Ad fraud cost brands and website owners over $80 billion in losses and damages in 2022 alone, Thankfully, there are a few small things you can do to prevent your site from becoming the next victim. One of them is the ads.txt file. What exactly is Ads.txt?
Ads.txt is short for Authorized Digital Seller file. This is a plain text file containing a list of approved advertising vendors. This helps prevent fraudulent ads by allowing brands to see if there is a genuine link between your WordPress website and the entity that aims to sell ad space on it.
Read on to learn more about ads.txt and how you can create one for your WordPress site.
Understanding ads.txt files
Deceptive advertising practices such as domain spoofing and inventory arbitrage can have a negative impact on a company’s reputation, revenue growth, and overall online credibility. The purpose of an ads.txt file is to make online advertising safer for both companies and website owners by removing scammers and keeping only trusted ad sellers. Thus, if you run a website that sells advertising space or is a company that wants to promote positive brand awareness, you will greatly benefit from using the ads.txt file.
Beyond Ads.txt: Creating an ads.txt File in WordPress
There are two ways to create and manage ads.txt files in WordPress:
Manual File Creation
To create an ads.txt file from scratch, all you have to do is do it through a text editor app. Each entry in the file should contain three to four pieces of description:
- First, supply the seller’s domain name. do not include”World Wide Web. Instead, enter the domain name right away. Here’s an example: “mywebsite.com,
- Next, provide the ID of the publisher or vendor. You can get the publisher ID either from your ad provider or by checking the Account Information section. Meanwhile, the Seller ID must be provided by the advertising seller.
- Then, input the relationship type. Keep “Prima facie“If you use your account to sell ad space or” ResellerIf you have authorized any third party to sell it.
- You can also type the Inventory Type and Certification Authority ID, although both of these fields are only optional.
Here’s an example definition that can typically be found in ads.txt files:
google.com, pub-YOURID, DIRECT, PLATFORM-IDAlso, remember to separate each field with a comma and name the file “ads.txt, Then, upload the file to the root directory using the File Transfer Protocol.
Once all this is done, you can update and manage the ads.txt file at any time. Simply open it, add the required information about the new vendors, and save the changes.
Using a Dedicated Plugin
One of the plugins you can use for this is simply called Ads.txt Manager Plugin, However, the plugin itself doesn’t do much to help you actually create the file. This removes the step of only needing to upload the file via FTP. You’ll still need to write your own individual definitions based on information from the ad providers you work with.
When you’re done, click Save Changes To save and enable your new ads.txt file.
Conclusion
Now that you are asking “What is ads.txt?” know the answer to And by creating one for your WordPress website, you can have peace of mind that you won’t be bothered with fraudulent advertising pitches.
