• by Adam Schenkel , Columnist, August 1, 2018

I received an interesting call from an agency client requesting ads run only on publisher sites that have implemented ads.txt. To date, the focus of advertisers and agencies around ads.txt has been buying ads from partners listed as “authorized sellers or resellers.” 

But those publishers that have not adopted the initiative are still receiving demand through many DSPs as they have not added an ads.txt file to their site. As a result, these DSPs are treating them as “unknown” and still allowing demand to flow to those publishers. 

Now we’re starting to see increase in favorability from advertisers. A report by Oath highlighted: “More than 50% of advertisers said ads.txt makes them more comfortable with programmatic ad buys, and 48% said they're suspicious of publishers that don’t use ads.txt. One-third said they would only advertise with publishers using ads.txt.”

Could we reach a point where this request is commonplace? I asked some of my peers what they’re seeing.

Rob Beeler, chairman of AdMonsters and founder of BeelerTech thinks once buyers start to request it, we’ll “really move the ball with ads.txt. 

“TAG is requiring it,” he says. “The IAB UK gold standard requires it. Publishers now get that this is required, now it’s up to the buyers to say it’s required. The big issue is what will they do if they don’t get the same reach and scale they’re used to on the open exchange? Is it too restrictive or is there now enough inventory available to satisfy? Will ads.txt restrict inventory to the point that I can’t spend my budget?”

Ilana Wollin, vice president, marketplace partners at AppNexus, thinks ads.txt benefits the entire ecosystem. “Publisher adoption has been relatively swift because it puts them in the driver’s seat and lets them tell all buyers where they can safely find their inventory without the aid of a third party. Now that the solution has scaled, AppNexus enforces publishers' ads.txt files by disabling buying on unauthorized sellers. Ads.txt is a brand safety best practice.”

But what about the agency trading desk? Joe Melendez, associate director, programmatic product, at Horizon Media, says, “Ads.txt has helped provide standardization into how we currently vet and verify inventory sources. Hearing new capability pitches can be a daunting task. Ads.txt helps navigate through the muddy waters.”

In order to make this truly actionable, buyers are asking DSPs to make “Unknown,” “Authorized,” and “Unauthorized,” options available as a targetable pre-bid selection. This is where control and transparency comes into play.

Google Display & Video 360 is leading the charge by recently announcing plans to make its inventory default settings to ads.txt authorized inventory only by the end of 2018.  

We then head into 2019 where RTB 3.0, which includes Ads.Cert, is expected to be released by the IAB for adoption, adding another layer of transparency for buyers and sellers.  

If you’re a publisher, your fear of losing revenue by adding a file should now be replaced with fear of losing revenue by not adding a file. Advertiser, the final push for adoption is in your hands, will you be demanding this from your adtech partners?