--- title: Data shows sites with ads.txt tend toward higher viewability description: How do ads.txt-enabled sites stack up against sites without ads.txt in terms of viewability? Pixalate studied global programmatic desktop display advertising data in February 2018 and March 2018 to begin painting the picture. image: https://www.pixalate.com/hubfs/ads.txt-viewability-blog-header-feb-march-2018%20(1).png --- [![pixalate-full-logo](https://www.pixalate.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Pixalate_Logos/pixalate-full-logo.jpg?width=150&height=60&name=pixalate-full-logo.jpg "pixalate-full-logo")](https://www.pixalate.com) Search **Menu** ** ** ![](https://www.pixalate.com/hubfs/ads.txt-viewability-blog-header-feb-march-2018%20(1).png) [Thought Leadership](https://www.pixalate.com/blog/topic/thought-leadership) | 2 min read # Data shows sites with ads.txt tend toward higher viewability Written by [Tyler Loechner](https://www.pixalate.com/blog/author/tyler-loechner) May 4, 2018 10:07:46 AM Pixalate has kept [close track](https://www.pixalate.com/topic/ads-txt) of ads.txt adoption and growth, and while the initiative has seen widespread adoption over the past six months, questions still remain as to whether or not the ad inventory sold by publishers with ads.txt is of higher quality compared to sites without ads.txt. There are many KPIs used to determine "quality," and what qualifies as "quality inventory" can change from one company to the next. But viewability is one of the most ubiquitous measurements used in digital marketing today, so we set out to examine viewability trends as it relates to ads.txt So how do ads.txt-enabled sites stack up against sites without ads.txt in terms of viewability? Pixalate studied global programmatic desktop display advertising data in February 2018 and March 2018 to begin painting the picture. ![ads.txt-viewability-blog-header-feb-march-2018 (1)](https://www.pixalate.com/hs-fs/hubfs/ads.txt-viewability-blog-header-feb-march-2018%20(1).png?width=600&height=300&name=ads.txt-viewability-blog-header-feb-march-2018%20(1).png) ### February 2018: Ads.txt-enabled sites had higher viewability   Pixalate's observations of the global programmatic desktop display ad marketplace in February 2018 were clear: Sites with ads.txt, on average, had higher overall viewability rates. - **Viewability (February 2018)** - Ads.txt enabled: 45.4% - Ads.txt not enabled: 41.9% The trend here appears clear, with ads.txt-enabled sites delivering about 3.5% higher viewability rates compared to sites without ads.txt. But this is just one month's worth of data. Here's what March looked like. ### March 2018: Ads.txt-enabled have notably higher viewability rates — again   Our observed data from March 2018 is even more conclusive on the viewability front. The March data aligns with the February data in terms of viewability — but to an even greater degree. - **Viewability (March 2018)** - Ads.txt enabled: 43.2% - Ads.txt not enabled: 37.4%  ### The trend holds true across top domains While the above data represents data collected from over 500,000 sites which participate in the open programmatic marketplace, Pixalate also studied the Alexa Top 20,000, Top 50,000, and Top 100,000 sites — those of which that participate in the open programmatic marketplace — to see if the trends held true across the domains on which marketers are most active.  We found that sites with ads.txt had higher viewability than sites without ads.txt across all subsets studied: **March 2018:** | **Viewability: March 2018** | | | | --- | --- | --- | |   | **Ads.txt Enabled** | **Ads.txt Not Enabled** | | Alexa Top 20,000 | 43.1% | 36.1% | | Alexa Top 50,000 | 43.5% | 36.9% | | Alexa Top 100,000 | 43.2% | 37.3% | **February 2018:** | **Viewability: February 2018** | | | | --- | --- | --- | |   | **Ads.txt Enabled** | **Ads.txt Not Enabled** | | Alexa Top 20,000 | 45.6% | 41.6% | | Alexa Top 50,000 | 45.8% | 41.9% | | Alexa Top 100,000 | 45.4% | 41.9% | ### Preliminary results: Ads.txt-enabled sites offer higher viewability Our study from February and March 2018 suggests that sites with ads.txt do indeed offer better quality in terms of viewability.  - In February, the difference in viewability was about 3.5% - 45.4% for ads.txt-enabled vs. 41.9% for sites without ads.txt -  March, the difference in viewability was nearly 6% - 43.2% for ads.txt-enabled vs. 37.4% for sites without ads.txt What have you observed when buying on ads.txt-enabled sites versus sites without ads.txt? ### Methodology The data contained in this blog represent Pixalate's measured observations of the desktop display programmatic advertising ecosystem in February and March 2018. The data is representative of over 500,000 sites which participate in programmatic advertising in the open marketplace. *Want more data-driven insights? Sign up for our blog! * ### Search Blog Search ### Follow Pixalate ### Subscribe to our blog *By entering your email address and clicking Subscribe, you are agreeing to our [Terms of Use ](https://www.pixalate.com/terms)and [Privacy Policy.](https://www.pixalate.com/privacypolicy) Previous Story [← Centro Adds Real-Time Viewability Reporting from Pixalate in Programmatic Buying Platform](https://www.pixalate.com/blog/centro-pixalate-viewability-partnership) [** ](https://www.pixalate.com/blog) Next Story [Pixalate Week in Review: April 30 - May 4, 2018 →](https://www.pixalate.com/blog/programmatic-ad-fraud-news-week-in-review-may-4-2018) ## You May Also Like These Stories on Thought Leadership [![](https://www.pixalate.com/hubfs/Q%26A%20with%20Krush%20Media%20-%20cover.png) ](https://www.pixalate.com/blog/krush-media-qa) [Case Studies](https://www.pixalate.com/blog/topic/case-studies) ### [Q&A with Steven Slaughter, Head of Ad Ops & Yield at Krush Media, on managing a clean CTV and Mobile Ad Supply Chain](https://www.pixalate.com/blog/krush-media-qa) Jun 27, 2023 12:00:00 PM | 4 min read [![](https://www.pixalate.com/hubfs/Q%26A%20with%20Screencore%20-%20cover.png) ](https://www.pixalate.com/blog/screencore-qa) [Case Studies](https://www.pixalate.com/blog/topic/case-studies) ### [Q&A with Jess Okan, Co-founder and CEO of Screencore, on strategies for minimizing ad fraud in the connected TV ecosystem](https://www.pixalate.com/blog/screencore-qa) May 30, 2023 7:00:00 AM | 6 min read [![](https://www.pixalate.com/hubfs/Oleksandra%20Kazantseva.png) ](https://www.pixalate.com/blog/bizzclick-qa) [Case Studies](https://www.pixalate.com/blog/topic/case-studies) ### [Q&A with Oleksandra Kazantseva, Head of Programmatic at BizzClick, on transparency, trust, and security](https://www.pixalate.com/blog/bizzclick-qa) Apr 17, 2023 2:00:00 PM | 4 min read ** ### Subscribe to our blog *By entering your email address and clicking Subscribe, you are agreeing to our [Terms of Use ](https://www.pixalate.com/terms)and [Privacy Policy.](https://www.pixalate.com/privacypolicy) ![pixalate-logo-red-small](https://www.pixalate.com/hs-fs/hubfs/2018NewTemplate/pixalate-logo-red-small.png?width=208&name=pixalate-logo-red-small.png "pixalate-logo-red-small") ** By entering your email address and clicking Subscribe, you are agreeing to our [Terms of Use](https://www.pixalate.com/terms) and [Privacy Policy](https://www.pixalate.com/privacypolicy) Products [Analytics](https://www.pixalate.com/products/analytics) [Blocking](https://www.pixalate.com/products/blocking) [Media Rating Terminal](https://www.pixalate.com/products/mrt) [Publisher Trust Indexes](https://www.pixalate.com/rankings/?group=app&reportId=publisherTrustIndex) [Seller Trust Indexes](https://www.pixalate.com/rankings/?group=app&reportId=publisherTrustIndex) [IoT Device Rankings](https://www.pixalate.com/rankings/?group=app&reportId=iotDeviceReach) Resources [Blog](https://blog.pixalate.com/) [Press](https://www.pixalate.com/press) [Careers](https://www.pixalate.com/jobs) [Team](https://info.pixalate.com/pixalate-leadership-team) Contact Email [** sales@pixalate.com ](mailto:sales@pixalate.com) [** privacy@pixalate.com ](mailto:privacy@pixalate.com) US: [** +1 888 749 2528 ](tel:+1%20888%20749%202528) EU: [** +44 (0)800 011 2050 ](tel:+44%20(0)800%20011%202050) Slack: [Join ATSAPI Slack Channel ](https://atsapi-pixalate.slack.com/join/shared_invite/zt-10dtow5cj-OEtlNr5yzJkrZMQUqcEEow#/shared-invite/email) Offices Global Offices US 1775 Greensboro Station Place, Suite 425, McLean, VA 22102 UK 20 North Audley Street London, W1K 6WE, United Kingdom EU 10 Earlsfort Terrace Dublin 2, D02 T380, Ireland Singapore 10 Anson Road, #22-02 International Plaza, Singapore 079903 [![facebook](https://www.pixalate.com/hubfs/footer/icons/facebook.png) ](https://www.facebook.com/pixalate) [![x](https://www.pixalate.com/hubfs/footer/icons/twitter-x.png) ](https://twitter.com/pixalateinc) [![linkedin](https://www.pixalate.com/hubfs/footer/icons/linkedin.png) ](https://www.linkedin.com/company/pixalate) ![wechat](https://www.pixalate.com/hubfs/footer/icons/wechat.png) [![slack](https://www.pixalate.com/hubfs/footer/icons/slack.png) ](https://atsapi-pixalate.slack.com/join/shared_invite/zt-10dtow5cj-OEtlNr5yzJkrZMQUqcEEow#/shared-invite/email) [Terms of Use](https://www.pixalate.com/terms) [Privacy Policy](https://www.pixalate.com/privacypolicy) [GDPR Compliance](https://www.pixalate.com/gdpr) Disclaimer Copyright © 2025 Pixalate [Back to top **](https://www.pixalate.com/blog/viewability-ads-txt-enabled#) # Disclaimer Disclaimer: The content of this page reflects Pixalate’s opinions with respect to the factors that Pixalate believes can be useful to the digital media industry. 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