Host app-ads.txt at your root domain
Connect to your server via FTP, SFTP, or your host's cPanel File Manager.
Navigate to the WordPress installation root (the directory that contains wp-config.php). Do NOT place the file inside wp-content/, wp-admin/, or any subdirectory.
Upload app-ads.txt to that directory. It must be reachable at https://yourdomain.com/app-ads.txt, not at a subdirectory path.
Verify access by opening https://yourdomain.com/app-ads.txt in a browser or with curl. The raw file contents should appear without a redirect or login prompt.
Note: WordPress Multisite installs serve each sub-site from a subdirectory or subdomain. The app-ads.txt file must live at the root of the primary domain, not inside a sub-site path. If your store listing points to a sub-site URL, you may need to host the file at the root domain separately.
Allow the Google-adstxt crawler in robots.txt
Open your robots.txt file. If you use Yoast SEO or Rank Math, edit it at SEO > Tools > File Editor. Otherwise upload a robots.txt file to the same WordPress root directory.
Add the following block to explicitly allow the crawler path:
User-agent: Google-adstxt Allow: /app-ads.txt User-agent: * Disallow:
Verify at https://yourdomain.com/robots.txt that the block is present.
Note: Some security plugins such as Wordfence, iThemes Security, or All In One WP Security may add blanket block rules or rate-limit crawlers. Check the plugin's firewall logs if the crawler is being blocked.
Set up a 301 redirect (if needed)
A redirect is only needed if your store listing uses a www subdomain but your file is hosted at the bare domain, or vice versa. If both resolve correctly, skip this section.
To redirect using .htaccess (Apache), add the following rule above the WordPress rewrite block:
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www\.yourdomain\.com [NC]
RewriteRule ^app-ads\.txt$ https://yourdomain.com/app-ads.txt [R=301,L]For nginx, add a location block in your server config:
location = /app-ads.txt {
return 301 https://yourdomain.com/app-ads.txt;
}Done setting up?
Run a free scan to confirm your app-ads.txt is reachable and correctly configured.
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