Implementing App-ads.txt: Avoid these Common Mistakes

In March of 2019, the IAB released app-ads.txt, Authorized Digital Sellers for Mobile Apps. App-ads.txt is a repository of authorized sellers that publisher hosts in their developer website to prevent unauthorized selling of their inventory.

If you haven’t implemented app-ads.txt yet, read our blog to find out more about how app-ads.txt works.

App-ads.txt is an easy and simple solution to adopt, however, It is important for publishers to ensure correct implementation so that buyers can access the file and verify the ads.txt entries.

To make your life easier, we have made an 8-point checklist that will help you avoid the most common mistakes we have seen publishers make while implementing app-ads.txt.

1. Let’s begin with the most important task. Remember to list your developer URL on all app stores distributing the app. For example https://www.example.com where "example" is the hostname.

2. Now that you have listed your developer URL on all app stores, please ensure you implement app-ads.txt on the same developer URL (https://www.example.com) that is listed on the app store.

3. If you have multiple developer URLs across apps, ensure app-ads.txt is implemented on all developer URLs and all your apps list the same developer URL on the app store.

4. Please ensure that the app-ads.txt file is implemented in the root domain as shown below:
https://example.com/app-ads.txt
The crawlers on the buy side will not be able to read the .txt file if there are any mistakes in this implementation. We would highly recommend you to refer the IAB specifications to learn more about the hosting of the file.

5. Be wary of mistakes in naming the .txt file. The file must be named app-ads.txt.

6. Make sure the format of the file is .txt as buyers won’t be equipped to read data from any other format.

7. Please reach out to your InMobi partner manager for the Seller Account ID and TAG ID that needs to go with the InMobi entry. Do not use the Publisher GUID on the portal [Format: inmobi.com, seller account ID, relationship, InMobi TAG ID].

8. To mitigate any revenue loss, ensure you make entries for your direct, aggregate and exchange partnerships. You can reach out to your InMobi partner manager for this information.

Implementing app-ads.txt as soon as possible will help you secure your supply path and increase eCPMs. However, hasty implementations can result in mistakes that could potentially harm the way DSP crawlers read your file to determine the legitimacy of your inventory/ad request.

For further assistance, please reach out to your InMobi account manager with any questions or concerns about ads.txt for apps.