By November 2017, more than 44% of publishers had ads.txt files. More than 90,000 sites were using ads.txt, up from 3,500 in September 2017, according to Pixalate. Among the top 1,000 sites that sold programmatic ads, 57 percent had ads.txt files, compared to 16 percent in September, per Pixalate.
Latest adoption data per FirstImpression.io's Ads.txt Industry Dashboard:
| Websites Tier | Jan 30th, 2020 | Jan 30th, 2019 | Jan 30th, 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alexa Top 1,000 | 44.20% | 40.90% | 33.70% |
| Alexa Top 5,000 | 39.58% | 36.00% | 29.06% |
| Alexa Top 10,000 | 36.66% | 32.75% | 25.18% |
| Alexa Top 30,000 | 31.71% | 26.34% | 18.52% |
Google has been an active proponent of ads.txt and pushing for faster, widespread adoption by publishers. From the end of October 2017 Google Display & Video 360 only buys inventory from sources identified as authorized sellers in a publisher’s ads.txt file, when a file is available. ads.txt may become a requirement for Display & Video 360.
