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.