Google’s ad system is getting a major overhaul this week that will see its flagship AdWords and DoubleClick advertising products renamed under a new streamlined platform.
The move means that after 18 and 22 years, respectively, the AdWords and DoubleClick brands will soon cease to be.
However, the changes will not majorly affect advertisers current set ups who will see little change in actual operations.
Google 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.
Along with the rebranding, Google is also introducing some new solutions that further the push toward simplifying its advertising offerings.
There will now be three primary brands:
• Google AdWords is now Google Ads.
• DoubleClick advertiser products and Google Analytics 360 Suite are now under the brand Google Marketing Platform.
• DoubleClick for Publishers and DoubleClick Ad Exchange are integrated into a new unified platform called Google Ad Manager.
Sridhar Ramaswamy, Google’s senior vice president for ads, told reporters Tuesday that advertisers have been befuddled when told that they need to go to Google AdWords to buy ads on YouTube. Google Ads should serve as an all-encompassing “front door,” he said.
Ramaswamy said the three renamed services focus on different user groups and that clients continue to have the option to integrate non-Google tools with the services.
AdWords launched in 2000 to place text ads in search. Google acquired DoubleClick advertising software in 2008.
However, increased privacy and monopoly concerns in the last year have led Google’s critics in academia and public policy to call on antitrust regulators to split Google’s advertising business, which has a strong toehold on nearly each link of the industry’s supply chain.
The new branding under three buckets makes the starting point for marketers easier to figure out, and new solutions are aimed at helping marketers achieve better outcomes more easily.
Here’s a look at the new brands and solutions announced Wednesday.
In summary:
• “Google AdWords” is becoming “Google Ads”. The new Google Ads brand represents the full range of advertising capabilities we offer today — on Google.com and across our other properties, partner sites and apps — to help you connect with the billions of people finding answers on Search, watching videos on YouTube, exploring new places on Google Maps, discovering apps on Google Play, browsing content across the web, and more.
• “DoubleClick” and “Google Analytics 360 Suite” will come together to become “Google Marketing Platform”. This change will simplify our offering through a complete set of products that work together to help marketers plan, buy, measure and optimize digital media and consumer experiences across paid and owned channels.
• “DoubleClick for Publishers” and “DoubleClick Ad Exchange” are coming together to become “Google Ad Manager” With people accessing content on multiple screens, and with advertisers’ growing demand for programmatic access, publishers need to be able to manage their businesses more simply and efficiently. We’ve been working to bring together DoubleClick for Publishers and DoubleClick Ad Exchange in a complete and unified programmatic platform under a new name – Google Ad Manager. With this evolution, we’re excited to do even more for our partners – earning them more money, more efficiently, wherever people are watching videos, playing games or engaging with content, and however advertisers are looking to work with them.