Resolve issues with app-ads.txt

This is an article about resolving issues with app-ads.txt. It discusses what to do if your app-ads.txt file is not found or verified. It also details how to fix formatting issues and crawler problems. Some important points are that it can take up to 24 hours for AdMob to update after changes are made, and the app-ads.txt file needs to be placed on the root path of your developer website.

To get started, carefully review the details you receive in your account to determine why your app-ads.txt file isn't found and verified. Once you determine the issue, you can use the details below to help you in troubleshooting app-ads.txt.

Issues on this page

• The app-ads.txt file isn't found
• Your developer website is missing from your app's store listing
• Your developer website URL isn't valid
• Your app-ads.txt file is hosted on an unsupported subdomain
• Your app-ads.txt file is not formatted correctly
• Your publisher ID is not formatted correctly
• Your publisher ID is missing
• A robots.txt file is preventing the Google crawler from crawling your app-ads.txt file

The app-ads.txt file isn't found

Set up an app-ads.txt file and publish it on your developer website domain. Follow the instructions for setting up an app-ads.txt file.

Ensure that your app is registered with Google Play or the Apple App Store and that your developer website is included in the store listing for your app.

It can take up to 24 hours for AdMob to automatically crawl and verify your app-ads.txt files. Wait at least 24 hours for the app-ads.txt status to update.

Note: If you've recently added a developer website or updated your app listing in Google Play, allow up to 24 hours for AdMob to detect these changes.

Your developer website is missing from your app's store listing

Add a developer website to your app's listing in Google Play or the Apple App Store. We'll use your website's domain to look for an app-ads.txt file on the root path of the site. Learn now to establish a developer website.

If your app is published in multiple languages, verify that the correct developer website appears for each language variation.

Note: If you've recently added a developer website or updated your app listing in Google Play, allow up to 24 hours for AdMob to detect these changes.

Your developer website URL isn't valid

Check the URL of your developer website and make sure that it's working properly. Ensure that there are no typos in the developer website URL in your app's listing.

Your app-ads.txt file is hosted on an unsupported subdomain

Ensure that your web server hosts your app-ads.txt file or redirects to the correct location when you enter the app-ads.txt URL shown in your AdMob account. The app-ads.txt URL shown in your account is the URL AdMob uses to find your file.

Update the developer website in your app's store listing to the site's subdomain or a different domain if you are unable to publish a file at the current location or want to use a different website.

Refer to the app-ads.txt FAQ for more information.

Your app-ads.txt file is not formatted correctly

Review the Authorised Sellers for Apps specification provided by the IAB Tech Lab to ensure that you've formatted your file correctly.

Check your app-ads.txt file for issues like:

• A missing or incorrect publisher ID
• Any typos in the URL or publisher ID
• An incorrectly formatted publisher ID
• The wrong domain, like using admob.com instead of google.com

Copy and paste your personalised code snippet, which includes your publisher ID, from AdMob into your app-ads.txt file. To find your code snippet:

1. Sign in to your AdMob account at https://admob.google.com.
2. Click Apps in the sidebar.
3. Click All apps.
4. Click the app-ads.txt tab.
5. Click How to set up app-ads.txt. 
6. Click  next to the code snippet to copy. 
7. Paste the code snippet into your app-ads.txt file.

Your publisher ID is not formatted correctly

You'll need to update the app-ads.txt file to properly format your publisher ID.

Copy and paste your personalised code snippet, which includes your publisher ID, from AdMob into your app-ads.txt file. To find your code snippet:

1. Sign in to your AdMob account at https://admob.google.com.
2. Click Apps in the sidebar.
3. Click All apps.
4. Click the app-ads.txt tab.
5. Click How to set up app-ads.txt. 
6. Click  next to the code snippet to copy. 
7. Paste the code snippet into your app-ads.txt file. 

Your publisher ID is missing

You'll need to update the app-ads.txt file to include your publisher ID. 

Copy and paste your personalised code snippet, which includes your publisher ID, from AdMob into your app-ads.txt file. To find your code snippet:

1. Sign in to your AdMob account at https://admob.google.com.
2. Click Apps in the sidebar.
3. Click All apps.
4. Click the app-ads.txt tab.
5. Click How to set up app-ads.txt. 
6. Click  next to the code snippet to copy. 
7. Paste the code snippet into your app-ads.txt file. 

A robots.txt file is preventing the Google crawler from crawling your file

The app-ads.txt file may be ignored by crawlers if a robots.txt file restricts crawling. If your app-ads.txt URL redirects to a different hostname, note that any robots.txt file on that subsequent hostname can also impact crawlers, too.

Update your robots.txt file to allow Google to crawl your app-ads.txt file.

Add the following two lines of text to your robots.txt file:

User-agent: Google-adstxt

Disallow:

Note: In addition to Google-adstxt, the crawler will also obey Mediapartners-Google and Googlebot robots.txt User-agent records.

 

See an app that isn't yours? Learn more