Liz 
Chris Kane provided a rare, data-driven overview of how publishers and supply-side platforms are perceived by the buy side and, crucially, how those perceptions translate directly into spend.
The big question for the first half of 2026 is: how do publishers protect, productize, and scale what they already have in a world shaped by AI, automation, and fewer traditional clicks? Let’s dig in.
There’s a Beeler.Tech project to work with publishers to help create more transparency in the industry, with what we can control, and one area where they have control is who goes into their ads.txt files.
As third-party cookies decline, browser restrictions increase, and page performance becomes ever more closely tied to revenue outcomes, publishers are under pressure to make decisions that balance monetization, user experience, and operational stability. And often without clear, comparable data to hand.
Publishers have the right to publish whatever content they think will attract an audience and have it monetized by advertising from advertisers that want to be seen by that audience. Full stop. What is lost is that, when evaluating impressions is done poorly, it can punish publishers who have invested time, money, and effort into creating content.
A publisher reported that they’ve been reaching out to demand partners to reduce RESELLER lines. Historically, they capped at 40 entries and required minimum spend thresholds to remain. They have since trimmed every partner to 20 entries or fewer, with no drop-off in revenue.
Don’t advertisers make their own standards bodies and self-regulate? Can’t we do the same thing? Come up with a panel of industry leaders, brand the organization, and say this is how publishers do things?
I’ll start by saying I’ve been frustrated by the lack of progress in identifying which demand partners provide revenue via ads.txt line items. We’ve only had a few contributors. So I asked why this isn’t working. 60% of respondents said they just don’t have time.
Nothing in our industry is evolving slowly, and Ad Ops is squarely in the center of that shift. Media, technology, creativity, data workflows, compliance, and automation are all colliding. And somehow, we’re still the ones stitching together the revenue engine with a mix of expertise, stubbornness, and well-timed Google Sheets magic.
“I know this is an old topic, but it came back to mind when AdBlock Plus asked me to take a premium subscription. Why is it that a company can generate revenue by blocking another company from generating revenue for the services they deliver?”