What is Ads.txt? How to add an Ads.txt file? What are its benefits?

What is Ads.txt? How to add an Ads.txt file? What are its benefits?

Are you also planning to add Ads.txt file to your website? Ads.txt file protects you from ad fraud. Not only that, it also helps to increase your earning. Many advertisers do not want to place their ads on websites without Ads.txt. Today I will tell you what Ads.txt is, how to add it to your WordPress or any website and what are its benefits.

What is Ads.txt?

Ads.txt is a text file in which you have to mention the names of all the advertising networks that you have authorized to place ads on your website.

As an example, suppose you have placed Google Adsense Ads on your website. This means you have given Google the right to sell your website's Ad places to other advertisers. It was first initiated by a non-profit organization called IAB Tech Labs. This institute works to improve the Digital Advertising Standards. Ads.txt supports many popular advertising platforms like Google Adsense, Doubleclick, Ad Exchange, etc.

Why is Ads.txt important?

Every year, online advertisers lose millions of rupees from ad fraud. Bad people are constantly trying to cheat Ad platforms. In these cases, the Ads.txt file brings transparency between the advertiser and the publisher. If you have added the Ads.txt file to your website, then no one can fraudulently show your website to others.
Also check: https://www.technology-tutsonline.com/2019/09/what-are-dofollow-and-nofollow-links.html
To understand this thing well, suppose someone told you that - you give me so much money, I will put the ad of your website or product on that popular website. In this case, you can directly open the Ads.txt file of that website and check whether the person or company is allowed to display Ad on that popular website, or he is planning to rob you of money.

You can check the Ads.txt file of any website by going to yourwebsite.com/ads.txt url. This information is public so that anyone can access the Advertiser, Publisher, Reseller, Reader, etc.

If you use display ads of Adsense, Doubleclick or Ad Exchange on your website, you must add the Ads.txt file. Although it is not mandatory to do so, it does have many advantages over the website.

How to add Ads.txt file?

If your website is built on WordPress, you can easily add Ads.txt file with the help of a plugin. First, activate by installing the Ads.txt Manager plugin. You will then find the option of Ads.txt inside Settings.
Here you can declare all Ad Network and Reseller line by line. For example, you could declare Google Adsense as:

google.com, pub-0000000000000000, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0

4 fields have been added to the above line. The first company name, second your publisher id or account id, the third type - like DIRECT or RESELlER and the fourth Ad Network unique id. You can use the same unique id for all Google Advertising, all you have to do is change the publisher id.

If your website is not on WordPress or you do not want to use the plugin, you can upload it to the root directory of the website by mentioning all Ads Network names in a simple Ads.txt file.

 How to fix Adsense's "Earnings At Risk" error?

In the absence of an Ads.txt file, your AdSense account displays some kind of error or warning message:

"Earnings at risk - One or more of your ads.txt files contain your AdSense publisher ID. Fix this now to avoid serious impact to your revenue. ”

This means that the Google Adsense publisher id is not declared or incorrectly declared in the Ads.txt file of your website. It is quite easy to fix this. Go to your WordPress Dashboard -> Settings -> Ads.txt and enter the correct publisher id. After some time the error will go away automatically.

Also keep in mind that the plugin mentioned above is only made for the WordPress website installed in the root directory. If you have WordPress installed on a sub-domain (ex - technology-tutsonline.com) then this plugin will not work.

I hope you fully understand this article, and you know what Ads.txt is? How to add Ads.txt file to Website and what are its benefits. Please use the comment section below to ask any questions.