InMobi: What It Is and Why We Block This Domain
InMobi is a mobile advertising platform that tracks users across apps. Learn how it collects data and why we block it.
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What is InMobi?
InMobi is an Indian multinational technology company, founded in 2007 in Bengaluru as mKhoj, a SMS-based search engine. In 2008, the company shifted to mobile advertising and was rebranded as InMobi. Since then, it has become a global mobile advertising platform, with offices in 12 countries and about 2,500 employees. In 2011, it became India’s first unicorn startup, with investments from SoftBank and other venture capital firms.
Who Operates the Domain?
The domain inmobi.com is operated by InMobi Pte. Ltd., the parent company of the InMobi Group. The platform services advertisers and mobile app publishers, providing technology to display ads in apps and mobile web pages. Beyond advertising, the InMobi Group operates Glance, a lock-screen content service on smartphones.
What Does InMobi Do with Your Data?
InMobi is a programmatic advertising platform. When you use apps or websites that integrate InMobi’s SDK, the company collects data about your device, location, browsing habits, and app usage. This data is used to create user profiles and deliver targeted ads. This includes cross-app and cross-site tracking. InMobi claims to anonymize data, but the collection is extensive.
Why Do We Block the Domain?
Our blocking tool regards InMobi as an advertising tracker. By blocking the inmobi.com domain, we prevent the InMobi SDK from communicating with its servers, cutting off data collection and targeted ad delivery. This practice is common among ad and tracker blockers, which aim to protect user privacy.
Limitations of DNS Blocking
Blocking via DNS prevents the device from resolving the domain, which may break functionality in apps that rely on InMobi for ads. However, some apps may load ads from the same server as content, making the block ineffective. Additionally, DNS blocking does not hide your IP from the server; it only prevents name resolution.
How to Protect Yourself More?
For more complete protection, we recommend using apps that block trackers at the network level, combined with a VPN if you want to hide your IP. But remember: no tool is perfect. Domain blocking is a useful layer but not foolproof.
Conclusion
InMobi is a major player in mobile advertising, but its business model relies on extensive tracking. Blocking its domain is an effective way to reduce data collection, but it is important to understand its limitations. Use blocking tools as part of a broader privacy strategy.