Author Archives: Alexis R. Shellhammer

Introducing Active View reporting in DoubleClick: A foundation for brand measurement

In an important step toward making brand measurement as actionable as the click, customers of our DoubleClick platform globally now have access to Active View reporting. Advertisers, agencies and publishers now have access to a common, integrated metric to evaluate and compare the viewability of impressions across the web.

Digital advertising can provide brand marketers better measurement for their campaigns, but to do so, we must transition to a market where viewable impressions are a standard currency. On March 31, the Media Rating Council took the first step toward making viewable impressions a standard by lifting its advisory to refrain from transacting on viewable impressions as a digital advertising currency. We’ve always been a strong supporter of the viewability standard and we’re excited to roll out our MRC-certified viewability solution Active View to our DoubleClick partners.

DoubleClick clients globally now have access to Active View viewability reporting by default in:
  • DoubleClick for Publishers, for publishers using Google Publisher Tags 
  • DoubleClick Ad Exchange, in the new Query Tool
  • DoubleClick Digital Marketing
    • DoubleClick Campaign Manager, including reach and frequency
    • DoubleClick Bid Manager

From measurement to currency, the future of Viewability
Moving from served impressions to viewable impressions as the standard unit of measurement in the advertising ecosystem will be a huge shift but, leaders in the industry see opportunity ahead.
“The shift toward viewability will bring more brand spend to digital, ultimately benefiting premium publishers,” says David Payne, Chief Digital Officer at Gannett. “Viewability provides us another proof point that shows how our premium content creates highly engaged audiences perfect for branding campaigns.”
"At VivaKi, we’re passionate about viewability because an ad served that is not viewable is an inefficient use of our clients’ resources,” says VP Audience Media Strategy Phil Shih. “In the future, viewable premium inventory will demand a higher CPM than unviewed impressions; but it’s worth it for the sake of growing your brand.”

Providing a common measurement metric is the foundation for a world where we can transact on viewable impressions. But measurement alone does not make viewable impressions a currency. For this, we need to develop technology that allows advertisers and publishers to not only measure, but also transact viewable impressions. We already enable this on the Google Display Network and, we’re also investing in tools on the DoubleClick platform to allow advertisers and publishers to value, buy, sell, serve and optimize to viewable impressions. 

The transition to viewable impressions will not happen overnight, but as more brands, agencies and publishers adopt the viewable standard, we can create a more transparent and actionable display ecosystem for brand advertisers. We look forward to working with our clients and industry bodies to turn viewability into a new currency for the web.

Posted by Sanaz Ahari, Group Product Manager, Brand Metrics


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Introducing Active View reporting in DoubleClick: A foundation for brand measurement

In an important step toward making brand measurement as actionable as the click, customers of our DoubleClick platform globally now have access to Active View reporting. Advertisers, agencies and publishers now have access to a common, integrated metric to evaluate and compare the viewability of impressions across the web.

Digital advertising can provide brand marketers better measurement for their campaigns, but to do so, we must transition to a market where viewable impressions are a standard currency. On March 31, the Media Rating Council took the first step toward making viewable impressions a standard by lifting its advisory to refrain from transacting on viewable impressions as a digital advertising currency. We’ve always been a strong supporter of the viewability standard and we’re excited to roll out our MRC-certified viewability solution Active View to our DoubleClick partners.

DoubleClick clients globally now have access to Active View viewability reporting by default in:
  • DoubleClick for Publishers, for publishers using Google Publisher Tags 
  • DoubleClick Ad Exchange, in the new Query Tool
  • DoubleClick Digital Marketing
    • DoubleClick Campaign Manager, including reach and frequency
    • DoubleClick Bid Manager

From measurement to currency, the future of Viewability
Moving from served impressions to viewable impressions as the standard unit of measurement in the advertising ecosystem will be a huge shift but, leaders in the industry see opportunity ahead.
“The shift toward viewability will bring more brand spend to digital, ultimately benefiting premium publishers,” says David Payne, Chief Digital Officer at Gannett. “Viewability provides us another proof point that shows how our premium content creates highly engaged audiences perfect for branding campaigns.”
"At VivaKi, we’re passionate about viewability because an ad served that is not viewable is an inefficient use of our clients’ resources,” says VP Audience Media Strategy Phil Shih. “In the future, viewable premium inventory will demand a higher CPM than unviewed impressions; but it’s worth it for the sake of growing your brand.”

Providing a common measurement metric is the foundation for a world where we can transact on viewable impressions. But measurement alone does not make viewable impressions a currency. For this, we need to develop technology that allows advertisers and publishers to not only measure, but also transact viewable impressions. We already enable this on the Google Display Network and, we’re also investing in tools on the DoubleClick platform to allow advertisers and publishers to value, buy, sell, serve and optimize to viewable impressions. 

The transition to viewable impressions will not happen overnight, but as more brands, agencies and publishers adopt the viewable standard, we can create a more transparent and actionable display ecosystem for brand advertisers. We look forward to working with our clients and industry bodies to turn viewability into a new currency for the web.

Posted by Sanaz Ahari, Group Product Manager, Brand Metrics


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Infographic: 4 Ways Brands Win with Programmatic

Programmatic is changing the way media is being bought and sold, helping brands cut through the clutter to make one-to-one connections with consumers, at scale.
In 2013, as brands took to programmatic, and with the growth of programmatic video, CPMs on the DoubleCick Ad Exchange increased. Preferred Deal impressions also grew 250%.

In this infographic, “Programmatic: The Brand Era”, we explore four ways in which programmatic is changing the game for marketers, winning them the moments that matter with the people they care about.

See the full infographic here.

Screen Shot 2014-05-15 at 4.50.11 PM.png
Posted by Kelly Cox, Product Marketing Manager

An important step by the Media Rating Council toward a viewable impression currency

Yesterday, the Media Rating Council (MRC) announced that it is lifting its advisory on transacting on viewability for display advertising, originally issued in November 2012. In taking this step, the MRC is signaling that great strides have been made toward the goal of transacting display advertising using viewable impressions, and the industry is ready to begin the process of adopting viewable impressions as a standard metric. We applaud this move and are thrilled to see the industry move closer to the reality of a true viewability currency.

Google has been a longtime supporter of this effort and we’ve partnered with the industry, the Media Rating Council and the IAB, as part of the Making Measurement Make Sense (3MS) initiative, to help guide the definition and adoption of a viewable impression standard. Last April our viewability measurement solution Active View received accreditation by the Media Rating Council and, in the coming months, we’ll be making Active View reporting available to all DoubleClick customers across our platform. We believe that giving marketers, agencies and publishers access to a common, integrated viewable impression metric will set the foundation for viewable impressions to become an actionable currency.

But measurement alone will not make viewable impressions a currency. To become a currency we need technology that allows advertisers and publishers to not only measure, but also transact on viewable impressions. In December, we took our first step toward making viewable impressions a true currency by giving advertisers the ability to target and buy only viewable impressions on the Google Display Network. We’ve seen a strong positive response as thousands of advertisers and brands have adopted viewable impression buying on our network, but we’re not stopping there. We’re investing heavily in Active View and working quickly to enable our DoubleClick platform clients to value, buy, sell, serve and optimize to viewable impressions across the web. 

The MRC announcement represents an important milestone in the journey towards a viewable currency. As marketers and agencies adopt the viewable standard we can start to build a new display market that is more transparent and actionable for brand marketers.

Posted by Sanaz Ahari, Senior Product Manager

An important step by the Media Rating Council towards a viewable impression currency

Yesterday, the Media Rating Council (MRC) announced that it is lifting its advisory on transacting on viewability for display advertising, originally issued in November 2012. In taking this step, the MRC is signaling that great strides have been made toward the goal of transacting display advertising using viewable impressions, and the industry is ready to begin the process of adopting viewable impressions as a standard metric. We applaud this move and are thrilled to see the industry move closer to the reality of a true viewability currency.

Google has been a longtime supporter of this effort and we’ve partnered with the industry, the Media Rating Council and the IAB, as part of the Making Measurement Make Sense (3MS) initiative, to help guide the definition and adoption of a viewable impression standard. Last April our viewability measurement solution Active View received accreditation by the Media Rating Council and, in the coming months, we’ll be making Active View reporting available to all DoubleClick customers across our platform. We believe that giving marketers, agencies and publishers access to a common, integrated viewable impression metric will set the foundation for viewable impressions to become an actionable currency.

But measurement alone will not make viewable impressions a currency. To become a currency we need technology that allows advertisers and publishers to not only measure, but also transact on viewable impressions. In December, we took our first step toward making viewable impressions a true currency by giving advertisers the ability to target and buy only viewable impressions on the Google Display Network. We’ve seen a strong positive response as thousands of advertisers and brands have adopted viewable impression buying on our network, but we’re not stopping there. We’re investing heavily in Active View and working quickly to enable our DoubleClick platform clients to value, buy, sell, serve and optimize to viewable impressions across the web. 

The MRC announcement represents an important milestone in the journey towards a viewable currency. As marketers and agencies adopt the viewable standard we can start to build a new display market that is more transparent and actionable for brand marketers.

Posted by Sanaz Ahari, Senior Product Manager

Turbocharging the News Business with the Local Media Consortium

Publishers are the lifeblood of the web. Local news providers in particular play vital role in our society, helping us stay in touch with our communities and keep up to date on the news and issues that most closely affect our lives.

We’ve had the good fortune to work with many local news publishers over the years to help power their ads businesses. Today, we’re thrilled to further that commitment with a landmark deal with the Local Media Consortium, an industry body comprising more than 800 daily newspapers and 200 local broadcast stations. Together, we’ll provide the consortium’s membership with a suite of Google advertising products for publishers:
  • A Powerful Private Exchange -- The Local Media Consortium will launch a new private ad exchange, powered by DoubleClick Ad Exchange technology. Programmatic buying is attracting growing budgets (analysts predict 75% growth in 2014). With 10 billion monthly impressions of top quality video and display inventory, this new exchange will enable the consortium to engage with the growing number of national advertisers and agencies investing in programmatic channels and looking to reach audiences at scale.
  • The DoubleClick Platform -- Members will also have access to DoubleClick for Publishers, our widely used ad management platform that lets publishers easily and efficiently manage their digital ads business, across desktop, video and mobile inventory. 
  • AdSense Contextual Ads -- Through AdSense, all members will also have the option to run contextually matched ads on their sites and search results (powered by Google Custom Search). 
The Local Media Consortium represents the best of what the web has to offer in terms of content and engaged local audiences. We’re looking forward to working with their leadership and members to build on this partnership and help grow the businesses of valued newspapers and news stations from across the country. 

Posted by Laurent Cordier, Managing Director, Americas Partnerships - News & Magazines

Investing in a cleaner, more accountable web with spider.io

Advertising helps fund the digital world we love today -- inspiring videos, informative websites, entertaining apps and services that connect us with friends around the world. But this vibrant ecosystem only flourishes if marketers can buy media online with the confidence that their ads are reaching real people, that results they see are based on actual interest. To grow the pie for everyone, we need to take head on the issue of online fraud.

This is a fight we’ve taken seriously from the beginning. Over the years, we’ve invested significantly in the technology and talent to prevent fraud and create greater accountability online. For example, we put extensive resources towards keeping bad actors out of our ad systems -- last year alone, we turned down millions of applications from sites looking to join our network because of suspected fraudulent activity. We also introduced new measurement tools, like MRC-accredited Active View, which lets advertisers buy only those ads that are viewable on a page. Active View offers greater peace of mind to all media buyers, but is especially important for brand marketers who want to know, first and foremost, that their ad has a chance to be seen.

Today we’re announcing our latest investment: we’ve completed an acquisition of spider.io, a company that has spent the past 3 years building a world-class ad fraud fighting operation.

Our immediate priority is to include their fraud detection technology in our video and display ads products, where they will complement our existing efforts. Over the long term, our goal is to improve the metrics that advertisers and publishers use to determine the value of digital media and give all parties a clearer, cleaner picture of what campaigns and media are truly delivering strong results. Also, by including spider.io’s fraud fighting expertise in our products, we can scale our efforts to weed out bad actors and improve the entire digital ecosystem.

Of course, this is not an issue we’re fighting alone. We applaud industry efforts like the IAB’s Traffic of Good Intent (TOGI) task force, which also play a critical role, as well as major commitments from others in the space. As an industry, we can address this issue and block those who seek to game the system. We can make digital the platform of choice for all marketers -- including brands -- to invest. And we can offer accountable media for all; we’re excited to take this big next step.


Posted by Neal Mohan, VP, Display Advertising

Investing in a cleaner, more accountable web with spider.io

Advertising helps fund the digital world we love today -- inspiring videos, informative websites, entertaining apps and services that connect us with friends around the world. But this vibrant ecosystem only flourishes if marketers can buy media online with the confidence that their ads are reaching real people, that results they see are based on actual interest. To grow the pie for everyone, we need to take head on the issue of online fraud.

This is a fight we’ve taken seriously from the beginning. Over the years, we’ve invested significantly in the technology and talent to prevent fraud and create greater accountability online. For example, we put extensive resources towards keeping bad actors out of our ad systems -- last year alone, we turned down millions of applications from sites looking to join our network because of suspected fraudulent activity. We also introduced new measurement tools, like MRC-accredited Active View, which lets advertisers buy only those ads that are viewable on a page. Active View offers greater peace of mind to all media buyers, but is especially important for brand marketers who want to know, first and foremost, that their ad has a chance to be seen.

Today we’re announcing our latest investment: we’ve completed an acquisition of spider.io, a company that has spent the past 3 years building a world-class ad fraud fighting operation.

Our immediate priority is to include their fraud detection technology in our video and display ads products, where they will complement our existing efforts. Over the long term, our goal is to improve the metrics that advertisers and publishers use to determine the value of digital media and give all parties a clearer, cleaner picture of what campaigns and media are truly delivering strong results. Also, by including spider.io’s fraud fighting expertise in our products, we can scale our efforts to weed out bad actors and improve the entire digital ecosystem.

Of course, this is not an issue we’re fighting alone. We applaud industry efforts like the IAB’s Traffic of Good Intent (TOGI) task force, which also play a critical role, as well as major commitments from others in the space. As an industry, we can address this issue and block those who seek to game the system. We can make digital the platform of choice for all marketers -- including brands -- to invest. And we can offer accountable media for all; we’re excited to take this big next step.


Posted by Neal Mohan, VP, Display Advertising

Redefining "Advertising": How 2013 Transformed Digital Marketing

It was a great year for digital advertising. New technologies took off, helping brands, agencies and publishers reach today’s constantly connected consumers more easily and effectively than ever before. With budgets no longer being siloed, 20% of organizations incorporated digital into each marketing function, per a study by Adobe.

We compiled a few of the bigger changes in marketing and digital advertising in 2013, to see how far the industry has come along. View the full infographic here or see a brief summary below.

Redefining “creative”
New creative formats took center stage in 2013. Marketers invested more in social media and TrueView skippable video ad formats continued to grow on the DoubleClick Ad Exchange.



Redefining “integrated”
The new 360 media plan cannot overlook digital and the sheer number of screens people interact with. In 2012, Google released some research indicating that people use 3 screen combinations a day. In 2013, this manifested itself in the form of increased investments in multi-screen campaigns.




Redefining “buying”
New(Up)fronts. Programmatic. 2013 changed the way digital media spend is committed.18 digital media companies presented at the Digital Content NewFronts. And programmatic buying gained significant traction with an expected ~74% growth, according to eMarketer. As brands took to programmatic and with the growth of programmatic video, CPMs on the DoubleClick Ad Exchange increased, and Preferred Deal impressions grew 250%. DoubleClick Bid Manager powered social media ads, joined FBX.


Redefining “success”
Earlier this year, AdAge released some research indicating that 50% of display ads are not viewed, making advertising viewability a hot industry topic. Google’s viewability measurement solution, ActiveView, got MRC-accredited. Last week, Google announced that it would enable viewability-based buys on the Google Display Network. Engagement Rate was another hot metric in 2013, with Cost per Engagement pay models enabled for ad formats like Engagement Ads on the Google Display Network.


View the full infographic here.

Posted by Yamini Gupta, Product Marketing Team

Google Web Designer beta now available: Build beautiful HTML5 creative with ease.

By now, it’s evident that multi-screen consumption is the way of the future; mobile and tablet devices are becoming consumers’ first screens, so the content that is developed needs to work seamlessly across these screens. There are already more end-users in HTML5-compatible environments than there are in Flash-compatible environments, and HTML5 ad spend is expected to overtake Flash spend within the next two years (1). But until recently, advertisers and publishers didn't have the tools they needed to easily develop content fit for today's cross-screen experiences.

Build once, run anywhere 
We’re working hard to solve this development challenge by offering powerful yet easy-to-use tools for HTML5 production. In this vein, we announced DoubleClick Studio Layouts for HTML5 back in August (also available to DFP Premium publishers using DoubleClick Studio), which lets you create HTML5 ads in minutes, and last week we announced Ready Creatives in AdWords, which creates HTML5 ads for you in seconds.

Today, we’re excited to announce the public beta of Google Web Designer, a new professional-quality design tool that makes HTML5 creative accessible to everyone from the designer to the dabbler.

Google Web Designer enables you to:
  1. Create animated HTML5 creative, with a robust, yet intuitive set of design tools. 
  2. View and edit the code behind your designs and see your edits reflected back on the stage automatically. 
  3. Build ad creatives seamlessly for DoubleClick and AdMob, or publish them to any generic environment you choose. 
  4. Receive updates to the product automatically, without having to re-download the application.
  5. Access all of this entirely for free.

Watch the Demo: A quick glimpse of Google Web Designer

Ready to give it a spin? 
  • Download Google Web Designer. 
  • Read through our getting started guide. 
  • Send us feedback! We need your input to make this tool even better, so share your ideas with us in our user forum or on our Google+ page. We’re working hard over the next couple quarters to add new features and improvements to make the product an even more robust offering. 
HTML5 is a universal language for building beautiful, engaging content that can run across desktops, smartphones, and tablets. We think that Google Web Designer will be the key to making HTML5 accessible to people throughout the industry, getting us closer to the goal of “build once, run anywhere.”

NOTE: Publishers using DFP or DFP Small business, see our Help Center articles to learn more about trafficking creatives. DFP Help Center. DFP Small Business Help Center.


Posted by Sean Kranzberg, Lead Engineer, Google Web Designer 
(1) StatCounter, Top 12 Browser Versions in North America, February 2012 to August 2013