Have you received the Ads txt error and you are lost on how to fix it? Well, we will show you how to go about it successfully this article. Everything becomes simple when you actually know what to do.
What is the Ads.txt earnings at risk error?
If you work from home and run your own blog, monetizing your blog is a great motivation to keep going. There are hundreds of ways to earn from your website, including using affiliate programs, sponsored posts, and ad services. The most known blog monetization ad service is Google Adsense.
In recent years, fraudulent ad services have taken advantage of publishers and content creators by ‘stealing ad spaces’ on your website. Consequently, ads display but you do not see any earnings. That’s why Google advises publishers to upload the Ads.txt file onto their website.
In the file, you identify the digital ad services that can legally advertise on your website. That way, you block any fraudulent advertisers. However, you also block any advertisers who are not listed on your ads.txt file.
Google Adsense sends publishers the Ads txt error if the crawler does not detect the file on your website. Nevertheless, it doesn’t mean Adsense ads will stop appearing on your blog if you do not upload the ads.txt file.
How to upload ads.txt file
You must have access to your cPanel in order to upload the ads.txt file to the root folder of your domain.
Once you log onto your cPanel, open the public.html folder. Hover to upload file on the upper left side of the interface. Choose the ads.txt file from your computer and upload.
Confirm whether the file uploaded successfully by going to your browser search bar and type the following:
example.com/ads.txt
where example.com should be the name of your domain. When you click enter or search, the browser should find your ads.txt in the following format:
google.com, pub-0000000000000000, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0
Make sure the pub-00000000000000 reflects your correct publisher number.
Errors you are likely to experience with ads txt
If you upload the ads.txt file and Google crawler is unable to fetch it, it will throw an error message. Make sure there are no extra spaces, incorrectly placed commas, wrongly spelt publisher ID, or presence of full stops.
Counter check your ads.txt file by right-clicking on it in the cPanel and selecting edit. Correct any errors and save.
Ads disappeared after uploading ads.txt – Ads txt DIRECT vs SELLER error
There are many articles that tackle the various errors you may experience with ads.txt. You may notice that Adsense ads disappear after uploading the file.
If you have followed all the suggestions in the Google Ads.txt troubleshooting and nothing seems t work, do the following.
Check that your website’s ads.txt displays DIRECT and not SELLER (see format above).
If it displays SELLER, yet you have already uploaded a file with DIRECT, don’t fret. It takes time for crawlers to fetch the correct file and update.
What if you have waited for three or four weeks and no update for the ads disappeared after uploading ads.txt file? Well, just do the following:
- Delete the ads.txt file you created from your root domain in cPanel.
- Go to your Google Search Console and select the correct domain property.
- In the left pane, select ‘Removals’
- Click on NEW REQUEST tab that appears.
- Type in the ads txt URL of your website (example.com/ads.txt)
- Choose ‘Remove all URLs with this prefix’ and click next.
After a day or two, the cache will be clear and Google Adsense ads will be back on your website. The ads txt error is no longer there.
Take some weeks before you upload the correct ads.txt file and make sure it has DIRECT and not SELLER in the format.
