For publishers who run ads
Know ads.txt? This is similar.
You already publish a file that tells machines how to deal with your site. Copen is the same habit, pointed at agents that read your content and never load your ads.
Side by side
A file at your root, read by machines.
ads.txt says who may sell your inventory. Your manifest says what you accept from agents and where to send it. Both are plain, public, and yours to edit.
# example.com/ads.txt example-exchange.com, pub-1234567890, DIRECT another-ssp.com, 4567, RESELLER
One line per authorised seller. A crawler checks it before it trusts a bid.
{
"ofp": "0.4",
"status": "accepting",
"verified_domain": true,
"basis": "usage",
"rate": { "amount": 20, "unit": "per_1000_requests", "currency": "usd" },
"payment": { "methods": [{ "type": "ofp_settlement" }] }
}Shortened. Your site serves a small pointer at /.well-known/ofp.json, and the manifest it points to says what you accept. The rate here is 20 cents per 1,000 requests.
The vocabulary
The words you already use, mapped.
These are analogies to help you read the rest of Copen. The mechanics differ where the next section says they do.
A file at your root that says what you accept and where to send it.
A public record that a domain is real and verified, so an agent can check before it pays.
The company behind an agent, verified and signing its requests. You see who you are dealing with.
An agent's offer to pay, with an amount and a note on what it used. One request can cover fifty sites.
Publish $0.20 per 1,000 requests, and agents that count can pay exactly that.
Already licensed it? Cite the deal, and agents stop asking.
Earnings collect until they reach your threshold, then pay out to your Stripe account.
We sit on the supply side, on your side. We are not the exchange and not a clearing house.
Same and different
Where the comparison holds, and where it stops.
The differences matter as much as the likeness. Read both before you decide.
The same
- Declared in a public file. Machines read your terms without asking you.
- Tied to your domain. Only the domain's owner can publish it, and agents are told not to pay an unverified domain.
- Yours to change. Edit the terms, and the next agent to read them sees the change.
- Buyers are identified. An operator signs its requests, so you know who paid.
- Earnings collect and pay out. A balance builds, then pays out on a schedule.
Different
- Nothing is auctioned. There is no bidding against other buyers, so there is no price discovery either. You set the terms.
- No code runs on your pages. The tag is a link element, not a script. No wrapper, no layout shift, no added load time.
- Nothing waits on a call. Your page renders as it does today.
- Payment is optional for the agent. Most will ignore it today. Being early costs one paste.
- It does not replace ad revenue. It covers the reads that never show an ad.
Questions from ad ops
What your team will ask.
Short answers. The spec has the rest.
Do I need to touch ads.txt?
No. The manifest is a separate file at a separate path, /.well-known/ofp.json. Your ads.txt, your ad stack and your consent setup are not involved.
Will it affect page speed, layout shift or viewability?
The install is a link element in your head, or a response header. It loads nothing and runs nothing in the browser, so there is nothing to measure. Your pages render exactly as before.
Can I set a floor price?
Set a rate, for example $0.20 per 1,000 requests, and agents that count what they read pay it. Or leave it open and take what agents think it was worth. You can change either any time.
What if I already have a licensing deal with an AI company?
Choose the agreement basis. Agents that hold a licence from you can cite it and stop asking, and Copen does not get in the way of the contract.
Who is on the other side?
An operator: the company behind an agent. Operators are verified and sign their requests, and each payment shows who sent it and what it used.
How and when do I get paid?
Payments collect in your balance and pay out to your own Stripe account once they reach a threshold. The first 1,000 payments carry no fee, then it is 3%. Instant payout is available for an extra fee.
Am I locked in?
No. The protocol is open and MIT licensed, and any registry can implement it. Remove the tag and your site goes back to how it was.