What is MRAID?
MRAID (Mobile Rich Media Ad Interface Definitions) is an IAB Tech Lab standard that defines how rich media ads talk to an app's ad container, so a creative can expand, resize, close, or ask whether it is visible. In OpenRTB, a seller signals MRAID support with API framework values 3, 5, and 6 (MRAID 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0) in the impression's api array.
Also called: Mobile Rich Media Ad Interface Definitions, MRAID 2.0, MRAID 3.0.
How it works
MRAID is an in-app standard. The app's ad SDK exposes a JavaScript object to the creative, and the creative calls it to change its size or learn about its environment. Display impressions declare support in Banner.api and native impressions in Native.api, using values from the AdCOM API Frameworks list: 3 for MRAID 1.0, 5 for MRAID 2.0, and 6 for MRAID 3.0. Value 4 is ORMMA, an older predecessor.
A bidder whose markup depends on MRAID should say so. In OpenRTB 2.6 that goes in Bid.apis, an array that replaced the single-value Bid.api. The spec treats any framework missing from the request's api list as unsupported, so an MRAID creative sent to an impression that lists none of 3, 5, or 6 may fail to render or get filtered before the auction.
Pitfalls: MRAID values on site inventory, where no app container exists to provide the interface; an SDK that lists only MRAID 1.0 while the creative calls 3.0 functions; and creatives that assume MRAID is present without checking at runtime. Expanding creatives are further limited by Banner.expdir and by blocked attributes in Banner.battr.
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Related terms
Every term is in the glossary.