Google Ad Manager 360 – A One-Stop Solution in the Programmatic Ecosystem
Google has often rebranded its services to broadly cater to the growing demand of the users. In 2018, two of its services namely, DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP) and DoubleClick Ad Exchange (AdX) were rebranded and Google Ads Manager (GAM) was born. In a sentence, Google Ads Manager is a more comprehensive ad management platform that streamlines services ranging from ad delivery to reporting the ad campaign results.
So, can we say that Google Ad Manager is an SSP as well as an Ad Server? Precisely. Rather than having separate platforms for publishers and advertisers to strike a deal and maximize their results, Google Ad Manager has combined all the features into a single platform. It not only allows publishers to control their inventory on the web, mobile or app at one place but also assists in sending invitations for direct deals, helps advertisers to compete for impressions and create, update and deliver direct line items.
While GAM is available for free to beginners, Google Ad Manager 360 is a premium version of GAM for those publishers who cross the monthly impression limit set by Google. Let’s understand Google Ad Manager 360 in detail.
What is Google Ad Manager 360?
Google Ad Manager 360 provides a holistic approach to the ad management service provided by Google Ad Manager. It offers several add-on features required to monitor, optimize and monetize an ad campaign through direct and indirect channels.
From complex audience segmentation to detailed reporting by linking the Ad Manager account to Google Analytics, it provides several leverages to publishers to get the most out of each CPM campaign. To get access to GAM 360, the minimum number of monthly impressions may vary based on the geographical location of the audience. These threshold limits are as follows:
- 90M impressions per month from non-video ad units for the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
- 200M monthly impressions from non-video ad units for countries in Europe and Asia
- 150M monthly impressions from non-video ad units as well as 800K monthly impressions from video ad units for all countries supported by GAM.
Key Features Available under GAM 360
Ad Manager 360, as the name suggests, provides a 360-degree approach through the introduction of additional features that the publishers are devoid of in the basic GAM version. Let’s take a look at these features one by one.
- Enhanced Visual Reporting
With an increase in line items and more complex ad campaigns, reporting becomes a tedious task. To overcome the same, publishers are often on the lookout for convenient reporting options. GAM 360 eases this challenge through Google Data Studio. Linking the GAM account to Google Data Studio helps in storing data, transforms it into detailed reports and dashboards that simplify the process of interpreting the data.
2. Audience Solution for Audience Segmentation
The Audience Solution feature in GAM 360 enables publishers to categorize the web, mobile or app audience into specific segments based on different demographics.
Using various identifiers like cookies, an aggregated list of audience data can be prepared by the publishers. This list can then be segmented based on criteria like interests, frequency of visits etc. and can be named accordingly to strike a deal with advertisers for niche targeting.
3. Open Bidding
Quite similar to header bidding, Google introduced Open Bidding- an option exclusively available only to GAM 360 users that allows publishers to sell ad inventory to multiple demand partners simultaneously through a unified auction. Similar to header bidding, this technique generates greater CPMs for publishers by providing the highest bid for the inventory.
4. Advanced Video Advertising
GAM 360 also provides various Video Ad solutions depending on the nature of the account i.e., whether it is a Basic or Advanced 360 account. Essential sub-features under this include audience measurement tools, Video Ad rules that the publishers can frame and Dynamic Ad insertion that provides access to server-side insertion of video ads.
5. Multi-Currency Support
In the open bidding process provided by GAM 360, if demand partners bid prices in multiple currencies, secondary currency options can help in selecting the right line items based on the latest exchange rate. Eventually, each bid is converted into U.S dollars and the one that generates the highest value is chosen.
Is it possible to detect invalid traffic while using GAM 360?
Of course! A lot of times, an unusual increase in impressions from a single source or a group of similar sources raises several questions about the credibility of the audience’s behaviour. To ensure it does not affect the campaign results in any manner, the GAM 360 account can be integrated with Google Analytics.
Moreover, invalid traffic management software like ClearTrust is integrated with Google Ad Manager 360 thereby relieving the publishers with the premium version of GAM from carrying the load of being bothered with potential ad fraud and impacting the overall campaign performance.
