app-ads.txt is the app equivalent of ads.txt — an IAB Authorised Digital Sellers file that lists the companies authorised to sell your app’s ad inventory. SSPs and buyers crawl it to confirm that demand on your inventory is legitimate, which reduces fraud and protects the value of your inventory. Without it, demand partners may be unable to verify your inventory and will bid less (or not at all), directly reducing your revenue.
Unlike ads.txt, an app-ads.txt file does not live with the app itself. Crawlers find it via the developer/marketing website URL declared in your App Store and Google Play listings, and expect the file at the root of that domain (for example, https://example.com/app-ads.txt).
Setting it up is straightforward:
- Host an
app-ads.txtfile on the root domain of your developer website — the same website URL listed on your app’s App Store and Google Play store listings. The file must be served over HTTPS astext/plainfrom the root (not a subdomain or subfolder). - Provide that website domain to Content Ignite.
- Content Ignite will share the required lines for you to add to your
app-ads.txtfile. Add them exactly as provided.
Make sure the developer website URL in your App Store and Google Play listings points to the domain that hosts your
app-ads.txt — if the listing URL and the file’s domain don’t match, crawlers won’t find the file.