App-Ads.txt Adoption: Google Play Stats, Trends, and more.
Last update: 14 Mar 2024 CET

App-Ads.txt Adoption: Google Play Stats, Trends, and more.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has taken it upon themselves to help app publishers and advertisers combat mobile ad fraud.

Back in 2017, they devised the ads.txt and app-ads.txt ad fraud prevention standards, aimed at helping advertisers acquire mobile ad space from legitimate and authorized suppliers only. Indeed, by giving app publishers the ability to declare which companies are authorized to sell their ad inventory, app-ads.txt has become an important mechanism for addressing concerns like advertising transparency and revenue loss due to app spoofing.

With this in mind, we analyzed the state of app-ads.txt adoption on Google Play. We address how many apps have implemented app-ads.txt, the most commonly listed ad providers on app-ads.txt files, and more.

Data Source: 42matters

At 42matters, we take a holistic approach to mobile and connected TV (CTV) app intelligence. We track app metadata, performance metrics, technical specifications, strategic insights, and more. If you would like to leverage our data for your own products, processes, or research, you can access it via our APIs, File Dumps, Explorer, SDK Explorer, and App Watchlist.

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How many apps on Google Play have adopted app-ads.txt?

44% App-Ads.txt
Apps with App-Ads.txt
44%
1,516,715
Total Apps on Google Play 3.45m+

43.9% of Google PlayGoogle Play apps have implemented app-ads.txt. This means 1,516,715 out of all 3,454,639 apps have adopted the standard.

How many of the top 1,000 Google Play Apps have adopted App-Ads.txt?

72% Top Apps
Top Apps with App-Ads.txt
72%
716
Total of top Apps on Google Play 1.00k+

Of the top 1,000 Google PlayGoogle Play Apps, 716 (71.6%) have implemented app-ads.txt. This means adoption is significantly higher among the top apps.

Looking for more App-Ads.txt insights?

Ever since the IAB announced App-Ads.txt, we at 42matters have been keeping a close eye on its trajectory. We’ve even aggregated app-ads.txt data for apps across all major app stores. This enables us to provide a list of authorized resellers for any app that leverages the IAB’s ad fraud prevention standard in a matter of seconds!

We offer App-Ads.txt insight for apps available on the following stores:

  • Google Play logoGoogle Play
  • Apple App Store logoApple App Store
  • Samsung Smart TV Apps logoSamsung Smart TV Apps
  • Apple TV tvOS App Store logoApple TV tvOS App Store
  • LG Content Store logoLG Content Store
  • Amazon Fire TV logoAmazon Fire TV
  • Google TV logoGoogle TV
  • Roku Channel Store logoRoku Channel Store
  • Amazon Appstore logoAmazon Appstore
  • Vizio SmartCast Apps logoVizio SmartCast Apps
  • Huawei AppGallery logoHuawei AppGallery

This data is updated on a regular basis and comes via our managed data service. This means you’ll have access to the latest and greatest data, without having to build and implement your own crawler or individually validate each datapoint.

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App-Ads.txt Adoption Trends: Apps vs Games

Google PlayApps
Google PlayGames
Apps with App-Ads.txt
39.76%
Games with App-Ads.txt
15.21%
Adoption Rate comparing Apps VS Games

These charts compare the rate of App-Ads.txt adoption among apps and games on Google PlayGoogle Play.
Overall 39.76% of apps have implemented the standard, while 15.21% of games have done so.

Are You Looking for Data-Rich Insights into the App Market?

The App Market Explorer allows you to selectively or broadly browse the entire mobile application market. 42matters also offers all kind of APIs and a full meta data snapshots of Google Play Store and iOS App Store games. These data dumps allow you to implement and analyze the data we collect in any way you see fit. Book a demo if you have any more questions.

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