Ads.txt, the industry-wide effort to improve marketplace quality has been successful in the year of 2018 and 2019 so far. As publishers post the ads.txt files on their servers, buyers can easily verify that the source of those impressions are from authorized sellers. According to the reports from AdExchanger, the publishers who have failed to adopt the ads.txt initiative are actually losing money.

While at the beginning the ads.txt initiative protects the advertising ecosystem from fraudulent impressions across the PC and mobile web, IAB Tech Lab’s OpenRTB working group has released the final version of the app-ads.txt specification in March 13, 2019.

As a mobile-focused and mobile app only marketplace, AdView believes IAB’s innovative and collaborative thinking will help maintain the quality and continuous growth of the whole programmatic advertising industry. AdView continues to value the importance of transparency of the supply chain and avoid fraudulent activity especially from what ads.txt brings in our ecosystem. As app-ads.txt has started to be widely adopted and following by the IAB standard, AdView is delighted to announce that AdView mobile marketplace has joined the industry to be fully compliant with the ads.txt initiative, and will be supporting our partners for the implementation of app-ads.txt. This action will not only strengthen the mutual trust among our partners and AdView, but also contributes to a healthier and more prosperous the programmatic advertising ecosystem.

 The followings are some short introductions about app-ads.txt and implementation guidance for our publisher partners:

1.      What is app-ads.txt?

It is ads.txt for mobile apps. App-ads.txt is an extension of the IAB ads.txt initiative launched for websites in 2017. Authorized Digital Sellers for Mobile Apps (app-ads.txt) has been released by the IAB to allow mobile app publishers to publicly declare the specific advertising systems which are authorized to sell their digital advertising inventory.

2.      How does app-ads.txt work for mobile apps?

App-ads.txt is a plain text file hosted on the domain of the app developer's website to identify the authorized digital sellers. This method allows advertisers to trust that they are buying authentic app inventory. Buyers that bid on app inventory can use the app-ads.txt which has been declared by the app developer on their website in order to verify that their impressions come from authorized sellers.

3.      How to set up app-ads.txt？

a.       You must inform the app developer for the app-ads.txt implementation.

b.      The developers must run or publish their own website.

c.       Ensure URL of the developer’s website is listed on the information of the application inside the app store.

d.      Get your app-ads.txt

            i.        AdView has emailed the app-ads.txt to all our publishers, you can also reach out to your AdView account manager or by sending email to partner@adview.com to get your specific app-ads.txt or for any inquiry.

           ii.        An ads.txt page will soon be available in your publisher’s dashboard for further update and notice.

e.       Implement and publish an app-ads.txt file on the developer’s website.

            i.        The file name should be set as “app-ads.txt”.

           ii.        For each app, there must be app-ads.txt which can be accessed from：

            iii.        http(s)://{your developer website url}/app-ads.txt

About AdView

Founded in 2010, AdView Mobile Exchange now is not only the largest independent mobile ad exchange in China, but also a leading global mobile supply-side platform since 2016. AdView is headquartered in Beijing, with offices in Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangzhou and Bangalore, India.

AdView Mobile Exchange’s mission is to bridge the gap between the global supply and demand especially across the China border through innovations in ad technology and global IT infrastructure. AdView Mobile Exchange’s comprehensive monetization solutions help publishers with best monetization, while delivering a great user experience. AdView Mobile Exchange also offers both open and private marketplace for DSPs who can reach premium mobile media inventories and a vast number of unique mobile users.

AdView Mobile Exchange is proud members of IAB Tech Lab, IAB Hong Kong and MMA China.