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ads.txt

What Is App-Ads.Txt?

On the surface, app-ads.txt is similar to that of its companion spec, ads.txt. In the case of ads.txt, web publishers upload a list of resellers who are authorized to sell their inventory on their domain. That list can then be crawled by advertisers to ensure they only buy from legitimate…

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Blockchain Leads the Transparency Brigade: Lucidity’s Miguel Morales

During its short time bouncing around the ad-tech echoplex, blockchain has already run the full hype cycle: from "the next big thing" to "running joke" and now "potentially legit." Tech startups are finally deploying actionable and scalable solutions to a variety of problems, meaning you don't look hip at parties now when you scoff at blockchain. One…

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Shall We Kill All the Resellers?

A recently reported fraud leveraging Ads.txt isn't novel, but it highlights an issue with exchanges that’s been lurking on the edges of debate, while also raising serious questions about the future of auction-based programmatic.

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The False Audience-Content Dichotomy

Choose audience. Choose content. But wait—it's 2018, do media buyers really only get to pick one or the other? No, they shouldn't have to, writes Michael Hans. However, quality issues both in data and content have been holding us back from reaching the true potential of programmatic advertising; the time…

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OpenRTB 3.0: A Question of Adoption

Particularly with the digital signature initiative Ads.cert, OpenRTB 3.0 is going to be a major leap forward for transparency and anti-fraud efforts in the programmatic space. But of course there's a catch—version 3.0 is not backwards compatible, meaning SSPs, DSPs, and other intermediaries have a lot of code re-writing on…

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Have We Reached the Limits of Ads.txt?

It's been reported this week that 1,400 mobile apps loaded ads on TV Guide's domain. How did this happen, in an age when everyone's on board with Ads.txt? Well, the answer is simple, but it's not what you want to hear: The buyers just hadn't been scanning those Ads.txt files…

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Clearing the Way for In-App Transparency

To deliver on the potential of automated buying and selling in the in-app space, advertisers, publishers and our industry as a whole are doubling down on transparency initiatives that make it harder for issues like fraud to take root and restore the faith in the good actors. Here’s a look…

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Are You Ready for the Transparency Blockchain Promises?

Blockchain promises a level of transparency the ad industry needs in order to clean up the supply chain. But it could disclose fees in a way that could hurt the business of some of those companies along the supply chain, even legit ones. Brian LaRue asks how much transparency is…

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