The Athletic: All Sports News supply chain report

Each finding lists the exact lines involved. Findings are automated observations of public files as of Oct 7, 2026. They describe file contents, not the intent or conduct of any company.

warning

DIRECT lines inconsistent with public data

4 −11 pts

The ads.txt specification defines DIRECT as an account the publisher directly controls. For these lines, either the ad system's own sellers.json lists the account as INTERMEDIARY, or the same account is marked DIRECT in the files of 3 or more unrelated companies. Either way, the public data does not support the DIRECT label. Buyers that use DIRECT labels in supply-path decisions may treat these lines differently.

How to fixUse DIRECT only for accounts your company controls. Confirm with each partner whether the account is yours; if it isn't, the specification calls for RESELLER.

Evidence (4)

line 9      rubiconproject.com, 17470, DIRECT #OB
             → observed: sellers.json lists the account as INTERMEDIARY  name in sellers.json: Google  domain in sellers.json: google.com
line 13     pubmatic.com, 158573, DIRECT, 5d62403b186f2ace #OB
             → observed: sellers.json lists the account as INTERMEDIARY  name in sellers.json: New York Times  (via EB)  domain in sellers.json: google.com
line 20     Media.net, 8CU4XCJ1B, DIRECT #OB
             → observed: sellers.json lists the account as INTERMEDIARY  name in sellers.json: NY Times (via OB)  domain in sellers.json: google.com
line 28     triplelift.com, 746-EB, DIRECT, 6c33edb13117fd86 #OB
             → observed: sellers.json lists the account as INTERMEDIARY  name in sellers.json: The New York Times (via EB Network)  domain in sellers.json: google.com

info

Ad systems without a public sellers.json

The ad system doesn't publish a readable sellers.json, so nobody can verify these lines. That's the ad system's gap, not the app's, so no points are deducted.

How to fixAsk the partner to publish sellers.json; until then buyers can't verify that path.

Evidence (1)

line 24     openx.com, 539052954, DIRECT, 6a698e2ec38604c6 #OB
             → sellers_json: HTTP 403 to automated requests