{"id":6475,"date":"2023-10-20T13:46:37","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T12:46:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oko.uk\/?p=6475"},"modified":"2023-10-20T13:46:37","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T12:46:37","slug":"google-ad-manager-vs-ad-manager-360-full-comparison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cool.co\/supply-side-platform-home\/google-ad-manager-vs-ad-manager-360-full-comparison\/","title":{"rendered":"Google ad manager vs ad manager 360 – full comparison"},"content":{"rendered":"

Google\u2019s free version of Google Ad Manager dominates the ad server market. Tight integration with Google\u2019s own demand products (AdSense, Ad Exchange and Open Bidding) allows them to offer this powerful product at no cost to most users. With such a capable product available for free, it may seem surprising that many publishers and ad management services instead choose to pay for the nearly-identical Ad Manager 360 product. More surprising still is that adoption of the premium 360 version of Ad Manager appears to be on the rise again. So, what does Ad Manager 360 offer that the free version doesn\u2019t and what does it cost to upgrade?<\/span><\/p>\n

Monetisation<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Let\u2019s cut straight to the chase: many Ad Manager users barely scratch the surface of all the available advanced features, and simply want to efficiently serve Google demand in competition with their header stack.<\/span><\/p>\n

A look at the core <\/span>monetization options in Ad Manager 360<\/span><\/a> shows the advantage that the premium product offers in this regard. Ad Exchange as standard is the big headline for most publishers, but Open Bidding brings further auction pressure, too. Publishers with agency demand for their inventory will also see a big advantage in being able to make Programmatic Guaranteed deals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\nGAM<\/b><\/td>\nAM360<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
AdSense backfill<\/span><\/td>\nYes<\/span><\/td>\nYes<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ad Exchange demand<\/td>\nRestricted<\/td>\nYes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Open Bidding<\/span><\/td>\nNo<\/span><\/td>\nYes<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Programmatic Guaranteed deals<\/span><\/td>\nNo<\/span><\/td>\nYes<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Inventory<\/strong><\/h2>\n

There are notable differences in the inventory feature line-up of <\/span>Ad Manager vs Ad Manager 360<\/span><\/a>, but these differences are not critical for most publishers. For most publishers, features like a deeper inventory hierarchy bring value, but not enough to justify the fees by itself. Similarly, special ad units and suggested ad units can be major time savers, and many publishers find themselves hitting the standard limit of 5,000 custom dimension key-values surprisingly quickly.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\nGAM<\/b><\/td>\nAM360<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Levels of ad unit hierarchy<\/span><\/td>\n2<\/span><\/td>\n5<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Special ad units<\/span><\/td>\nNo<\/span><\/td>\nYes<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Suggested ad units<\/span><\/td>\nNo<\/span><\/td>\nYes<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
DFP Video<\/span><\/td>\nBasic<\/span><\/td>\nAdvanced<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Custom dimension key-values<\/span><\/td>\n5,000<\/span><\/td>\n20,000<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Identity and privacy<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Publishers looking for first-party data and preparing for the end of third-party cookies are probably among those most-seriously considering a move to Ad Manager 360. PPIDs and Google\u2019s full Audience Solutions offering are generally only available as part of Ad Manager 360. Note that items marked here as restricted may be available on request from a Google Account Manager, but with <\/span>strict eligibility criteria.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\nGAM<\/b><\/td>\nAM360<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Audience Solutions<\/span><\/td>\nRestricted<\/span><\/td>\nYes<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Data protection report<\/span><\/td>\nNo<\/span><\/td>\nYes<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
PPID<\/span><\/td>\nRestricted<\/span><\/td>\nYes<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Trafficking<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Ad Manager 360\u2019s exclusive trafficking features are \u201cnice to haves\u201d rather than essentials for most publishers. Creative wrappers are probably the most frequently used, but these are unlikely to ever be the sole justification for a publisher moving away from the free product.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\nGAM<\/b><\/td>\nAM360<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Creative wrappers<\/span><\/td>\nNo<\/span><\/td>\nYes<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Rendering Macros<\/span><\/td>\nNo<\/span><\/td>\nYes<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Advanced expressions targeting<\/span><\/td>\nNo<\/span><\/td>\nYes<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Hosted video limit<\/span><\/td>\n30MB<\/span><\/td>\n512MB<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Integrations<\/strong><\/h2>\n

One of the ways that Google\u2019s range of 360 products always stands out from the standard versions is in how they share data and integrate with other products.\u00a0 Ad Manager 360 can be integrated with Data Studio, allowing dynamic reporting beyond what is available in the UI. It <\/span>also has Google Analytics integration,<\/span><\/a> but you will need the 360 version of both products. Most powerful of all is the data-transfer option, which allows precise data to be transferred from GAM into third-party solutions for further analysis; this is critical information for advanced publishers.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\nGAM<\/b><\/td>\nAM360<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Data studio<\/span><\/td>\nNo<\/span><\/td>\nYes<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Data transfer<\/span><\/td>\nNo<\/span><\/td>\nYes<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Google Analytics Integration<\/span><\/td>\nNo<\/span><\/td>\nYes – GA360<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Other features exclusive to Ad Manager 360<\/strong><\/h2>\n

There are a number of additional features of the 360 product vs the free version that don\u2019t fit neatly\u00a0 into the headings above; some fall under the support umbrella, which may appeal to you if you have more complex ad management needs or don\u2019t have the resources to solve every issue internally.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\nGAM<\/b><\/td>\nAM360<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Teams<\/span><\/td>\nNo<\/span><\/td>\nYes<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Future sell through report<\/span><\/td>\nNo<\/span><\/td>\nYes<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Direct access to Google support<\/span><\/td>\nNo<\/span><\/td>\nYes<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Multi-currency support<\/span><\/td>\nNo<\/span><\/td>\nYes<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Multiple Customer Management<\/span><\/td>\nNo<\/span><\/td>\nYes<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Other features specific to Ad Manager 360 <\/strong>Advanced<\/strong><\/h2>\n

If having two similarly named versions of the same product wasn\u2019t enough, let\u2019s briefly talk about Ad Manager 360 Basic vs Ad Manager 360 Advanced.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ad Manager 360 Advanced offers additional specialist video features over the \u201cbasic\u201d version of Ad Manager 360. These are robust features, but unnecessary for the\u00a0 vast majority of publishers. At time of writing, the features only available in the Advanced version of the product are:<\/span><\/p>\n