The DoubleClick for Publishers ad server (DFP) - now known as Google Ad Manager - is by far the leading ad server on the market.
In fact, if you look at the Top 10K US sites, Google accounts for 84% of all ad servers found (discovered using the same tool we use for our CMP tracker).
This article dives into where Google's ad server falls short and DoubleClick competitors you could look into.
Table of Contents:
Google's DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP) ad server has wide adoption for a few reasons:
There are three main reasons:
To dive in deeper:
There's a reason that Facebook, Pinterest, eBay, and many other brands with innovative ad platforms chose to build their own versus rely on Google's tools.
(Facebook's Promoted Posts were built in-house)
Namely - DFP, as an out-of-the-box solution, provides little customization ability and doesn't make it easy to:
Client-side JavaScript ad tags, like those used by Google, are the industry standard for ad serving, but they come with many issues:
The alternative to JavaScript solutions like DoubleClick are server-side ad servers, which allow you to integrate the ad serving tech into your backend web and mobile apps directly, without needing client-side code.
Finally, DFP is owned by Google. Given they are a tech behemoth with many product lines, working with DoubleClick means that you may be enabling a competitor through data sharing/revenue.
Indeed, Google’s announcement that their Chrome browser will be sunsetting third-party cookies rattled the industry, which is already feeling the impact of Apple’s Safari browser doing the same.
Ultimately, if you're making millions using Google's DoubleClick, you have to ask yourself, "Am I prepared to adapt if Google implements a breaking change or changes their privacy policy?"
Companies like Pinterest/Snapchat/etc (who built their own ad products), meanwhile, can exist and grow independent of any changes Google may make.
The right DoubleClick for Publishers alternative will depend on what you're looking for. To that end we've created a quick chart:
What is your focus? | Need a customizable ad product? | Where are you showing ads? | How do you define yourself? | Your best bet is: |
---|---|---|---|---|
Direct-sold / internal ads (+ some programmatic) | Yes | Websites, apps, emails,DOOH, in-game | You want a fully-customized ad platform without the hassle of building it from scratch | Kevel |
Mostly programmatic | No | Websites | You like DFP's tool but don't want to enable Google | Adform |
Mostly programmatic | Yes | Websites, apps | An ad network, ad exchange, etc | EPOM |
Mostly programmatic | No | Websites | You want a basic ad product, but don't want to build it or work with a vendor | Self-host with Revive |
Mostly programmatic | No | Emails | Brand looking to monetize large email list | LiveIntent |
Mostly programmatic | No | Websites | Low-traffic WordPress site | Ad Inserter WP Plug-in |
Diving into the above DoubleClick competitors, one of the following vendors will likely be your best alternative to DoubleClick for Publishers.
Type: Ad serving Infrastructure APIs
Kevel is the market leader in server-side ad serving, enabled through APIs.
With Kevel, brands can launch custom, fully-bespoke ad servers in a fraction of the time and cost of trying to build it from scratch. Companies expecting to build an ad platform in months or a year can use Kevel to easily release the same one in just weeks.
Type: Hosted third-party ad server for programmatic ads
Adform is a DFP competitor who focuses on programmatic-focused publishers. Their platform comes with detailed revenue forecasting, analytics for identifying new monetization opportunities, and bidding tools to maximize CPMs.
Type: Free, open source ad server
Revive is a self-hosted ad platform (via an open source script) you can download for free. After downloading, there is additional work needed to host and run the code.
Type: Hosted 3rd-party solution for ad networks
EPOM is a DFP alternative that caters to ad networks; their key value is around white-labeling and turnkey RTB integrations. They are also open to custom development.
Type: Hosted third-party vendor for digital magazines
Broadstreet provides a niche adserver to digital magazines and online news sites whose focus is on direct-sold ads.
Type: Hosted third-party ad server for emails
LiveIntent is an ad vendor specifically for companies looking to show ads in their emails, a functionality that Doubleclick for Publishers does not offer.
Type: WordPress plug-in ad product
If you have a low-traffic WordPress site and DFP seems too complicated, the Ad Inserter WP Plug-in is a good option. It has the most active installations of any WP ad server solutions and provides an easy way to manage direct deals and Google AdSense ads.
In addition to the options above, below are other third-party alternatives to Doubleclick, with most being smaller brands with fewer than 15 employees.
As mentioned earlier, many brands have built their own ad system rather than relying on a third-party, tag-based vendor.
A new industry trend - ad serving APIs - is emerging to help brands build bespoke platforms in a fraction of the time and cost as doing it entirely from scratch. For instance, companies like Ticketmaster and Klarna have jumped on this new tech to build their own DFP alternatives for displaying their native ads.
The leader in ad APIs is Kevel.
Brands like Yelp, Klarna, WeTransfer, and many more have used our tools to build custom ad servers, in just weeks. These are fast, server-side, native ad products that they have full control of.
Contact us today to learn more.
Chris has worked in ad tech for over fourteen years in a variety of roles - giving him customer support, PM, and marketing perspectives from both the advertiser and publisher sides. He's the VP of Marketing at Kevel.