Sellers Report – March 2025

Ads.txt Lines:

In February 2025, the addition of 67,862 new ads.txt lines and the removal of 63,086 existing lines resulted in a net change of approximately +4.8K lines. This positive net change is inline with last year’s trend where we have seen a net change of around +7K lines in Feb 2024.

The provided snapshot illustrates the distribution of line changes among different tiers of publishers. While looking in-depth, it appears that Tier-3 SSPs shows a good positive net change in ads.txt lines, with an increase of approximately 4,300+ lines, which looks great.

Tier – 1,2,3 Publishers:

We have noticed a good number of net change increases in the past few weeks. Below are the top SSPs that contributed to that spike. 

• In February month, GourmetAds, Magnite, Rise, Freewheel & Pubmatic demonstrated significant growth within the top SSP landscape, recording a good number of new connections.

Note: These tiers are divided based on Publisher’s rank that we assigned

Big Winners:

Analyzing the changes in direct connections among the connected publishers in the past month, the following SSPs appear as top direct domain gainers across each tier that we segregated SSPs based on their rank/coverage.

• In the last month, 33across connected with more than 200 publishers as a direct partner. Their unique features, including cross-channel monetization, dynamic yield optimization, and advertiser transparency, could set them in the top.
• It’s interesting to note that SSP like Adaptmx and Undertone were bumped to top Tier-1 in the big winner list, which were in lower tiers in earlier months. 
• SSPs like Aditude, Alkimi, Lemma were in the top 5 list, for adding new direct connections across the Tiers.

Note: These tiers are divided based on SSPs rank that we assigned

Leaderboard Dynamics:

We’ve assigned ranks to each SSP based on their direct coverage among the top 10,000 publishers. Below, we highlight the significant jumps in ranks for top SSPs observed in the past couple of weeks.

• Alkimi surged more than 400 spots in the Tier 3 leaderboard in February 2025, which is one of the highest positive changes for the month.

Note: These tiers are divided based on SSPs rank that we assigned

Auction Duplication: A Critical Issue in the AdTech Industry

• Tier 1 SSPs are expected to have a lower share of Direct Only Domains and a higher share of Direct + Reseller Domains in comparison to other tiers. This is attributed because Tier-2 and Tier-3 SSPs rely on Tier-1 to serve as a demand partner.
• However, during this process, Tier 1 SSPs may inadvertently be listed as a reseller on domains where they are already directly connected, leading to auction duplication and classification as Direct + Reseller Domains.
• For SSPs, especially Tier 1, managing intermediaries in choosing non-duplicate domains is challenging. Additionally, it becomes an added responsibility for SSPs to address both auction duplication and carbon emissions. Choosing the right intermediary is crucial for reaching unique domains where their ads.txt lines are not yet present.

At DataBeat, we offer assistance in identifying and managing ineffective intermediaries, reducing duplicate domains, and improving your green index score while not compromising on your net revenue. Leveraging our Competitive Intelligence (CI) Tool, we enable you to identify & address these challenges effectively.

Breakdown of domain connections to SSPs by relationship types (Direct Only, Reseller Only, Direct + Reseller)

• Direct Only: Domains exclusively connected through direct relationships.
• Reseller Only: Domains exclusively connected through reseller relationships.
• Direct + Reseller: Domains with both direct and reseller connection

Proportion of unique and duplicate domains, and average number of intermediaries influence on duplicates.

• Unique Domains: Domains exclusively connected to an SSP through a single connection.
• Duplicated Domains:  Domains connected to an SSP through multiple intermediaries or integrations, resulting in duplications.

Need More Insights: 

For additional insights into this report and the CI Dashboard, which serves as the foundation for the seller’s report, don’t hesitate to contact us at [email protected].

Sellers Report DataBeat’s Methodology:

• • Analyzing ads.txt files from the top 10k US publishers
  • Tracking changes in publishers and SSPs across various categories over the past two weeks
  • Publishers are categorized into three tiers based on their ranks, determined by traffic volume:
    • Tier 1: 1 to 500
    • Tier 2: 501 to 2000
    • Tier 3: 2001 to 10000
  • Similarly, SSPs are ranked based on the number of direct connections and are classified into three tiers:
    • Tier 1: 1 to 50
    • Tier 2: 51 to 150
    • Tier 3: 151 to 500
  • Ads.txt lines, Domain gains, and Ranking dynamics as key metrics