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Setting up Your ads.txt File

Protect your ad inventory and ensure you're getting full value from your advertisers by installing your ads.txt file.

What is ads.txt?

An ads.txt file is a plain text file hosted at the root level of your domain, meaning it lives at the top level of your website (for example, yoursite.com/ads.txt). It contains a list of companies that are officially authorized to sell advertising on your site, so buyers know exactly who they’re purchasing from.

Why It Matters

Without an ads.txt file, bad actors can fraudulently sell ad space on your site without your knowledge, costing you revenue and undermining advertiser trust. Ads.txt was created to combat two types of ad fraud:

  • Unauthorized reselling of your ad inventory through arbitration - when someone buys your ad inventory and resells it to advertisers at a markup, without your permission
  • Misrepresentation or counterfeit ad impressions - when fraudsters impersonate your site to sell fake ad space to unsuspecting buyers

For more information, see the blog post, Ads.txt Exposing Resellers.

WordPress Sites

The easiest way to manage your ads.txt file is through the Mediavine Control Panel (MCP) plugin, a free WordPress plugin that manages key Mediavine settings directly from your dashboard. Once installed, it will set up and host your ads.txt file automatically, or let you update it with a single click.

To confirm it's active, navigate to your Control Panel settings:

  • If you see Redirecting your Ads.txt to our servers, you're all set. No further action needed.
  • If you see ads.txt file added to your site, your ads.txt is still updating automatically, but you'll also see an Update Ads.txt button if you want to trigger an update manually.

Screenshot_2026-02-19_at_4_21_41 PM

Updating Your ads.txt File on WordPress

  1. Confirm your Mediavine Control Panel plugin is version 2.6.0 or higher. You can check this in your WordPress plugin settings.
  2. Navigate to your Mediavine Control Panel settings. By default, the plugin keeps your ads.txt up to date automatically. To trigger a manual update, click Update Ads.txt.
    1. If you see an error after clicking Update Ads.txt, a server-level setting may be blocking the action. Contact your hosting provider to resolve it, or manually upload the file via FTP (a method of transferring files directly to your website's server — your host can walk you through this).
    2. If you don't see the update option at all, your server is configured to handle the redirect automatically. No action needed.
  3. Clear your site's cache. If you have any caching plugins installed, tools that store a saved version of your site to help it load faster, clear them after updating. You'll find the option to clear cache in the top menu bar of your WordPress Admin.

  4. Confirm the update was successful. In your Mediavine Dashboard, you'll see a prompt if your ads.txt still needs attention. If you're using the legacy dashboard, the health check will flag any issues there as well.

Ads.txt MCP Plugin-1

Non-WordPress Sites

If your site doesn't run on WordPress, you can download your ads.txt file directly from your Mediavine Dashboard.

  1. Log in to your Dashboard and select Settings in the side menu, then Ad Setup. At the bottom of the page, select Download Ads.txt File.
  2. Upload the file to the root directory of your site (the top-level folder where your website's core files live).
  3. To confirm the upload worked, visit https://www.yourdomain.com/ads.txt in your browser. If the file loads, you're all set.

If you're using the legacy dashboard, navigate to Settings, then Ad Setup — the download option is at the bottom of the page.

If you run into trouble uploading the file, contact your hosting provider. They can walk you through the process, which may require FTP access.

New Dashboard - Download Ads.txt

 

Squarespace Ads.txt

Squarespace doesn't allow direct file uploads to your root directory, but there's a solution. See this article for step-by-step instructions, or email publishers@mediavine.com for hands-on help.

Blogger ads.txt

Blogger has a built-in solution that lets you copy and paste your ads.txt content directly into your backend settings. Follow the instructions here.

Troubleshooting

  • Seeing a 404 error when visiting your ads.txt URL? See this article for next steps.
  • Running Sucuri? Sucuri is a website security and firewall tool that may cache your ads.txt file and prevent it from updating. Follow these instructions to set ads.txt as a non-cached URL.

Still have questions? Reach out to publishers@mediavine.com. We're happy to help.