Overview
Ad Lightning’s APIs allow publishers, brands, ad platforms, and technology partners to directly integrate Ad Lightning’s ad quality and privacy intelligence into their own systems.
Through our APIs, you can programmatically scan creatives, retrieve detection results, analyze blocked items, or embed our reporting into your existing dashboards and workflows-- all without needing to use the Ad Lightning UI.
What Is an API
An API (Application Programming Interface) is a structured way for software systems to exchange data.
With Ad Lightning’s APIs, your systems can:
Send a request, for example, to scan a tag or retrieve results.
Receive a structured response containing detailed detection data, metrics, and block information.
APIs make it possible to automate scans, streamline QA, and synchronize Ad Lightning data with your own tools in real time.
Common Use Cases
Integrate real-time scanning directly into your ad serving or trafficking workflow
Feed blocking and detection data into internal dashboards or BI tools
Run automated QA checks for partner or client creatives
Power reporting or compliance automation using Ad Lightning data
Creative Tag Scanner API
Use the Display Tag Scanner API to scan ad tags or HTML zip files.
Each scan runs Ad Lightning’s full detection suite and applies the QA specifications defined within your Ad Lightning account to determine pass/fail status.
Data returned includes:
Creative size (initial, subload, and total)
Verification vendor setup (blocking vs. monitoring mode)
HTML5 compliance checks
Cookie behavior and classifications
CPU utilization (milliseconds and percentage)
Creative dimensions
Data collectors and tracking calls
Request counts (initial and total)
Media asset presence for audio and video creatives
API | Description | Link |
Creative Tag Scanning | Scan standard display ad tags for quality, compliance, and security issues. | |
Creative HTML5 Scanning | Upload and scan HTML zip creatives to validate against QA and performance specs. | |
Native Tag Scanning | Evaluate native ad tags for compliance and tracking behavior. | |
Video & Audio Scanning | Detect issues within video and audio ad creatives, including VAST tag validation. |
Blocking Results API
The Ad Lightning Blocking Results API provides detailed data about any creatives Ad Lightning has blocked including markup, blacklist matches and location info. This helps you identify patterns, pinpoint problem sources, and feed insights into your own dashboards or alerting systems.
Each record includes:
Full creative markup
Block reason
Blacklist or rule matches
Detection category and severity
Timestamp
Geographic and contextual metadata
API | Description | Link |
Blocking Results | Retrieve detailed information on creatives blocked by Ad Lightning. |
Authentication
All Ad Lightning APIs use token-based authentication.
Include your token in the header of each request:
Authorization: Bearer <your_api_key>
Tokens are issued per account. Contact your Ad Lightning account manager if you need access or a new credential.
For questions about setup or API access, contact your Ad Lightning account manager or reach out to support@adlightning.com.