Ad Serving & Retargeting Platforms

TrustRadius Top Rated for 2023

Top Rated Products

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1
Foundry ABM

Foundry ABM is an account based marketing platform that creates campaigns for ads, web personalization, and sales. Foundry’s proprietary database complements an organization’s first party data to provide the best data to reach, engage, and convert more stakeholders in target accounts.…

2
Google Ads

Google Ads (formerly AdWords) is Google's pay-per-click online advertising program. With Google Ads users set their budget and choose where their ads appear in search listings, and on partner websites. Google Ads uses cost-per-click (CPC) bidding.

All Products

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Wunderkind

Wunderkind (formerly BounceX) is presented as a people-based marketing cloud. It includes behavior-based personalization capabilities for website content, email, and other channels. The vendor states digital businesses use Wunderkind to remember who site visitors are, allowing them…

27
Springbot

Springbot aims to bring all the marketing capabilities large retailers have to small businesses at a fraction of the cost. Through Springbot, online stores will be able to leverage automated marketing on channels such as email, SMS, social and online ads. Business owners and marketers…

28
Epom Ad Server

Epom Ad Server is the solution created for Ad Networks that helps to manage advertisers, run and customize all the campaigns from one place, increase revenue using a system of reports and much more. Some key features include: Cross-platform: display, mobile, video, in-apps ads, Back-…

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29
Rakuten Advertising

Rakuten Advertising (recently Rakuten Marketing), includes the former DC Storm and its services, and is an affiliate marketing network and solution for publishers and advertisers including programmatic display and retargeting technology.

30
AdStage

The AdStage Platform is a self-serve cross-network online advertising platform with full management and analytics for campaigns across search, social, display, and mobile ad networks like Google AdWords, Bing, Facebook, Twitter, & LinkedIn Ads. It's an all-in-one marketing platform,…

32
AppLovin Exchange (ALX)

AppLovin is a mobile advertising optimization platform from the company of the same name headquartered in California.

33
Adform FLOW

Adform, headquartered in Copenhagen, offers an independent and integrated advertising platform built for modern marketing. Its enterprise technology – Adform FLOW – harnesses user experience and a scalable, modular and open architecture, to enable management of the whole campaign…

34
WideOrbit

WideOrbit offers sell-side ad management solutions for media companies, including programmatic capabilities for TV, radio and the web.

35
Simpli.fi

Simpli.fi is the epoymous flagship product from the company headquartered in Fort Worth, for programmatic media buying, display advertising, and streaming / OTT monetization. It is a data management and demand-side buying hybrid platform (DMP / DSP).

36
AdGear Advertiser

AdGear Advertiser is a cross-channel, third party ad server for publishers, networks, advertisers and agencies. Some key features include: Cross-channel Attribution, Dynamic Ads and CRM Integration.

37
CIENCE GO Digital

CIENCE GO Digital enables targeted ads to be served -- down to the individual contacts in an Ideal Customer Profile. Boasting pinpoint accurate data, CIENCE GO Digital is a Demand Side Platform, with DSP features that include: Comprehensive advertising coverage at auction prices.…

38
BannerFlow

BannerFlow provides the ability to build ad campaigns without design help in seconds, not weeks. BannerFlow removes the ad production process. Customers create one single initial banner and the tool will create the sizes for them in a few seconds. Changes can be done in real-time…

39
AdEspresso by Hootsuite

AdEspresso by Hootsuite is tool that allows you to perform split tests on every aspect of an advertising campaign. The platform also allows you to create, analyze and optimize Facebook Ads, Instagram, and Google campaigns. Understanding from AdEspressos analytics of what is…

40
Kwanzoo

Kwanzoo is a cloud-based platform built to help customers deliver media-based advertisements for both retargeting and account-based marketing campaigns. Kwanzoo has robust integrations with popular marketing automation and CRM platforms such as Marketo, Salesforce, Oracle's Eloqua,…

41
Smaato

Smaato is a supply-side publisher platform (SSP) from the Verve Group since the 2021 acquisition.

42
Digilant

Boston-based company Digilant offers their eponymous integrated DMP / DSP (data management platform, demand-side platform).

43
Madison Logic Platform

The Madison Logic Platform is an account-based marketing product that includes an ABM-centric data management platform (DMP) that allows users to target ads and other content on an account basis. Activate ABM integrates with the user's CRM and Marketing Automation platforms, and…

44
Magnite

Magnite (formerly Rubicon Project) is an independent sell-side advertising platform.

47
ownerIQ

ownerIQ in Boston supports digital advertising operations with their second-party data marketplace, for retailers and brands to share data with partners and to aid advertisers in creating more targeted and advertising campaigns.

48
MatchCraft AdVantage

MatchCraft Advantage is a search engine marketing (SEM) platform for managing many paid advertising campaigns at once, ideally for agencies managing campaigns for a number of small to midsize businesses with their local marketing efforts. To that end it automates many elements of…

49
YuMe

YuMe is a provider of digital video brand advertising, now offered and supported by RhythmOne since the acquisition in early 2018. The platform is designed to simplify digital video advertising campaigns.

50
Sojern RevDirect

Sojern’s RevDirectâ„¢is a risk-free, pay-for-performance direct demand marketing solution for independent hotel marketers. Engaging with prospective guests as they quickly navigate across websites, digital channels, and devices to plan and book their travel is an increasingly complex…

Learn More About Ad Serving & Retargeting Platforms

What is Ad Serving and Retargeting?

Ad serving and retargeting software is most commonly used by marketing departments. It involves displaying text or rich media ads on a website, and re-exposing viewers to customized ad materials. This can be either the company’s own or another website that has auctioned off digital real estate (such as a blog or news site).


Some ad serving products take a self-service approach, allowing users to micromanage, test, and deploy these campaign elements themselves. Others use a managed service approach, where the vendor conducts negotiation of price and placement for advertisements on the user’s behalf.


Retargeting involves targeting individuals/audience segments who have already been exposed to a company’s promotional material again. An individual’s prior behavior, called ‘intent’ data, give clues about a person’s interests and needs and is used in the retargeting process. The goal of retargeting is to identify potential new prospects and display relevant content based on intent data.


Onsite and offsite retargeting


There are two different types of retargeting that marketing teams can conduct: offsite and onsite targeting. Offsite targeting has traditionally been the retargeting avenue of choice. It involves identifying individuals who have already visited your company’s site and exposing them to more promotional materials (e.g. emails, ads on other sites).


Onsite targeting, also called ‘behavioral targeting’, involves re-exposing site visitors to specific promotional material while they are still on your company’s site. This style of retargeting relies heavily on visitor behavior while they are on the website.



Advertising Management and Ad Tracking Software


Some ad serving & retargeting software allows users to manage and track advertising campaigns across multiple channels. This is also called cross-channel campaign management or cross-channel advertising. Ad performance is measured in terms of conversion - either purchasing something at that moment or later on in the customer’s journey. More advanced ad management tools have analytics features that can help users optimize ad spend for maximum engagement or conversions.

B2B vs. B2C Retargeting

Technology and marketing practices around ads aimed at consumers, including retargeting based on offsite behavior, is more mature than ads aimed at businesses. However, B2B marketers are becoming more sophisticated at using automated personalization methods like retargeting and sequence targeting within their complex sales cycles.


Currently, several B2B ad serving & retargeting products are steering the market towards account-based advertising. Account-based ad targeting is a component of account-based marketing (ABM), a B2B marketing strategy that is quickly growing in popularity.


Ad Serving & Retargeting Platforms Features & Capabilities

Ad Campaign Features

The first major function of ad serving & retargeting software is to allow users to create and/or display ad campaigns. Common features include:


  • Ad campaign creation: Allows users to programmatically create ads and build new campaigns within the tool.

  • Ad deployment: Allows users to quickly and easily deploy new ad campaigns from within the tool.

  • Display advertising: Supports banner and rich media display ads, including video, audio, mobile, etc.

  • Ad display and retargeting segmentation: Allows users to display and retarget ads to audience segments based on demographics, location, account, role, or other profile aspects.

  • Sequence targeting: Allows users to create ad sequences for individual viewers on a website. This provides very fine control over brand messaging and storytelling.

  • Integration with ad exchanges: Integrates to a digital marketplace where advertising space (for display, video, mobile ads, etc. ) is bought and sold in real-time auctions.

Ad Reporting & Analytics Features

Ad serving & retargeting software also allows users to understand the results of their campaigns and adjust future campaigns accordingly. Common features include:


  • Ad dashboards: Dashboards for analyzing and/or optimizing ads.

  • Ad performance reports: Allows users to generate reports comparing the performance of various ads.

  • Ad conversion tracking: Tracks ad conversions by campaign and type of conversion (e.g. product purchase, newsletter subscription, filled out a form, downloaded a whitepaper).

  • Ad attribution reporting: Generates detailed reports that attribute conversion to a combination of different touch points (ads, and other factors) leading up to conversion.

  • Cross-channel ad management: Provides an integrated view or control panel that allows users to manage their ad campaigns across a variety of platforms in one place.

  • Ad forecasting and optimization: Ad forecasting models predict campaign performance to assist with optimization.

Ad Serving and Retargeting Platforms Comparison

Before investing in an ad serving platform, consider the following key factors:


  • Advertising channels: Are you looking for a platform that will allow you to serve ads across various paid channels? Or are you looking for an ad serving platform that is tied to a specific channel? Certain tools like Google Ads, Facebook for Business, and Twitter Ads focus on a specific advertising channel rather than allowing users to purchase ad space across channels like platforms like Criteo Dynamic Retargeting.

  • User-friendliness: Is it easy to set up ad campaigns within the platform and use the interface? Does it take a long time to become familiar and comfortable with the platform? What level of documentation and support does the vendor provide? Doing a free trial of the tool is a great way to get a better feel for the overall usability and user-friendliness of the platform.

  • Industry: Are you looking for a platform that’s specifically designed for B2C, B2B, or industries like ecommerce? Certain products are better-suited for either consumer or business user advertising or specific industries like ecommerce.


Start an ad serving and retargeting product comparison.

Pricing Information

Self-service SMB Ad Serving and Retargeting Platforms cost about $1 per month per account. A managed service engagement is likely to cost in the region of $1,000 per month. Enterprise self-service platforms can be significantly more expensive, but there is a tendency to only charge for the number of people who actually engage with ads.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What do ad serving and retargeting platforms do?

These platforms allow marketers to retarget people who have visited their website, or target a specific audience segment on a digital channel, with advertising content. This content could be an image, text, a banner ad, a video ad, or other types of advertising content. Most advertising platforms also include ad campaign performance analytics.

What is a self-serve ad platform?

Some products focus on serving ads within a specific digital channel, such as Google search engine results pages (SERPs), Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, etc. Other platforms act as the intermediary between advertisers and ad networks or digital mediums and allow marketers to self-serve purchasing ad space across channels.

A self-serve ad serving and retargeting platform usually allows advertisers to set up pre-defined parameters for their ad campaigns, including which digital medium to display ads on, which user segments to target, ad type, ad placement, the timing of ad displays on specific digital channels, etc.

What are the best ad serving and retargeting platforms?

According to end-user feedback on TrustRadius, the top-rated ad serving and retargeting platforms are:

How much do ad serving platforms cost?

Prices can vary based on the type of ad serving platform, the volume of ads being displayed, and the number of user licenses required. For example, self-serve style ad platforms can cost as little as $1 per month to get started. Managed ad serving and retargeting platforms are typically more expensive and can cost up to $1,000 per month or more.

Other products like Google Ads allow users to set a specific budget and big on ad placements within their budget range.