app-ads.txt | Site Verification Files

Published

September 23, 2024

Updated

There is a variation of ads.txt called app-ads.txt. It serves the same purpose as ads.txt but is specifically designed for mobile applications. The app-ads.txt standard allows mobile app publishers to declare authorized sellers of their ad inventory, helping to prevent fraudulent ad sales for in-app advertising.

Technical Notes

Location: Instead of placing the file at the root of a website like ads.txt, app-ads.txt is hosted on the root domain associated with the app’s developer. For example, it would be located at https://example.com/app-ads.txt.

Usage: Mobile app publishers include the app-ads.txt file in their domain to specify the ad platforms and networks authorized to sell their inventory.

App Stores: The app’s store listing (Google Play Store, Apple App Store, etc.) contains a URL pointing to the app-ads.txt file to verify the app publisher’s authorized sellers.

Here’s an example of an entry in an app-ads.txt file:

google.com, pub-0000000000000000, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0

Webflow

Webflow does not directly support app-ads.txt, but since it is not explicitly a security file, redirects often work.

Note however that app-ads.txt is intended to be served from the root domain which means that you will also need a flattened CNAME configuration.

Webflow has recommended this approach;

https://share.getcloudapp.com/v1um4rqz

Create your ads.txt file, with the content you want
Upload it to your site assets
Get the URL of the uploaded asset
Create a redirect from /app-ads.txt to your URL
Publish your site

Some platforms like Google Adsense do not seem to support the redirect, in which case you can use a reverse proxy solution like Sygnal's Hyperflow to deliver your ads.txt file reliably.

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