Did you know, you can lose money if you implemented your ads.txt file incorrectly?

Well if your answer is no, you are not alone.

Like you, other publishers may not have thought that a sudden drop in ad revenues from a specific demand partner could be caused by an error in their ads.txt file. But after reviewing their ads.txt files, they may have discovered the effects of a misplaced comma or the misspelled name of a demand partner. While the ads.txt file is straightforward to create and easy to upload there is room for error.

The format is simple:

Yet, the errors are many. Plain oversight, spelling and syntax errors are the main culprits.

The Ads.txt Industry Dashboard notes that leading error types include:
– invalid relationship: misnaming a demand partner relationship,
– invalid ad system: an ad system may appear by name and not the top level domain, or have a spelling error,
– bad row format: syntax is key, data must be separated by commas, and
– unsupported variables: the only supported variables are subdomain and contact.

Here are some examples taken from real ads.txt files crawled by the Ads.txt Industry Dashboard. Ad systems are listed by their name and not top-level domain or only the ad system name is included. Another sample record shows information that should be put in a comment. Categorizing a demand partner incorrectly can invalidate the record, just as like forgetting a comma or adding too many commas can do the same.

Bottom line, spelling and syntax errors, as well as mistakes caused by a misunderstanding of the ads.txt standard, can cause an advertising system not to recognize your seller as authorized to sell your ad space and ultimately, lose you money.

Use the resources below to learn how to correctly create and validate an ads.txt file, as well as gain insights into ads.txt usage and pitfalls.

Links
IAB Ads.txt project – https://iabtechlab.com/ads-txt/
Google Adx.txt Tutorial – https://support.google.com/dfp_premium/answer/7441288?hl=en
FirstImpression.io Ads.txt Industry Dashboard – https://adstxt.firstimpression.io

Ads.txt Validators
https://adstxt.adnxs.com/
https://www.adstxtvalidator.com/
https://rtbtr.com/
https://adstxt.vertamedia.com/
http://www.verifyadstxt.com/

For more information on the FirstImpression.io ad product creation platform, contact us.