This week, an IAB working group started discussing the ORMMA API in depth as part of an initiative to define an IAB standard. The name for IAB’s standardized API is MRAID. Many of the ORMMA member companies are also IAB members and welcome this activity.
It came to my attention that there is plenty of confusion about different names for this mobile in-app standardization initiative. ORMMA is the name of the consortium that defined the API and also provides a reference implementation of it. MRAID is the IAB naming of the API.
The IAB, who has defined standards such as VAST and VPAID, is now looking at MRAID as an API to improve interoperability for ad serving in mobile applications. MRAID stands for Mobile Rich media Ad Interface Definition. This MRAID API is based initially on the ORMMA definition and ORMMA.org is committed to remaining compatible with the MRAID specification.
ORMMA has implemented this API in an open source manner for iOS and Android to help various ad serving vendors and publishers see a working example of a compliant SDK. ORMMA will continue to maintain and build on this reference code to keep it up to date with the MRAID standard. Likewise, the ORMMA members will continue to contribute to the IAB to ensure the MRAID API remains a viable, rich feature set for all major mobile platforms.
The ORMMA.org authors are encouraged by how their initial work is smoothly and quickly evolving towards an IAB supported standard. For companies who now are using ORMMA code, their continuity is ensured. If you have questions about how ORMMA relates to IAB and MRAID, feel free to contact us.
Update: IAB updated its web site with a frequently asked questions page on MRAID
Update: IAB updated its web site with a frequently asked questions page on MRAID
