Google wants to simplify its advertising products.
Given its bevy of ad brands—including AdWords, AdSense and DoubleClick—navigating the company’s offerings can be confusing for online marketers.
Now the company is consolidating many of its products into three encompassing brands: Google Ads, Google Marketing Platform and Google Ad Manager.
TechCrunch reported:
Sridhar Ramaswamy, the senior vice president who leads Google’s ad efforts, explained the rebrand at a press event this morning, where he said the company has been getting “consistent feedback” over the past few years that the plethora of ad products and brands — assembled largely through acquisitions — could make it be confusing for advertisers.
“This is a primarily a name change, but it is indicative of where we have been directing the product” for the past few years, Ramaswamy said. He also said the rebrand points to “where we want the product to go.”
Ramaswamy got more specific in a blog post about the changes. He described the new Google Ads as a replacement of Google AdWords, with extra capabilities:
For small businesses specifically, we’re introducing a new campaign type in Google Ads that makes it easier than ever to get started with online advertising. It brings the machine learning technology of Google Ads to small businesses and helps them get results without any heavy lifting—so they can stay focused on running their businesses.
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Google Ads will replace Adwords, representing “the full range of advertising capabilities” Google can offer, Ramaswamy says. Google Marketing Platfrom will highlight analytics integration by combining the DoubleClick tools with Google Analytics 360—plus adding features for marketers to measure video performance.
Finally, Google offers Google Ad Manager as a combination of tools for publishers to monetize their websites.
Pricing should remain the same, Google says.
US News and World Report reported:
Google executives said its fees are not changing, and no services are merging. The company will retain the AdSense and AdMob brands for ad sales technologies that are aimed at small websites and mobile app developers, respectively.
But its basic tool for buying ads now will be named Google Ads, with access to inventory on Google search, its YouTube video service, the Google Play app store and 3 million partner properties. The default interface for Google Ads will be simplified, executives said, with automation powering the design of ads and deciding where they should run.
High-end software for ad buyers will be called Google Marketing Platform. Google Ads Manager will be a complementary [sic] tool for large sellers.
One major change for marketers is the retirement of the DoubleClick brand. Its replacement, Google Marketing Platform, will offer the same tools, along with new options for video content.
TechCrunch reported:
Under that umbrella, Google is also announcing a new product called Display & Video 360, which combines features from DoubleClick Bid Manager, Campaign Manager, Studio and Audience Center.
Managing Director for Platforms Dan Taylor said the Google Marketing Platform is responding to a growing need for collaboration — for example, he said Adidas used the platform to bring its brand and performance marketing teams together with the measurement team.
The Marketing Platform includes a new Integrations Center where marketers can view all the … different ways they can connect their Google tools. (And while the focus here is on integration within Google’s platform, Taylor said the company remains committed to interoperability with outside ad exchanges and measurement providers.)
Google hopes to decrypt its ad business for everyone, including consumers who have found the company to be increasingly less transparent.
Ramaswamy wrote:
We know that the media and technology advertisers and publishers choose to use impacts the relationships they have with their customers. As always, our commitment is to ensure that all of our products and platforms set the industry’s highest standard in giving people transparency and choice in the ads they see. For example, we recently announced new Ads Settings and expanded Why this ad? across all of our services, and almost all websites and apps that partner with us to show ads.
The change elicited sadness from some Googlers.
Fast Company wrote:
“This is a bit of a bittersweet moment for us,” said Sridhar Ramaswamy, Google’s SVP of ads, referring to the sunsetting of DoubleClick. Still, he said most of functionality would stay the same. Google earned $40 billion from its advertising business last year, and is expected to control, with Facebook, over 58 percent of digital advertising in 2018, according to eMarketer, amid growing competition from Amazon and others.
Some view the change as positive:
Others waxed nostalgic:
What do you think of Google’s brand change, PR Daily readers?
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