The article describes ads.txt/app-ads.txt, a tool to improve transparency in programmatic advertising. It allows publishers to declare which companies are authorized to sell their ad inventory.
Use Ad Manager to create ads.txt/app-ads.txt files to identify who is authorized to sell your inventory.
Use of ads.txt/app-ads.txt is not mandatory, but is highly recommended. It can help protect your brand from counterfeit inventory that’s intentionally mislabelled as originating from a specific domain, app, or video. Declaring authorized sellers can help you receive advertiser spend that might have otherwise gone toward counterfeit inventory.
What is ads.txt?
Authorized Digital Sellers for Web, or ads.txt, is an IAB initiative to improve transparency in programmatic advertising. You can create your own ads.txt files to identify who is authorized to sell your inventory. The files are publicly available and crawlable by exchanges, Supply-Side Platforms (SSP), and other buyers and third-party vendors.
Your ads.txt/app-ads.txt must not be blocked by a geofence.
What is app-ads.txt?
Authorized Sellers for Apps, or app-ads.txt, is an extension to the Authorized Digital Sellers standard. It expands compatibility to support ads shown in mobile apps and ensures your app ad inventory is only sold through channels you’ve identified as authorized. Creating an app-ads.txt file gives you more control over who’s allowed to sell ads on your app and helps prevent counterfeit inventory from being presented to advertisers.
The app-ads.txt files are publicly available and crawlable by exchanges, supply-side platforms (SSP), and other buyers and third-party vendors.
Get started
Learn how to automatically generate ads.txt/app-ads.txt content in Ad Manager.
