Contextual Targeting for Publishers

Understanding Contextual App Targeting

With the rise of data restrictions like Apple’s App Tracking and Transparency (ATT) framework and Google’s plan to block third-party cookies on browsers, publishers can no longer rely only on permanent identifiers for targeting.

As a supply-side platform (SSP), we want to broaden the scope of user addressability and targeting using personalized and non-personalized data signals. We have broadly categorized these into two types of targeting:

Targeting Type Description Consent Identifiers
Identity-based Targeting (Personalized) Targeting based on user-level data that is collected, stored, and analyzed over a period using permanent or semi-permanent identifiers (like device ID, cookies, universal IDs), Required Required
Contextual App Targeting (Non-personalized) Targeting based on the current state of the device and the current context users are at instead of storing and analyzing data over a period. Not required Not required

While identity-based targeting allows you to target specific users, contextual app targeting is privacy-centric as it doesn’t identify a specific user and doesn’t require extra permissions. We recommend using both to strengthen your targeting strategy.

In this section, we cover the data signals used for contextual app targeting by InMobi. For more information on InMobi’s Identity-based Targeting solutions like UnifID, see UnifID Overview.

Contextual Data Categories

Contextual App Targeting revolves around understanding users’ device and session information to triangulate their interests and intention to provide them with relevant ads.

We have classified the data into four categories:

  • Content: Page content (browsing sports equipment in-app, playing level X in a game, and so on).
  • App Metadata: App category, app version, app ranking, app reviews, etc.
  • User Engagement: Session length, # of interactions/session, # of sessions, etc.
  • Device: Battery status, device storage, headphones in/out, dark mode on/off, accelerometer, gyroscope, language settings, carrier, signal strength, and so on.

Note

Contextual app data and settings can be collected from Android and iOS devices without extra permissions from users.

Fields Consumed from Android and iOS Devices

We have listed the fields that the InMobi SDK consumes from Android and iOS devices to construct the rules for contextual app targeting. We have verified from our end that all the fields are directly available from the OS without any extra permissions. Please let us know your preferences from a privacy standpoint:

Parameter Description
Country Country in which the device is being used.
Manufacturer Device Manufacturer name
Device Platform Platform of the Device/Operating System
OSV Operating system version
Operating System OS Name & Version
Connected Carrier Name Carrier name to which the device is connected
Dark Mode Whether the device opted for Dark Mode or not
Keyboard languages The keyboard language of the device
API Level Android-specific. OS API level. For example 20,21 etc.
Battery charging (true/false)
  • Case unknown: The battery state for the device cannot be determined.
  • Case unplugged: The device is not plugged into power; the battery is discharging.
  • Case charging: The device is plugged into power, and the battery is less than 100% charged.
  • Case full: The device is plugged into power, and the battery is 100% charged.

For more information, see Apple's developer documentation.

Device hardware version Device hardware information
Device Total Disk Space Total disk space of the device
Device Available Disk Space How much space is available on the device
Wired Headset Whether there is any headset plugged into the device when the ad is rendered
Battery Level We have categorized the % of batteries into levels. For example 21-30, 31-40 etc.
Battery Saver Status Whether the batter saver is turned on in the device or not
Airplane Mode Setting Whether the airplane mode is set or not
Do Not Disturb Setting Whether the DND mode is set or not

Note

Ensure that we ONLY read the above values and not write them back to the devices.

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Last Updated on: 11 Jan, 2023