Glossary
What is app-ads.txt?
Also called: app-ads.txt file
app-ads.txt is the ads.txt list for apps and CTV: a public file on the developer website naming every company allowed to sell the app's ad inventory.
हिंदी में पढ़ेंapp-ads.txt uses the same line format as ads.txt: the ad system’s domain, your account ID and DIRECT or RESELLER. The difference is where it lives. An app has no web page of its own, so the file sits on the developer website named in the app’s store listing.
A crawler finds it in three steps. It opens the store listing and reads the developer website. It takes the host, drops www. or m., and adds /app-ads.txt. Then it checks that the seller account in the bid request, which carries the store URL, appears in the file. The common mistake is step one: a listing that points to a link page or an old domain hides a perfect file.
CTV works the same way, using the TV store’s app ID. If a TV platform or other partner sells some of your ad breaks, an inventorypartnerdomain line lets buyers check that partner’s own ads.txt. Some DSPs do not read it yet, so keep your existing reseller lines.
Example
Puzzle Pop's store listing points to www.puzzlepop.example. The crawler fetches puzzlepop.example/app-ads.txt and finds <code>ssp.example, 12345, DIRECT</code>, which matches the bid request: authorised. If the listing pointed to an old domain, the crawler would look there instead, and 100% of requests through that account would look unauthorised.
Why it matters to publishers
Buyers that check app-ads.txt can skip any app impression they cannot verify. A correct file on the wrong domain earns nothing.