app-ads.txt, Authorized Digital Sellers for Apps, is an open standard that provides a mechanism for publishers to publicly declare the companies authorized to sell digital ad inventory in their mobile and OTT apps.

By creating a public record of “Authorized Digital Sellers”, app-ads.txt makes it possible for advertisers and their partners to ensure that the mobile ads they are being sold in the programmatic marketplace are legitimate.

The IAB Tech Lab, a nonprofit research and development consortium charged with producing and helping companies implement global industry technical standards and solutions for the digital media and advertising industries, created app-ads.txt as an extension of the ads.txt standard, which is now used by approximately 90% of the top 10,000 sites on the internet.

Leading companies including Google, The Trade Desk and AppNexus support app-ads.txt and some of the largest DSPs (demand-side platforms) have begun requiring that publishers adopt app-ads.txt. Publishers that fail to do so could lose significant revenue.

HOW DOES APP-ADS.TXT WORK?

Step 1

A publisher adds an app-ads.txt file containing information about all the programmatic advertising partners (supply-side platforms, ad exchanges, resellers, etc.) that it works with to the domain name it has associated with its app in the app stores the app is distributed through.

This file contains important information about each authorized partner, such as the domain name identifying the partner, the publisher’s account ID with the partner, and whether the partner relationship is of a direct or reseller nature.

Step 2

Advertisers and/or their DSPs crawl the app-ads.txt files to gather data about publishers’ Authorized Digital Sellers.

Step 3

Advertisers and/or their DSPs compare the data in a publisher’s app-ads.txt file to the data in an OpenRTB bid request to verify its authenticity.

If the data in an OpenRTB bid request does not match the data contained in the app-ads.txt file, they can choose to ignore the bid request as it might be fraudulent. They can also ignore bid requests from publishers that have not implemented app-ads.txt.

APP-ADS.TXT USES

  • Fraud Prevention

    Advertisers, agencies and ad tech firms can use app-ads.txt to identify authorized versus unauthorized sellers of ad inventory and reduce fraud from domain spoofing.

  • Competitive Intelligence

    Advertisers, agencies, ad tech firms and publishers can use aggregated app-ads.txt data to develop actionable insights about competitors.

  • Market Intelligence

    Participants in programmatic ecosystem, market research firms and investors can use aggregated app-ads.txt data to glean valuable information and spot emerging trends in the mobile and OTT app markets.

  • Business Development

    Ad tech firms and companies providing services to publishers and advertisers can identify new business development opportunities using app-ads.txt data.