The app-ads.txt initiative

What is app-ads.txt

App-ads.txt is an initiative from the IAB Tech Lab. It is an extension of ads.txt that applies for websites, but specifically designed for applications distributed through mobile app stores, connected televisions app stores, or other channels distributing applications.

This initiative was created to help app publishers control who is allowed to sell ad inventory on their app by listing authorized ad entities in order to:

• Guarantee legitimate ad transactions between ad sellers and ad buyers
• Prevent fraud and unauthorized reselling of ad inventory in the mobile app ecosystem

App-ads.txt is a simple text file that contains lines of text with specific information about ad sellers. It is typically hosted on the app's domain following this standard: https://www.example.com/app-ads.txt

DSPs will regularly crawl this URL and check the ad sellers list to confirm if the ad request received comes from an entity allowed to sell ads on the publisher's app.

Who is impacted

This initiative is only impacting monetization on videos embedded in applications. If you don't have any Dailymotion Players running within an application environment, you don’t have to host any app-ads.txt file.

Why is it important

If you are a Publisher, app-ads.txt will help you to:

• Retain control over who sells your inventory
• Improve the quality of the ads shown
• Block unauthorized ad sellers and improve the overall user experience of your native app

Furthermore, complying with this initiative will show advertisers that your website is trustworthy and brand safe for their ads.

Publishers who are app-ads.txt compliant can sell their inventory in curated market: today, major DSPs are already giving advertisers the option to filter-out inventories that are not app-ads.txt certified. 

How can I implement this file

Follow our dedicated guide to learn how to implement the app-ads.txt file.

In this guide, we'll explain how to retrieve the file from your Dailymotion Studio and provide instructions on hosting it on your app's domain.