After creating an ads.txt/app-ads.txt file:
- Sign in to Google Ad Manager.
- Click Admin
Ads.txt management.
- Ad Manager displays the web ads.txt files by default. Click the app-ads.txt tab to see the app-ads.txt files.
- In the “Action” column, click the Fix or View link in the appropriate row to edit the file’s settings. This opens the version of the file most recently crawled by Google. If changes have been made since we last crawled your domain, this file may be out of date.
- Review the syntax of the fields in the dialog window. See a complete example of ads.txt/app-ads.txt syntax.
- Hover over an error/warning icon to view a pop-up description.
- Make the needed corrections.
- Copy the updated text and paste it into your ads.txt/app-ads.txt file.
- Send the file to your webmaster and have them upload it to your root domain.
- After 48 hours, ensure the updated ads.txt/app-ads.txt file is being crawled.
Errors in ads.txt/app-ads.txt files
If a row has incorrect formatting that will stop parts of the ads.txt/app-ads.txt file from working as expected, a red error icon appears next to it.
| Message | Explanation/Solution |
|---|---|
| Each row in this file must include either 3 or 4 fields. | All non-comment lines in the file must contain exactly 3 or 4 comma-separated fields. |
The Google publisher ID must be a 16-digit number with a 'pub-' prefix. |
Only include the pub- prefix and the 16-digit numeric code in your declaration. Delete the product-specific prefix (for example, To find the publisher ID of your primary Ad Exchange account and other linked accounts: Sign in to Google Ad Manager, then click Admin |
Traffic type must be either DIRECT or RESELLER. |
All rows declaring authorized sellers should have either 'DIRECT' or 'RESELLER' in field #3. |
Warnings in ads.txt/app-ads.txt files
If a row contains other issues that won't necessarily stop the ads.txt/app-ads.txt file from working, a yellow warning icon appears next to it.
| Message | Explanation/Solution |
|---|---|
| Duplicate line. | This row is an exact duplicate of another row in the file. Delete one of the duplicate rows. |
| Provide contact information for the owner of this file. | Add a row to the file that contains only contact information. For example: contact=adops@example.com |
The google.com seller account you entered is not linked with this Ad Manager network. |
We can only verify publisher IDs belonging to seller accounts that are linked to your Ad Manager network. If you include a publisher ID belonging to a seller that's not linked to your network, we'll be unable to verify if the ID is correct. |
The TAG ID for Google publisher accounts is f08c47fec0942fa0. |
If you use field #4 to include a certification authority ID, this is the only valid value for google.com seller accounts. |
Errors specific to inventorypartnerdomain declaration
Ad Manager does not currently display any errors related to inventorypartnerdomain in the ads.txt/app-ads.txt diagnostics or editor interface. If you are implementing inventorypartnerdomain for inventory sharing use cases, make sure you follow the instructions in ads.txt/app-ads.txt and inventory sharing partners.
