Reseller Ads.txt Entries Surge Among Top US Publishers, DataBeat Reports
· 18h ago · Originally reported by PPC Land
DataBeat analysis shows that resellers added 44,600 new ads.txt lines, compared to 10,300 for direct sellers, across the top 50,000 US publishers. Low-traffic sites contributed most of the growth, and nearly half of Tier 1 SSP domains remain duplicated in ads.txt files.
Why it matters
The increase in reseller entries and persistent duplication in ads.txt files can complicate supply path optimization and transparency for advertisers, potentially increasing the risk of inefficiencies or fraud.
Explain it like I’m new here
It's like having more middlemen selling tickets for a concert, making it harder to know who really has the best seats.
Terms in this story
Reseller
A reseller is a company authorised to sell a publisher's ad inventory through an ad system account that it controls, rather than the publisher's own account, and labelled RESELLER in ads.txt.
ads.txt
ads.txt (Authorized Digital Sellers) is a public text file on a website's domain listing which ad sellers and accounts are authorised to sell that website's ad inventory.
Publisher
A publisher is any owner of content or a digital property, such as a website, app, streaming service, podcast or screen network, that earns money by selling ad space to advertisers.
SSP (supply-side platform)
An SSP (supply-side platform) is software that publishers use to sell their ad inventory automatically to many buyers, running auctions and managing prices, deals and quality controls.
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