In order to make an informed decision regarding whether Google Ads maximize conversions for you or the DV360 platform is better for you, it is necessary to be aware of the features that both these platforms provide.
Google Display Ads or GDA as it is more popularly known, is Google’s own ad network, which you can access via Google Ads. Display and Video 360 or DV360 platform, on the other hand, is Google’s DSP or Demand Site Platform which provides advertisers with the technology to directly bid and buy inventory from publishers or from any ad exchanges that are from outside of Google’s own network.
In this blog, we will look at the advantages provided by both the platforms so that you are better informed regarding which would be the platform for you to invest in.
Let’s look at Google Display Ads and its benefits first:
CPC Bidding:
With Google Ads, you can have your banner ads everywhere you want, but you will only be paying when a customer actually clicks on that ad
Rollout of new features:
As Google owns the Google Ads advertising platform, it is where you can expect the new features first. Whether it a consumer product giving you insight into Consumer Patterns or Life Stages, you can expect it first on Google Ads
Smart Display Campaigns:
One cannot deny the ease of set-up and the fully automated display format of Google Ads. As an advertiser, you simply have to upload your images, headlines and descriptions and set your target CPA. After that you can trust the algorithms to do the rest of the work and watch Google Ads maximize conversions for you. Your creative and your bid is automatically optimised to reach the target CPA goal. Even your audience targeting is set based on your previous website audiences and users that exhibit similar behaviour. The targeting is then optimised based on performance
Gmail Targeting:
When you are using Google’s own marketing platform, that is, Google Ads, as an advertiser, you have direct access to show your users relevant advertisements in their Gmail Inbox, both on the web and on the app. This often leads to great results and Google ads maximizes conversions for you.
These are the benefits you get when you use Google Ads. So now, lets look at the advantages that DV360 platform provides you with:
Safely and Efficiently reaching Users at scale:
With DV360, you undoubtedly have a large-scale reach, with over 80 exchanges at your disposal. If you are looking to find users based on branding and insights driven exchanges, then DV360 is definitely the preferred choice for you. There is an industry-wide need for greater control in terms of Brand Safety and Viewability and the DV360 platform allows that enhanced and greater control for both. Active View Measurement is available to you as a targeting option to improve the efficiency of your Ad Spend, while the availability of Post Bid Blocking sets your mind at ease because your Brand will not be displayed next to inappropriate content.
Extensive capabilities when it comes to audience buying:
DV360 has acknowledged the desire of the advertisers for their content to appear alongside premium content on well known sites; the inventory buying options have been designed according to that. Advertisers can also negotiate Private Marketplace and Programmatic Guaranteed deals and all of that can be set up in the interface itself. This provides a better alternative than direct media buying. There is even a troubleshooting feature that will give you a high degree of flexibility when it comes to your targeting capabilities. Lists of compliant third-party audience is also available, this makes sure that you can target the right audience at the right time without it being deemed as harassment
Insights Based Reporting:
If you want to gain valuable insight and understand your target audience better, then DV360 gives you some amazing reports to achieve that. These reports, based on audience performance and audience composition, give you an idea as to how the third-party audience is performing compared to your first-party audience performance. You can also see the reach and the impressions of the display campaign that you are running.
Having covered all the positive features of both the platforms, there are perhaps some not so positive aspects that need to be mentioned as well.
Cons of both the options:
In terms of a budget, if you are a startup or have monetary constraints at the moment, then it is better to remember that Google Ads is cheaper than DV360. With a DV360 account, you require certain minimum spends, not to mention that the account will be more difficult to acquire than a Google Ads account.
It is clear somewhat from this that DV360, while it may offer some features that Google Ads cannot, is meant for more large-scale enterprises.
As an advertiser and marketer, it is up to you to evaluate all the information given above and take an informed decision as to which platform would serve your brand the best. Do you think Google Ads will maximize conversions for you or will the DV360 platform be better?
And as always, Brandmirchi, having worked with and possessing in-depth knowledge of both platforms, is always happy to help you figure out your business strategy should you require assistance.