Ads & Revenue

Location: Step 11 — Ads & Revenue

This step controls the explicit Allow rules for ad-verification files. The IAB (ads.txt) and mobile-app (app-ads.txt) verification files need to remain reachable for programmatic ad demand to verify the site's declared sellers. A misconfigured robots.txt can break that chain.

What this step controls

Two toggles:

• Allow verification file (ads.txt) — emits an explicit Allow rule for /ads.txt.
• Allow app verification file (app-ads.txt) — emits an explicit Allow rule for /app-ads.txt.

Both rules are written under User-agent: *. They are defensive: they override any earlier Disallow that might unintentionally cover the verification files.

How to decide

Keep both on when:

• the site sells programmatic advertising and declares sellers in ads.txt;
• a mobile app version of the site declares its own sellers in app-ads.txt;
• the site participates in any IAB-compliant ad ecosystem.

It is safe to keep them on even when:

• ads.txt does not currently exist — the Allow rule is harmless if the file is absent;
• the ad operations may move to a different setup later.

Turn off only when:

• the site is intentionally non-commercial and no ad-verification flow applies;
• the operator explicitly wants the verification files unreachable.

What this step does not do

This step does not:

• create ads.txt or app-ads.txt — those files must be published separately by the ad operator;
• validate the seller declarations inside the files;
• replace the ad-platform-side configuration that consumes the verification.

Plan tier

Both toggles are available on every tier.

Related

• IAB ads.txt specification (external)
• Resources & Assets
• Review & Save