Ads.txt is a component initiated by Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and launched in 2017. It serves as a text file on companies’ web servers to identify which other companies are authorized to sell your inventory to other programmatic buyers.
The IAB Tech Lab developed ads.txt to provide more transparency in the programmatic world while fighting against ad fraud. ads.txt is specifically crucial if you’re a publisher with inventory sources only sold via authorization.
In August 2022, ads.txt 1.1, an updated version, was introduced by IAB. Ads.txt 1.1 provides more protection against ad fraudsters. Also, it solves the problematic relationships in the supply chain among publishers, DSPs, and intermediaries. This new version fills the missing gaps in the programmatic ecosystem.
Ads.txt 1.1 came up with two new, simple values with high importance: OWNERDOMAIN and MANAGERDOMAIN. OWNERDOMAIN shows who the parent company and inventory owner is. We suggest implementing it in all of the domains’ ads.txt files. MANAGERDOMAIN implements if there’s a third party who exclusively monetizes the inventory of the publisher. We only suggest using the MANAGERDOMAIN field if the majority of your inventory sources, around 80%, are managed by a single entity.
Ads.txt works as a white-listing system for each publisher; the purpose is to fight against ad fraudsters and provide protection for the inventory. In other words, no matter your size you’d like to sell your inventory with the highest efficiency and work only with reputable buyers, this is a system you should add to your web server.
Let’s say “OwnerCompany.com” is the owner of “abc.com”. Also, one company from the United States and one company from Canada manage the “abc.com” site.
Then, the abc.com/ads.txt file should be like below.
https://abc.com/ads.txt
OWNERDOMAIN= OwnerCompany.com
MANAGERDOMAIN= Manager1.com, US
MANAGERDOMAIN= Manager2.com, CA
goodexfox.com, XW034, DIRECT, 7ecm0blg58
Next, we’re going to talk about errors that might occur while implementing ads.txt. If this blog intrigued you, also take a look at out … and … blog! You can alway subscribe to our newsletter too!