The Implementation of Ads.txt file has become a standard very rapidly. By the end of October, DoubleClick Bid Manager will only buy a publisher’s inventory from sources identified as authorized sellers in its ads.txt file when a file is available. Most likely other players will follow this trend. Make sure to keep your programmatic revenue and add the Ads.txt file to your website now, if you haven’t done so, already. Ads.txt is very easy for publishers to implement, please contact us if you need assistance to do so.
What does Ads.txt mean in practice?
Ads.txt (Authorized Digital Sellers) is an IAB project aiming at eliminating counterfeit and unauthorized inventory. The main goal is to fight domain spoofing: buyers can verify if the seller (who sends the publisher URL (domain) in bid requests) is legitimate and authorized to sell inventory (impressions) originating from this publisher URL. The mission of the ads.txt project is simple: Increase transparency in the programmatic advertising ecosystem. Ads.txt stands for Authorized Digital Sellers and is a simple, flexible and secure method that publishers and distributors can use to publicly declare the companies they authorize to sell their digital inventory.
Ads.txt tries to solve one of the most pressing problems in the industry today: the domain spoofing fraud. The implementation will ensure that those actors who don’t add value to the advertising chain, will disappear. As publishers adopt ads.txt, buyers will be able to more easily identify the Authorized Digital Sellers for a participating publisher, allowing brands to have confidence they are buying authentic publisher inventory.
Updated 13th October // We mentioned before that Google has announced that from November, Google’s Bid Manager will be limited to only buy ads on sites where Ads.txt is in use. This information is not accurate as by the end of October, when a valid ads.txt file is available, DoubleClick Bid Manager will only buy a publisher’s inventory from sources identified as authorized sellers but DBM will still bid on publisher inventory that does not have an ads.txt file.
Read more:
Ads.txt: Adopt or Be Blocked by Smart
More about ads.txt from the IAB tech homepage
