Changes to Google’s Advertising Platforms

Back in June, we saw some big changes from the folks at Google that aimed to simplify their overall advertising experience and brand image. After 18 and 22 years respectively, the Google AdWords and DoubleClick brand names will no longer be used for Google’s search engine marketing services. The services are being renamed and rebranded in order to have a simpler image and position the platforms differently in the minds of business owners and marketers alike. Google is going to have three primary brands for its search engine marketing services:

• Google AdWords is now going to be Google Ads.
• The new Google Marketing Platform includes features from the DoubleClick advertiser platform and the Google Analytics 360 suite.
• The new Google Ad Manager platform has features from DoubleClick Publisher and DoubleClick Ad Exchange.

That being said, the features inside these products aren’t really changing; it’s just the branding and the way that they are packaged together that is changing. It seems that there wasn’t really anything fundamentally wrong with the old packaging of products, Google just had a change of heart on how they want to position the products moving forward. Sridhar Ramaswamy, Google’s SVP of ads described the changes as “indicative of where we have been directing products over the last few years”. The new branding should be more indicative of what each bundle of services includes. This should make things easier for prospective marketers and business owners to figure out what they need to achieve their search engine marketing goals. If you’ve been using Google’s advertising services for some time, you likely know how much depth each of the services has, and what can be accomplished with them. It was time to have a brand that reflected the potential that these services really have.

Google Ads

If you don’t have a lot of familiarity with Google’s advertising services, the name AdWords wouldn’t really give you a good idea of what you can do with those services. The average person associated AdWords with basic ads for search terms and other keywords. Although this was pretty accurate 18 years ago, the platform has since evolved into an advertising tool that has so much more capability than it had in its inception. Google now has text ads, shopping ads, the display network, video ads, the ability to advertise with Google Maps, Images, YouTube, Gmail, an entire network of advertising partner sites, and many other great features. It’s so much more than just words and it was time to create a brand that reflected that. Google Ads still includes all the AdWords services you know and love, just under a different banner. Over the next few months, Google is going to start sending out UI notices that the platform will be changing for the better. Soon, Google Ads will be the default platform advertisers will use for Google’s advertising services.

Google Marketing Platform

The Google Marketing Platform has the services you’ve come to know and love as well as some brand new features to help take your campaigns to the next level. The new marketing platform consolidates all of Google’s display advertising products into one slick new platform. It includes Google’s enterprise advertising solutions like DoubleClick Bid Manager, DoubleClick Campaign Manager, DoubleClick Studio, Google Data Studio, Surveys 360, Tag Manager 360 and Google Audience Centre 360. The new additions to this platform include the recently rebranded Search Ads 360 (formerly DoubleClick Search) and Display & Video 360. The Google Marketing platform gives you all the tools you need to get the job done.

Google Ad Manager

The final piece of the puzzle, the new Google Ad Manager brings together DoubleClick for Publishers and DoubleClick Ad Exchange. Google’s Ad Manager takes a bit of a different approach to advertising and digital marketing, it enables advertisers to reach people where they are the most engaged. It enables advertisers to place ads in live streams, connected TV’s, Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP), mobile games, apps, and platforms like youtube and apple news. These placements can be extremely valuable to brands trying to generate awareness or reach people in a crucial part of the customer journey. As marketers, we know just how important timing can be in getting our customers to convert. Google’s Ad Manager will have a lot of value for those looking to get those more difficult to reach placements for their ads. Google started their big rebrand in the middle of July and will continue to roll out their new features and brands in the next few months to come. This guide covers everything you need to know about the moving parts of these new advertiser platforms. Now that you know what’s going on and what the implications of these changes are, you’ll be ready to dive in and start reaping the rewards of these new platforms that Google has created. If you’re looking to revamp your search engine marketing campaign or start a new one, Konstruct Interactive is here to help!