IAB Releases MRAID 2.0 for Public Comment: Updated ‘Mobile-Rich Media Ad Interface Definitions’ Propels the Mobile Ad Serving Ecosystem Forward

Mobile Rich Media Advertising & MRAID 2.0 to be Spotlighted at IAB Mobile Marketplace Conference on July 16 in New York City

NEW YORK – Last year, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and its Mobile Marketing Center of Excellence released “Mobile Rich-media Ad Interface Definitions,” or MRAID 1.0, to simplify the process of creating rich media ads on mobile devices. By establishing a common set of APIs (application programing interfaces), MRAID 1.0 allowed agencies to be able to quickly and easily run creative across applications from different publishers, rather than needing to re-write the programming behind their ad creative several times for a single campaign. MRAID 2.0, released today for public comment, creates a platform for mobile advertising to flourish by building on the prior version and expanding these definitions to a wider set of features and capabilities.

In particular, the update addresses the evolution of HTML5 over the past year. Although continuing improvements to HTML5 can streamline the creation of rich media experiences, it is not always deployed consistently across devices or operating systems. MRAID 2.0 fills those crucial gaps, providing greater consistency.

Specific advances in MRAID 2.0 include:

  • Offering more sophisticated size changes in ads, allowing ads to grow to partial screen, and change size multiple times as users interact with the creative
  • Standardizing how the ad creative gets information about screen size, device capabilities, and other details relevant to desired ad behavior
  • Clarifying the handling of video in the context of mobile rich media banner and interstitial ads
  • Giving ad designers greater control over existing MRAID 1.0 expandable ads
  • Ensuring that MRAID 2.0-compliant software development kits (SDKs) can display MRAID 1.0 ads without glitches

“Mobile is fast emerging as the first screen consumers touch, so it pays to know how to deliver robust brand campaigns in the palms of users’ hands,” said Anna Bager, Vice President & General Manager, Mobile Marketing Center of Excellence, IAB. “MRAID 2.0 enables richer brand messages across more devices, and liberates the imagination of brand creatives to push the limits of what this technology can do.”

“MRAID 1.0 has helped the mobile marketplace reach new levels of consistency, efficiency and effectiveness, but it was only the first step,” said Joe Laszlo, Senior Director, Mobile Marketing Center of Excellence, IAB. “This new update is critical in fulfilling the promise of in-application advertising, addressing the various needs of agencies, publishers, vendors, and ad designers.”

Laszlo will be presenting an overview of MRAID 2.0 and the in-app mobile advertising landscape on stage during the IAB Mobile Marketplace conference on Monday, July 16, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Times Square, New York City.

The public comment period for the IAB release of MRAID 2.0 will run through August 10, 2012. Once the public comment period closes, the MRAID working group will meet to evaluate the comments received, make any needed changes, and release the final version of MRAID 2.0. Comments are being accepted by email at [email protected].

For a copy of the public comment version of MRAID 2.0 and more information about MRAID, the working group and its members, please visit: http://www.iab.net/mraid.

About the IAB

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) is comprised of more than 500 leading media and technology companies that are responsible for selling 86% of online advertising in the United States. On behalf of its members, the IAB is dedicated to the growth of the interactive advertising marketplace, of interactive’s share of total marketing spend, and of its members’ share of total marketing spend. The IAB educates marketers, agencies, media companies and the wider business community about the value of interactive advertising. Working with its member companies, the IAB evaluates and recommends standards and practices and fields critical research on interactive advertising. Founded in 1996, the IAB is headquartered in New York City with a Public Policy office in Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit www.iab.net.

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