Why should you read this article?
Because you'll learn why we're going a step further to combat fraud and promote a healthy ecosystem.
In an ecosystem where buyers are losing faith, Smart is committed to ensuring the highest quality standard. To that end, we have decided to block all bid requests that fail to meet the ads.txt standard.
Smart's mission is to protect both clients and partners from the negative impacts of fraud, a multi-billion dollar industry that diverts revenue from publishers and could cost advertisers $10.9 billion by 2021. At Smart, we ensure Quality by working only with premium publishers, and by using proprietary technology tools and powerful fraud detection systems such as FraudLogix and Integral Ad Science. Our Quality Team and Chief Quality Officer are devoted to the pursuit of a clean, fraud-free ecosystem.
The first SSP to implement 100 percent ads.txt compliance
Today, Smart has decided to go a step further. Starting December 20, we will block all bid requests that fail to meet the ads.txt standard. Sites which have yet to implement ads.txt will continue to receive Smart's demand, but only for a limited period of time. This policy not only ensures Smart RTB+ inventory is ads.txt 100% compliant, but it also safeguards domain authenticity for our demand partners.
Smart is the first supply-side platform to establish this policy and welcomes full participation from publishers to drive marketplace quality.
How ads.txt helps to stop the sale of counterfeit ad inventory
Smart fully supports the IAB's ads.txt initiative, which helps prevent bad actors from tricking buyers into purchasing fake impressions. Ads.txt allows publishers to declare companies who are authorized to sell their digital inventory. The creation of a public record of Authorized Digital Sellers helps prevent counterfeit inventory and improve transparency. Smart has worked with both supply and demand sides to adopt ads.txt as quickly as possible.
Smart crawls more than 300,000 domains worldwide, and by mid-November, over 40,000 URLs contained a valid Smart ads.txt entry. This number has grown since, as the initiative continues to be adopted by more publishers.
In an effort to simplify the process, we have compiled all the necessary documentation and educational material publishers need to be compliant.
