What is app-ads.txt?
app-ads.txt is the version of ads.txt for mobile and CTV apps. The app developer hosts it at the root of the developer website named on the app's store listing, using the same line format to list the advertising systems and account IDs authorized to sell the app's inventory. Buyers find it through the store listing rather than through the app itself.
Also called: app ads txt, app-ads, Authorized Sellers for Apps.
How it works
An app has no page domain in the bid request, so verification starts from the app's identity. App.bundle and App.storeurl point to the store listing, the store listing names the developer website, and app-ads.txt sits at that site's root. Crawlers run by DSPs and verification vendors follow that chain and cache the result, so a change to the file is not seen everywhere at once.
Matching works as it does for ads.txt. The first paid node in Source.schain supplies the advertising system in SupplyChainNode.asi and the account in SupplyChainNode.sid, and a DIRECT or RESELLER line in app-ads.txt must list that pair. CTV apps follow the same model, with store IDs written according to IAB Tech Lab's guidelines for OTT and CTV app stores.
Most failures come from app identity rather than the file. A bundle ID that matches no real store listing, a store URL for the wrong platform, or a developer site that has moved leaves buyers unable to find the file, and spoofed bundle IDs are a known CTV fraud pattern. When the file cannot be fetched, bidders may no-bid with reason 11 or treat the inventory as unverified.
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