05 Jan 2025
ads.txt for a site with no ads
This site does not have programmatic ads on it.
But just in case, since there’s a lot of malarkey in the online advertising business, I’m putting up this file to let the advertisers know that if someone sold you an ad and claimed it ran on here, you got burned.
CONTACT=https://blog.zgp.org/contact/ OWNERDOMAIN=zgp.org # No programmatic advertising is available on this site. # # For sponsorship information please contact us directly # using the info on our contact page. # # (advertisers, if you get a report claiming that your ad # ran on here, can you let me know?) placeholder.example.com, placeholder, DIRECT, placeholder
That’s the ads.txt file for this site. The format is defined in a specification from the IAB Tech Lab (PDF). The important part is the last line. The placeholder is how you tell the tools that are supposed to be checking this stuff that you don’t have programmatic ads.
The ads.txt can also have a CONTACT line and comments in
case someone checks it manually looking for how to advertise or sponsor
the site.
See zgp.org ads.txt on Well-Known:
File contains a placeholder record, indicating no accounts are authorized to sell its ad inventory.
In other news, selling info on US citizens to North Korean murder robots is illegal now so we’ve got that going for us which is nice. See Justice Department Issues Final Rule Addressing Threat Posed by Foreign Adversaries’ Access to Americans’ Sensitive Personal Data
app-ads.txt
(update 15 Feb 2026) I was getting 404s for
app-ads.txt so I made that too.
CONTACT=https://blog.zgp.org/contact/ OWNERDOMAIN=zgp.org # This site does not have an app. # # There are no app ads available. # # If someone sent you a report claiming that your ad ran on an app # from this site, it's bogus. I would appreciate it if you would let # me know. (contact info above). placeholder.example.com, placeholder, DIRECT, placeholder
Bonus links
In The
long goodbye for Tim Cook, Manton Reece writes, Tim Cook gives $1
million to Trump’s inauguration committee. I think this event will be a
turning point in how we view the Apple CEO.
(imho the real turning
point was the saga
with the Chaos Monkeys guy. Cook intended to hire a high-profile
former Facebook exec, and when it didn’t work he got
surveillance-bro-pilled. Related: turn
off advertising measurement in Apple Safari. Maybe if people are mad
at Apple now, mice
would like the VR goggles thing better?)
Chris Castle has a must-read update on Social Media Addiction Multidistrict Litigation–the return of Joe Camel in the sleeper case that could break Silicon Valley. Yes, the Big Tech companies filed a motion to dismiss because Section 230, but it was granted in part and denied in part (PDF). Here’s the case site: In re: Social Media Adolescent Addiction/Personal Injury Products Liability Litigation (MDL No. 3047) | United States District Court, Northern District of California
Dean W. Ball covers the Texas Responsible AI Governance Act in Texas Plows Ahead. (This bill doesn’t have a national defense exception the way the EU’s AI Act does, which is strange.)
I’m looking forward to the new Charles Stross novel that past me thoughtfully pre-ordered from Books Inc. for near future me. In A Conventional Boy a man was sentenced to (spoiler redacted) for playing Dungeons and Dragons in the 1980s, and many years later he’s putting his escape plan into action…