Ads.txt guide

Authorized Digital Sellers, or ads.txt is an IAB Tech Lab initiative that helps ensure that your digital ad inventory is only sold through sellers (such as AdSense) who you've identified as authorized.

Creating your own ads.txt file gives you more control over who's allowed to sell ads on your site and helps prevent counterfeit inventory from being presented to advertisers.

Use of ads.txt is not mandatory, but it's highly recommended. It can help buyers identify counterfeit inventory and help you receive more advertiser spend that might have otherwise gone toward that counterfeit inventory.

In this article:

• Fix ads.txt issues in AdSense
• Create an ads.txt file for your site
• Add your publisher ID to an ads.txt file
• Check for updates on your ads.txt status

Fix ads.txt issues in AdSense

If there's an issue with ads.txt on your site, you'll have an alert in your AdSense account. To prevent any impact to your revenue, follow the relevant steps below to fix the issue.

Note: It may take a few days for your changes to be reflected in AdSense. If your site doesn't make many ad requests it may take up to a month. After you make changes, you can check for updates on your ads.txt status.

Create an ads.txt file for your site

If your site doesn't have an ads.txt file, you can create one. Your publisher ID must be included and formatted correctly for your ads.txt file to be verified.

1. Create a text (.txt) file using a plain text editor, such as Notepad (Windows) or TextEdit (Mac).
2. Sign in to your AdSense account.
3. If there's an alert on your homepage, click Fix now. Otherwise, click Sites, and then click the site with the "Not found" ads.txt status.
   Note: Depending on your sites and their ads.txt status, you might have several verification options to choose from. Select the Ads.txt snippet option.
4. Click Copy.
5. Paste the line into each of your ads.txt files.

   Your ads.txt file should now appear like this, where pub-0000000000000000 is your own publisher ID:

   google.com, pub-0000000000000000, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0

6. (Optional) If you’re using another ad network, remember to add that network to your ads.txt file. Contact your ad network for their ads.txt information.

7. Upload your ads.txt file to the root directory of your site.

   The root directory of a site is the directory or folder following the top level domain, e.g., example.com/ads.txt. (For example.com/ads.txt, example.com is the root directory or folder where you would upload your ads.txt file.)

   Tip: If you're not sure where to add your ads.txt file, go to your site builder or editor for specific instructions. You can also contact your web hosting service to find out how to upload to the root directory for your sites. If you want to learn more about root directory.

8. To verify that you published your file correctly, check if your ads.txt file's content is available. In your web browser, enter your ads.txt URL (e.g., https://example.com/ads.txt). If the ads.txt file displays in your web browser, then it's likely that AdSense will successfully find it.

Add your publisher ID to an ads.txt file

If your publisher ID is missing from your ads.txt file, you can copy it from your account and add it to your ads.txt file.

1. Sign in to your AdSense account.
2. If there's an alert on your homepage, click Fix now. Otherwise, click Sites, and then click the site with the "Unauthorized" ads.txt status.
3. Click Copy.
4. Paste the line into each of your ads.txt files.

   Your ads.txt file should now appear like this, where pub-0000000000000000 is your own publisher ID:

   google.com, pub-0000000000000000, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0

Note: Your ads.txt file must be formatted as specified by the IAB Tech Lab in order to be verified. If you need additional help, review the ads.txt specification.

Check for updates on your ads.txt status

If you've made changes to your ads.txt file and your changes aren't reflected in your account, you can ask AdSense to recheck your ads.txt file.

1. Sign in to your AdSense account.
2. Click Sites.
3. Click the site that you want to check for updates.
4. Click Check for updates.

   The ads.txt status on your "Sites" page is updated.

   Next steps

   • If your ads.txt status is now "Authorized" but your site requires a review, click Request review to start the review process.
   • If your ads.txt status is now "Authorized", your site status is "Ready", and you've set up ads on your site, then ads will start to show. Note, it may take up to an hour for ads to appear on your pages.
   • If you're still having an issue with your ads.txt, refer to troubleshooting ads.txt issues.

Ads.txt troubleshooter