AppHarbr gives app developers complete control over what appears in their apps, automatically filtering harmful, misleading, or unwanted ads in real time. AppHarbr keeps your ad experience clean and compliant without slowing monetization.
Unlike mediation platforms, which can only flag problematic ads, AppHarbr goes further; it blocks them instantly. When an unwanted or policy-violating ad is detected, AppHarbr automatically removes it and re-auctions the ad slot in real time, ensuring a clean replacement appears without interruption.
How Does Automated Ad Filtering Work in AppHarbr?
AppHarbr’s AI-powered detection engine analyzes every creative and landing page before it’s served. It identifies policy-violating or unwanted creatives and blocks them pre-impression. The ad slot is then automatically re-auctioned, ensuring a compliant replacement is served instantly, keeping both revenue and user experience intact.
AppHarbr empowers developers to define and enforce their own ad quality standards. AppHarbr lets you customize filtering by:
- Keywords or domains
- Advertiser or brand names
- Content categories
- App store classifications
Filters can run automatically or in Report Mode if you’d like to monitor occurrences before applying real-time control. AppHarbr offers two powerful ways to manage ad quality:
Automatic Filtering
Set your ad content policies in the AppHarbr dashboard and let the system enforce them automatically across your entire ad inventory in real time.
Hands-On Control with AdWatch
For more granular control, AdWatch provides a visual, interactive dashboard where you can search, review, and take action on specific creatives. Easily block or report ads one by one, or manage them in groups for faster reviews.
You can combine both approaches.
AdWatch
AdWatch is AppHarbr’s interactive, visual dashboard, your control center for ad review and management. Here, you can search, review, and take action on specific creatives. You can block ads one by one, report them for review, or manage them in bulk for faster decisions.
Many developers combine both methods, for example, automatically blocking sensitive categories like gambling or alcohol, while manually reviewing specific advertisers or creatives in AdWatch.
Keyword Filtering
AppHarbr lets you define a list of keywords or phrases that the system automatically searches across both the ad creative (the image or video users see) and the landing page (the website or app store listing it leads to). You can choose to:
- Block automatically whenever a keyword violation occurs, or
- Run in Report Mode to flag ads for manual review instead of blocking them instantly.
Smarter Control with Domain, Brand, and Advertiser Filtering
Domain and advertiser filtering give you precise control over which advertisers and brands can appear in your app’s ad experience. In your policy settings, you can:
- Automatically block domains when an ad’s landing page URL matches your list across all demand sources.
- Use Report Mode to monitor how often certain domains appear before deciding to block them.
- Manually search for and block specific domains, advertisers, or brands directly within AdWatch.
Any item you block in AdWatch is automatically added to your central block list, ensuring similar campaigns stay filtered across your entire inventory.
Add Flexibility with Allow Lists
To accommodate trusted advertisers or direct partnerships, AppHarbr supports allow lists. These let you approve specific domains, brands, or advertisers that should always run — even if they match a blocked keyword or category.
This flexibility helps developers maintain partnerships and direct deals without compromising protection or user experience. Ads on your allow list still undergo malvertising and security screening, ensuring only safe content is delivered.
How Does Content Category Filtering Work?
Unlike mediation platforms that depend on self-reported categories, AppHarbr analyzes each ad’s real content and text to determine its true classification. For example, an ad may be labeled as Gaming, but if the creative includes weapons or violence, AppHarbr recognizes this and applies your filters accordingly.
Individual Creative Filtering
Beyond the rules you set by vertical or UX issue, there may be instances where you want to block or report specific cases based on brand or creative. This is where AdWatch comes in.
You can:
- Search for an ad by keyword, brand, or advertiser
- Review its content and ad serving data
- Block that specific creative or the entire campaign, including variations of the same ad across demand sources
Once blocked, the ad and any similar versions will be removed across all your demand partners.
App Store Category Filtering
One of AppHarbr’s unique features is App Store Category Filtering, which allows you to block ads promoting apps that belong to specific Apple App Store or Google Play Store categories.
You can apply these rules per platform, per app, or globally. For instance, Google Play has subcategories under Games that Apple doesn’t, so you can tailor your filters accordingly or even apply them only to one OS.
For apps that don’t appear in the official stores, developers can still control exposure using keyword, brand, or domain filters.
Running Policies in Report Mode
When you want visibility without enforcement, switch any policy to Report Mode. You’ll see how often ads in that category appear while keeping them active until you decide to block. This gives you a clear view of:
- How often certain ad types appear
- Which networks or regions they come from
- What impact blocking might have on fill and revenue
When you identify an ad you’d like to remove, simply switch the settings from Report to Block. AppHarbr will immediately begin enforcing your policy across your inventory.
Identifying the Origin of a Bad Ad with AppHarbr
When an ad is blocked, AppHarbr provides transparency on the details of the creative and reasons it was blocked. You can access two complementary views:
- AdWatch View — See every ad that was served — where, when, and by which partner.
- Incident Report — See every ad that was blocked, including granular metadata.
Each record includes:
- A snapshot of the ad creative
- A screenshot of the landing page
- The click URL and final destination
- The geolocation where it was served
- The bundle ID (your app where it appeared)
- The advertiser and brand names
- The creative ID(s), format, OS, and category
- Custom Violation (e.g., keyword, domain, or category policy)
Keeping Apps Clean, Safe, and Profitable
With AppHarbr, app developers can automatically filter unwanted content, maintain brand safety, and preserve monetization without manual effort or dependence on mediation platforms.
Whether you’re managing one app or a global portfolio, AppHarbr gives you the control and transparency to keep your ad ecosystem healthy.
