Google Ad Manager

Google Ad Manager (GAM) is one of the most widespread and well-known Ad Servers in ad tech. While it does a good job of targeting its audience in general, publishers can utilize it even better by using key-value targeting. This functionality is used for inventory management, enriched reporting, and specific targeting of ads to users, webpages, and ad slots. Personalized targeting ensures brands are exposed to the right audience, and advertisers are willing to pay a premium for this. Furthermore, key-value targeting provides users with less intrusive ads that are relevant to both the web page they are visiting and their personal preferences. What are Key-values in Google Ad Manager? Publishers can specify custom targeting criteria for their ad slots in Google Ad Manager (GAM) via a feature called Key-value targeting. This helps advertisers reach their intended audience and increases the value of your inventory. Key-values can be used to identify pages on a website, specify parts of a page, and help target other ad inventory. One way to go about this is for publishers to analyze their audience characteristics, such as age, location, and so on, and base key values on this information. When a line item is set to target a key value, ads selected to be served on your website will always match it.  Predefined & Dynamic Key-values Depending on your targeting intention, you can choose between two types of key-values within Google Ad Manager: predefined key-values and dynamic key-values. Predefined key-values are static, they don’t change…

Are you looking for a way to step up your Google AdSense game? Google Ad Exchange (AdX) has a reputation for being able to deliver on those high ad revenues that all publishers aspire to. Via Google’s AdX publishers gain access to a wider pool of demand sources, the ability to set direct and preferred deals, as well as a plethora of new options to manage, optimize and monitor their ad inventory. It’s an enticing and lucrative endeavor and it’s understandable why so many publishers want in. Before finding out how to start using Google AdX, let’s first get a better understanding of what it is and how it works. What Is Google AdX? Google Ad Exchange, or Google AdX, is Google’s programmatic marketplace where publishers, advertisers, networks, and agencies meet to auction ad space in real-time, as well as in direct and private deals. In comparison to Google AdSense, AdX offers access to a much larger inventory and a robust pool of buyers, including third-party networks and advertisers. This creates superior competition and results in higher revenues for publishers. In addition, the platform features advanced functionalities that give publishers more control over how their ad inventory is auctioned. This, however, translates to a more resource-intensive operation. As opposed to Google AdSense, which is a plug-and-play sort of solution, using Google AdX would require extensive knowledge to set up and manage optimizations and dedicated resources, such as an ad ops team in place, and/or third-party support. How Does Google AdX…

In 2019 Google officially moved to a first-price auction. In addition to that, it also changed the way rules are being set in Google Ad Manager (GAM) and the old Pricing Rules were replaced by what Google calls Unified Pricing Rules (UPRs). They were created to simplify and centralize the process, and to create consistency in pricing across all channels. Through UPRs publishers can set common pricing rules for all indirect demand for their inventory from a single place within Google Ad Manager. This article will give you a better understanding of what UPRs are and how they are applied within GAM.  What are UPRs? Unified Pricing Rules are a feature of Google Ad Manager that allows publishers to manage floor prices and target CPM across all available programmatic demand in a centralized way.   Google has listed the following scenarios where UPRs can be applied: The Open Auction via Authorized Buyers  Private Auctions First Look demand Third-party exchanges that participate in Open Bidding Remnant line item types Price Priority, Network, and Bulk Ad Exchange linked accounts AdSense backfill (this was not part of the list when UPRs were introduced) Then, there are certain contexts where UPRs are not applicable: Programmatic direct campaigns, including programmatic guaranteed (standard and sponsorship) and preferred deal line items House line items Line items with a zero (0) rate and no Value CPM set Line items with a CPD or CPA rate, which are treated as if they have a $0 rate Publishers can use either…

If you’ve ever used Google Ad Manager (GAM), you’ve probably heard the term “line item.” But do you actually grasp what line items are used for? Do you know which type to choose when creating a campaign? This post will assist you with both. What is a Line Item? First things first – let’s look at the definition. According to Google, “Line items contain information about how specific ad creatives are intended to serve to your website or app along with pricing and other delivery details.”  Simply put, a line item represents the advertiser’s commitment to buy a number of impressions or clicks on specific dates at a defined price. It holds information about the requirements for an ad to be selected in order to be displayed.  Specifically, when creating a new line item, you get to define the ad units where the ad may show, the volume of impressions/clicks for the ad, start and end times for the campaign, the cost of the campaign, targeting criteria for the user who will see the ad, etc. A line item is always linked to a single order in Google Ad Manager, while orders can have more than one line item. Line Items Types When creating a line item, you get to select its type and priority. Different types correspond to a different priorities. Within Google Ad Manager you will see a number after each type of line item. The lower the number, the higher the priority.  Sponsorship (4) Standard: low priority…

Google announced they will be retiring their Scaled Partner Management (SPM) program in July 2021. Its replacement, called Multiple Customer Management (MCM), is already undergoing beta testing and will be released to eligible partners using Google Ad Manager 360 by the end of June this year. While this upcoming change has caught some networks off guard, it’s broadly considered to be a positive one. The imminent transition to MCM mostly affects channel partners and agencies, however, there are several implications for publishers as well, especially ones that don’t have direct access to Google Ad Exchange. To shed some light on what’s to come, we’re going to explain everything you need to know as a publisher about the new program. What is SPM? It’s no secret that Google Ad Exchange is the most prevalent source of ad revenue for publishers, but not everyone can simply open an account. There’s a multi-step application process including a minimum traffic requirement, which can be challenging to match. Despite there being no official threshold statement, it’s safe to say that publishers with less than 5 million pageviews per month have slim chances of getting on board.  So far Scaled Partner Management has been the only way for smaller publishers to access Google Ad Exchange without meeting the minimum traffic criteria. Media owners could join a larger entity as a ‘child publisher’ and have their inventory monetized through an already established account.  Furthermore, this allowed for companies to provide ad revenue optimization and management services to…

Google Ad Manager (formerly known as DoubleClick For Publisher) is unquestionably the world’s most popular ad management platform that enables publishers to sell and manage ad inventory. There are two types of Google Ad Manager (GAM) accounts available on the market: Ad Manager – previously known as DFP Small Businesses (the free version) and Ad Manager 360. (the paid version). In this piece, we’ll highlight the primary differences between the Google Ad Manager and Google Ad Manager 360, both their main features and the prerequisites for publishers to be able to use them. Google Ad Manager (GAM) Google Ad Manager (previously known as DFP or DoubleClick for Publishers) is a free ad management software with no minimum ad impressions restriction that is commonly used by small to medium-sized Publishers.If you are situated in the United States or Canada, you can serve up to 90 million impressions per month to non-video ad units in GAM. The monthly free impressions limit varies by geography, and the full list may be seen here. Features GAM gives you access to a good range of features, such as: A comprehensive solution for managing your ads for a multi-screen audience. API accessibility, Access to a limited number of reports, such as active view impressions, history, reach, and standard or extensive delivery. Management of line items, Ad Unit Hierarchy: Up to Level 2 i.e. Parent and Child, Ad Formats: Native Ads, Responsive Ads, Video Ads, Key-values for custom dimensions (note the limit is 5,000). What is Google…