What’s the difference between DoubleClick Manager, DoubleClick Search, DoubleClick Bid Manager, DoubleClick AD Exchange, Google 360?

JK, What’s the difference between Doubleclick Campaign Manager (DCM), DoubleClick Bid Manager(DBM), DoubleClick Search(DS), DoubleClick Creative solution (DC)? It took almost few months for me to really understand this concept when I was working with agencies in the early part of my career. This is a frequently asked question when I discuss with colleagues or other stakeholders about anything related to Doubleclick. After becoming a proficient at it and initial online search, I prepared this information just for my record and sometimes share with them 🙂

Now am just sharing here with some additional info which may help of.

If you are looking for tools without technical involved and save time, Try supermetrics for google sheet or excel or datastudio for free and decide whether that would help you to automate data transfers from doubleclick stack into your favourite datasheet or visualations.

Overview of DoubleClick Platform (DDM)

Doubleclick can play an important role when you building your marketing technology stack from the scratch or even if you are trying to change the stack. Because it has almost every paid advertising management and analytics solution you need, plus have an excellent advantage of natively integrating with other Google products. Though all this comes with a significant cost, you need to think of multiple factors before deciding this. So the first point if am in your situation will consider is whether am going ahead with Google stack solutions or non-google solutions as the integrations are the major (invisible part) where it takes your time of tracking setup, naming conventions and account structures. However, let’s focus this article on the difference and what really all these solutions 🙂

DCM: DoubleClick Campaign Manager

DFA (DoubleClick for Advertisers) is the previous version of DCMand the improved product or say rebranded product is DCM.

• According to Google, DCM Is a web-based ad management system for advertisers and agencies. It helps you manage your digital campaigns across websites and mobile devices. This includes a robust set of features for ad serving, trafficking, targeting, verification, and reporting.
• But in simple terms, it is like your phone which is the platform which has multiple apps like iTunes, iBooks, iCloud, etc. so the multiple apps are DS, DBM, DC solutions, etc in DCM.
• So this platform is literally connected with other apps where most of the data or creation of the information are come in sync with this platform whenever necessary. So thereby this platform will help you to monitor and analyze the data from different apps.
• To further empasize, as Itunes, Ibooks has different unique features and so the DBM or DS will have their unique solutions which is only available inside that platforms.
• Product URL: https://ddm.google.com/dfa/trafficking/ or https://ddm.google.com/analytics/dfa/

A simple use case:

• You might use Google URL Builder or your own URL builder to create a link with UTM for your blog or social media?
• Similarly you will do your trafficking(but this is more advanced additional features) inside this platform for different media.

For detailed screenshots of how the platform looks, it provides detailed information about the Doubleclick integration with other products

DS: DoubleClick Search

• DS makes it faster and easier to manage large search campaigns across Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Yahoo Search Marketing.
• The automation is the main part of this advanced management solutions when you have 100K of keywords or ad copies, it’s hard to manage the informations and campaign if you want to apply different ad optimization rules.
• So DS allows you to set up multiple optimization Goals and automate the optimization at scale.
• Agencies and advertisers use DoubleClick Search for campaign management, bid management, and reporting across all search engines.
• Purely for Search Campaigns and support search networks like MSN, Google, Yahoo.
• LOGIN URL: https://ddm.google.com/ds/cm/cm#

A quick introduction video about DoubleClick Search

DBM: DoubleClick Bid Manager

• DBM is DoubleClick’s demand-side platform, giving advertisers the tools to buy impressions(or say inventory) using real-time bidding and programmatic direct buys (AdExchanges).
• So this is like your Google display campaigns (GDN) under adwords where you can run images and videos but instead of using only google inventories, you can target multiple ad inventories via adExchanges through DoubleClick Bid manager.
• Advertisers can target specific audiences, specific types of sites, and content for serving ads like banners, video, mobile, and dynamic creatives.
• Product URL: https://www.google.com/ddm/bidmanagerDoubleClick Bid Manager Interface

A detailed video about the Double Bid Manager Interface

GAP: Google Analytics Premium

Google Analytics Premium(GAP) is the advanced product of the free version of Google Analytics. It gives you enterprise-level data that’s fast, accessible, and ready for action by your whole team.

• Only GAP user can integrate doubleclick products with GA. Otherwise, there is no connection between GAP and DC solutions. But they can work standalone. but you see the catch here by google? 🙂
• There is data-driven attribution model inbuilt on GAP which makes its easy for you to run attribution modeling, give value to marketing touchpoints across a customer’s journey. This provides advertisers with a full and actionable view of the digital channels, devices, and keywords that perform best.
• Features like cross-platform integration with the Google Display Network, AdWords, and ROI-driven testing help you to connect the dots and put those insights into action fast.
• And most importantly it all the insights you get in GAP can be actioned by sending that audience into DoubleClick solution for retargeting or say targeting that audienceGAP Audience sharing with Doubleclick
• Audience sharing across Adwords, DS, DBM with GAP (source: periscopix.co.uk)

DDM: DoubleClick Digital Marketing (DDM)

This is the just single name of all these solutions but not a solution itself. So it is an integrated ad technology platform give buyers powerful control over every aspect of digital marketing: creative development (DRM), campaign management(DCM), paid search(DS), site analytics(GAP), real-time bidding(DBM), and access to exchange inventory(ADX), all across multiple channels. These platforms combine holistically. They share data and work together to help you improve performance, tracking, and optimization. One interface for all your digital marketing.

DC studio: Double Click Creative Solution

• DoubleClick Studio is a tool that helps advertisers build and manage engaging, relevant rich media ads across screens.
• Use sophisticated authoring tools like Google Web Designer software to build rich media creatives, then manage and publish from DoubleClick Studio.
• As part of DoubleClick Digital Marketing, Studio integrates with DCM, the buyer’s ad server, and DFP, the seller’s ad server.

Video explanation of how DC Studio solution can help?

AdX: DoubleClick Ad Exchange (AdX)

• AdX is a real-time advertiser and publisher marketplace that allows advertisers (buyers) to purchase ad inventory the moment it becomes available.
• Advertisers may bid on AdX inventory through an ad network, agency (holding company or trading desk), or demand-side platforms like Bid Manager.
• AdX’s powerful targeting technology lets advertisers target their ads to a specific audience based on the user’s interests, context of the site, and more using
  • open and direct bidding-based auctions.
  • Product URL: https://www.google.com/adx/Main.html

If you are still confused about the platform, here is another interactive explanation from Google itself > https://support.google.com/dcm/answer/6158622

UPDATE:

On June 27th, Google announced that we’re unifying our advertising and analytics platforms under a single brand: Google Marketing Platform. This will replace the DoubleClick and Google Analytics 360 Suite brands and some products will have new names.

• Google Analytics 360 Suite Home will become Platform Home. • DoubleClick Search will be named Search Ads 360. • DoubleClick Campaign Manager and DoubleClick Studio will be named Campaign Manager and Studio respectively. • DoubleClick Bid Manager will become Display & Video 360, which will bring together planning, creative, buying, and measurement features in a single tool.

Starting July 24, 2018, you will see the new Google Marketing Platform brand — including new product names and logos — reflected in product interfaces, Help Centers, and more.