Free Supply Chain Compliance Validators
Misconfigured ads.txt or sellers.json files are one of the most common—and entirely preventable—causes of revenue leakage in programmatic advertising. If a demand-side platform (DSP) cannot verify the supply chain, they simply will not bid. Bidkernel provides free, built-in validation tools to monitor your compliance proactively and prevent costly mistakes.
Why Validation Matters Link to section
The programmatic ecosystem runs on trust. Buyers need to know they are purchasing authentic inventory from authorized sellers. This is managed through two primary specifications established by the IAB Tech Lab:
- Ads.txt (Authorized Digital Sellers): A file hosted on your domain that explicitly lists which exchanges and seller IDs are authorized to sell your inventory.
- Sellers.json: A file hosted by the exchange (or intermediary) that lists all of their authorized publishers, completing the two-way verification loop.
Even a single typo, a misplaced comma, or an unmapped relationship can cause a DSP to drop a bid. Worse, as you scale and add more demand partners, managing these files manually becomes highly error-prone.
Bidkernel's Free Tools Link to section
We believe compliance shouldn't be hidden behind a paywall. Accessible from the Tools section in your dashboard, our validators check your live files exactly as a crawler would.
Ads.txt Validator Link to section
The Ads.txt Validator allows you to enter any domain to fetch, parse, and validate its ads.txt file in real-time. It performs the following checks:
- Syntax Errors: Identifies malformed lines, illegal characters, or missing fields.
- Variable Validation: Ensures all fields match the expected format (e.g., valid domain structures, valid seller relationships like DIRECT or RESELLER).
- Relationship Mapping: Helps you spot missing required relationships before they impact your yield.
Sellers.json Validator Link to section
The Sellers.json Validator allows you to provide your publisher domain or an intermediary's endpoint to fetch and parse their sellers.json file.
- Schema Correctness: Verifies the file against the strict IAB Tech Lab JSON schema.
- Confidentiality Checks: Ensures that if a domain is marked as confidential, it is masked legally without exposing identifying information incorrectly.
- Cross-Verification: Makes it easy to check if your seller ID is properly listed by your demand partners.
Use Them Anywhere Link to section
Even if you aren't using Bidkernel's Edge infrastructure to natively host and auto-generate these files, you can (and should) use these validators. They are completely free. Run your existing hosting through our tools to ensure your setup is fully compliant before you launch new demand partners or push updates to production.