a non-empty fidelities list, UUID nonces, and Unix millisecond timestamps as strings. itunesitem must match bid.bundle.
${AUCTION_LOSS} is substituted only in lurl.
A supplied seatbid.seat must be alphanumeric and at most 40 characters.

Documented extensions

Path	Meaning
`bid.ext.crtype`	Creative format of the markup.
`bid.ext.clicktrackers`	Click tracking URLs.
`bid.ext.imptrackers`	Server-side impression trackers, not used for native.
`bid.ext.duration`	Video length in seconds, used for CTV.
`bid.ext.vendor`	Viewability vendor, ias or moat.
`bid.ext.skadn`	SKAdNetwork response with campaign, fidelities, itunesitem, network, sourceapp, timestamp, and version.
`bid.ext.skadn.skoverlay`	SKOverlay settings; a delay of -1 turns the delay off.

What the validator checks for this profile

openrtb.profile.applovin.advertiser_domain AppLovin requires an advertiser domain.
openrtb.profile.applovin.api_unsupported AppLovin ALX does not support VPAID or ORMMA.
openrtb.profile.applovin.clicktrackers AppLovin HTML with SKAdNetwork requires click trackers.
openrtb.profile.applovin.creative_type AppLovin creative type must identify a supported HTML, MRAID, Native or VAST format.
openrtb.profile.applovin.currency AppLovin ALX accepts only USD; omitting currency defaults to USD.
openrtb.profile.applovin.macro_context AppLovin substitutes AUCTION_LOSS only in lurl.
openrtb.profile.applovin.native_video AppLovin ALX Native does not support video assets.
openrtb.profile.applovin.publisher_bundle AppLovin rejects publisher app.bundle used as the advertised app bundle.
openrtb.profile.applovin.response_size ALX documents a 4 KB maximum bid response; this JSON body exceeds 4096 UTF-8 bytes.
openrtb.profile.applovin.seat_format A supplied AppLovin seat must be an alphanumeric string of at most 40 characters.
openrtb.profile.applovin.skadn_campaign AppLovin SKAdNetwork campaign must be an integer string in its version-specific range.
openrtb.profile.applovin.skadn_fidelity AppLovin SKAdNetwork fidelities must not be empty.
openrtb.profile.applovin.skadn_mismatch AppLovin SKAdNetwork itunesitem must match advertised bid.bundle.
openrtb.profile.applovin.skadn_nonce AppLovin SKAdNetwork nonce must use UUID format.
openrtb.profile.applovin.skadn_timestamp AppLovin SKAdNetwork timestamp must be a decimal Unix timestamp in milliseconds, expressed as a string.
openrtb.profile.applovin.skadn_version AppLovin SKAdNetwork version must be 2.0 or above.
openrtb.profile.native_encoding This exchange requires a Native request encoded as an object or a JSON object string.
openrtb.profile.scope.unsupported {} has no verified OpenRTB {} {} contract in this build. Canonical specification checks were applied.

Validate against this contract

Open the tester with the AppLovin ALX DSP response profile, or run:

rtblint validate --profile applovin-alx request.json