It's not exactly correct to say it's impossible to add ads.txt to your website without tools. You can, but it would be a lot like building a table without tools. Instead of using a level, you would have to eyeball whether the table is level; instead of using a measuring tape, you'd lay the legs side by side to make sure they're even; instead of using a hammer or drill, you would use what would have to be some impressive upper body strength.

Not impossible, but maybe improbable. When you're engaged in the much less rugged task of implementing ads.txt as a publisher, an ads.txt manager is your level, an ads.txt validator is your measuring tape, and an ads.txt generator is your hammer. These are the tools that make ads.txt easier for publishers who aren't used to writing code from scratch.

And this post will walk you through everything you need to know about them. Read on to learn more.

Playwire is a multi-tool — an ads.txt manager, ads.txt validator and ads.txt generator all rolled into one. We do ads.txt and so much more for publishers so they can sit back, create content and watch the revenue roll in for their available inventory. Interested? Get in touch.

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Your Ads.txt Toolbox

Ads.txt has only been around for a few years, but in that time, people have created hundreds of tools designed to make ads.txt adoption and management easier for every type of publisher. Here are some of the tools you should have in your ads.txt toolbox.

Ads.txt Manager

An ads.txt manager can do a lot of things. There are several to choose from, and each has its own set of features, but the basics are as follows:

  • Creating one central place to manage ads.txt files for multiple websites or apps
  • Providing a visual interface with which to edit your ads.txt files
  • Importing of existing ads.txt files
  • Allowing an authorized digital seller to modify their entries within your ads.txt file so you stay up to date

An ads.txt manager is kind of like an assistant. When you know what needs to be done to your ads.txt file, your ads.txt manager makes it easier to do than if you had to go into the raw text file and make the change manually.

Ads.txt Validator

Your ads.txt validator will check your work. When you've written your ads.txt file, you may feel you did it exactly right, but an ads.txt validator will scan the file to make sure that's true.

Even if you're highly experienced with ads.txt, you can still make small mistakes that break the programmatic flow of revenue to your site. You probably don't have the time, skills, or attention span to go through a large ads.txt file line by line to catch any mistakes, and you may not even know you've made one unless you use a validator.

There are quite possibly hundreds of free ads.txt validators on the internet. They all offer different levels of quality, so try out a few and see which one you're most comfortable with.

Ads.txt Generator

Among the ads.txt tools, the ads.txt generator may save you the most time and effort. This is basically what it sounds like: a tool that generates an ads.txt file for you. That means you don't have to write it yourself.

An ads.txt generator usually works by crawling your domain to identify the sellers that are active on your site. From there, the generator will compile those sellers found within your domain into a list and format that list with the proper information and style to create a working ads.txt file.

That is pretty convenient, but generators come with some caveats. First, they may not pull all of the correct information for each seller, and when they make mistakes like that, they can inadvertently disrupt your ad revenue from the seller.

Second, ads.txt file creation is not a one-and-done endeavor. You have to update your file as you add or remove authorized sellers or sellers change their information. A generator won't do updates for you and may not know when sellers have updated their details.

Still, generators can be incredibly handy - even if they only provide you a starting point for your ads.txt file.

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What’s Better Than Ads.txt Tools? Playwire

Ads.txt tools are great. Your ads.txt manager simplifies large files and helps you manage ads.txt for multiple sites. Your ads.txt validator makes sure each ads.txt file is written correctly and working well. And your ads.txt generator makes the ads.txt file creation process easy.

What could be better than that?

We can think of one thing: Playwire. Playwire does everything ads.txt tools do, but we eliminate the part where you actually have to use the tools. We manage everything from start to finish, and we do a lot more than that. While ads.txt is just one small part, it is a significant one that can protect you from any ad fraud and counterfeit inventory, and quite literally assures that authorized ad inventory sellers and programmatic buyers are working only with valid digital inventory. So however small it may seem, it is an important one, on the enormous list of steps, we take to bring in more ad revenue for our publishers.

If that sounds like a solid deal to you, we want to hear from you. Reach out to Playwire today: contact us through our website.

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