By: Alex Ten Eyck
Freestar recently made the switch from Google Ad Manager to Ad Manager 360, and we wanted to highlight some of the key changes and new features that are now accessible with Ad Manager 360. While Google allows access to some Ad Manager 360 features without actually being on Ad Manager 360, we previously had access to Open Bidding for example, it is important to understand the differences between the two in order to make the decision of if and when a publisher should make the switch.
Some of the key changes that will be available when switching to Ad Manager 360 are access to more advertisers and how they buy, the ability to find more places to engage with your audiences, greater protections and controls to protect publisher’s brand safety, added insights and optimizations to make better data driven decisions, and more granular segmentation of access within a publisher’s team to specific items.
All of the added features that come with Ad Manager 360 are certainly advantageous, but some can be viewed as immediate added value to a publisher’s business. As mentioned, Google does allow publishers access to Open Bidding prior to being on Ad Manager 360; but having the ability to run cost per action (CPA) and viewable CPM (vCPM) campaigns can be an attractive pitch to potential advertisers that are interested in reaching users at various stages of the acquisition funnel. Every impression served brings added data and Ad Manager 360 helps make sense of a publisher’s increasing volume of data to earn more from each impression. Ad Manager 360 allows for audience segmentation to ensure publishers are targeting ads to the correct users across their sites, further increasing its value proposition.
| Google Ad Manager (GAM) | Ad Manager 360 | |
|---|---|---|
| Open Bidding | No* | Yes |
| CPA & vCPM Campaigns | No | Yes |
| Programmatic Guaranteed (PG) Campaigns | Yes | Yes |
| Preferred Deals | Yes | Yes |
| Private Auctions (PMP) | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-Currency | No | Yes |
| Conversion Reporting | No | Yes |
| Data Transfer Log Files | No | Yes |
| Audience Management (1st & 3rd Party) | No | Yes |
| Teams | No | Yes |
| Forecasting Inventory | Yes | Yes |
Additionally, pulling conversion reporting allows publishers to track their user’s actions and gain more insight into the value of their inventory. Utilizing data transfer reports, publishers are provided with raw, log-level data of every event in Ad Manager 360. The raw data can be integrated into third-party reporting systems for more custom analysis. The raw data also provides access to data that is not available in the Ad Manager Query Tool.
Ad Manager 360 also allows the setup of Teams. Teams allows for restricting user access to specific items like advertisers, agencies, proposals, orders, ad units, and more. The Teams feature is most beneficial for those who manage several companies in their Ad Manager 360 account, as it can help to protect client data and avoid confusion. Freestar is currently exploring how to best utilize the Teams feature to give our publishers access to restricted parts of our Ad Manager 360 network. Of the many possibilities this opens up, allowing Freestar’s publishers to manage their own orders and thus line items, is one way Teams can increase productivity and performance across the board.
While this blog does not cover every change made from Google Ad Manager to Ad Manager 360, we hope that it provides some clear benefits of making the change and how Freestar plans to use these to help our publishers. Email us here if you have any questions regarding Google Ad Manager or Ad Manager 360 or if you want to learn more about how Freestar is always exploring new ways to help our publishers!
