Optimizations
      Back to home
      1. Documentation
      2. Optimizations

      Auto ads.txt and app-ads.txt manager

      Learn how to always be connected to the latest demand and revenue and control your ads.txt and app-ads.txt from inside Holid.io without having to do any updates

      Setting up auto ads.txt and app-ads.txt is a great way of making sure you’re always connected to the latest ad demand and revenue, but it also allows for controlling your own ads.txt and app-ads.txt rows for your website directly from Holid.io.

      Be connected, always.

      Holid.io updates its demand sources a few times per year. This means that you need to update your ads.txt file for your websites or app-ads.txt for your apps in order to receive the additional demand and revenue. Holid.io supports auto ads.txt and app-ads.txt, which allows you to never have to update it again.

      Whenever Holid.io makes an update to the ads.txt or app-ads.txt rows, it gets automatically updated on your site's URL or for your app's developer URL. 

      Add your own ads.txt rows

      In addition to Holid.io's ads.txt and app-ads.txt rows, you are able to add your own rows too. This is helpful if you are working with additional demand sources on your website. 

      The Holid.io auto ads.txt and app-ads.txt management solution is site and app-directed. This means that the solution is set up site by site or app by app, which allows for site by site or app setups. 

      Implementation of auto ads.txt and app-ads.txt

      This is an advanced feature. Consult your developer for implementation.

      1. Getting your URL

      The auto ads.txt feature is site and app-dependent, so start by fetching your site or app-unique URL for redirection:

      • Log in to your Holid.io-account
      • Click on Optimization.
      • Toggle the For sites or For apps tabs depending on where you're going to make changes, and:
        • For sites: Choose Enable auto ads.txt 
        • For apps: Choose Enable auto app-ads.txt 
      • Get URL:
        • For sites: In the Choose your site dropdown, select your site in the list that you would like to set up auto ads.txt for.
        • For apps: In the Choose your app dropdown, select your app in the list that you would like to set up auto app-ads.txt for.
      • Follow the guide in this documentation for implementation.

      2. Creating the permanent  301 redirect

      In the below code examples, we mention ads.txt, which is the name for sites. If it's for your app and your app's developer website you are making the change, simply change the command's contents to include app-ads.txt.


      We are here listing three possible ways to implement:

      - Htaccess

      - Nginx

      - Cloudflare (or similar) URL rewrite 

      If you are an experienced backend developer, you may want to utilize permanent redirect directly on your servers. Please use caution when using these methods, as they may cause site downtime if configured incorrectly.

      In the below examples, we are using the URL https://app.holid.io/txt/XYZ/ads.txt, which is not for production use.

      Htaccess 301 permanent redirect

      Redirect 301 /ads.txt https://app.holid.io/txt/XYZ/ads.txt

      Nginx 301 permanent redirect

      rewrite ^/ads.txt$ https://app.holid.io/txt/XYZ/ads.txt permanent;

      or

      Nginx proxy:

      location /ads.txt {

                      proxy_pass https://app.holid.io/txt/XYZ/ads.txt;

                      proxy_redirect default;

                  }

      Cloudflare (or similar systems) URL rewrite

      Set up rule to check if URL matches your domain on the below location:

      mydomain.com/ads.txt

      Forward URL (301 permanent redirect) to:

      https://app.holid.io/txt/XYZ/ads.txt

      Verifying implementation

      Verify that your domain is forwarding the URL to the Holid.io URL by simply entering

      • For sites: Your site's URL, with amended /ads.txt at the end in your web browser, for exampleyourdomain.com/ads.txt, and see if it redirects you to your unique app.holid.io domain.
      • For apps: Your app's developer website URL, with amended /app-ads.txt at the end in your web browser, for exampledevsite.com/ads.txt, and see if it redirects you to your unique app.holid.io domain.

      3. Optional: Adding your own ads.txt or app-ads.txt rows

      • Log in to your Holid.io-account
        • For sites: Click on Sites.
          • Click My ads.txt rows next to the site for which you want to edit the rows.
          • Scroll down to the My ads.txt rows box. Open it, paste the rows you want to add, and hit Save.
          • Verify that the rows are added by going to yourdomain.com/ads.txt. A few minutes might be needed to wait for the caching to clear. 
        • For apps: Click on Apps.
          • Click My app-ads.txt rows next to the app for which you want to edit the rows.
          • Scroll down to the My app-ads.txt rows box. Open it, paste the rows you want to add, and hit Save.
          • Verify that the rows are added by going to your app's developer website URL, for example devsite.com/app-ads.txt. A few minutes might be needed to wait for the caching to clear.