Adobe Advertising Cloud vs. Google Ad Manager

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Adobe Advertising Cloud
Score 8.8 out of 10
N/A
AdobeAdvertising Cloud (formerly Adobe Media Optimizer) is an ad management product and is part of the Adobe Marketing Cloud. It delivers a rules-based bidding solution that improves the performance of search engine marketing campaigns and is integrated with Adobe Analytics.N/A
Google Ad Manager
Score 8.3 out of 10
N/A
Google Ad Manager is a platform for publishers that combines the former DoubleClick for Publishers and DoubleClick Ad Exchange products.N/A
Pricing
Adobe Advertising CloudGoogle Ad Manager
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Adobe Advertising CloudGoogle Ad Manager
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Adobe Advertising CloudGoogle Ad Manager
Features
Adobe Advertising CloudGoogle Ad Manager
Ad Network Integration
Comparison of Ad Network Integration features of Product A and Product B
Adobe Advertising Cloud
7.5
9 Ratings
2% above category average
Google Ad Manager
7.9
27 Ratings
7% above category average
Data Transfer8.09 Ratings7.727 Ratings
DSP integration7.09 Ratings8.022 Ratings
Ad Campaigns
Comparison of Ad Campaigns features of Product A and Product B
Adobe Advertising Cloud
8.6
10 Ratings
9% above category average
Google Ad Manager
7.3
39 Ratings
7% below category average
Ad campaign creation9.010 Ratings7.839 Ratings
Ad deployment9.010 Ratings6.939 Ratings
Display advertising8.010 Ratings7.338 Ratings
Ad display and retargeting segmentation9.010 Ratings7.337 Ratings
Sequence targeting8.09 Ratings7.327 Ratings
Ad Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Ad Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Adobe Advertising Cloud
8.5
10 Ratings
9% above category average
Google Ad Manager
6.3
38 Ratings
21% below category average
Ad dashboards9.010 Ratings6.336 Ratings
Ad performance reports10.010 Ratings7.238 Ratings
Ad conversion tracking8.08 Ratings6.337 Ratings
Ad attribution reporting8.09 Ratings6.733 Ratings
Cross-channel ad management9.09 Ratings6.028 Ratings
Ad forecasting and optimization7.28 Ratings5.333 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Adobe Advertising CloudGoogle Ad Manager
Small Businesses
Criteo Commerce Growth
Criteo Commerce Growth
Score 8.0 out of 10
Criteo Commerce Growth
Criteo Commerce Growth
Score 8.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
The Trade Desk
The Trade Desk
Score 9.0 out of 10
The Trade Desk
The Trade Desk
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Criteo Commerce Growth
Criteo Commerce Growth
Score 8.0 out of 10
Criteo Commerce Growth
Criteo Commerce Growth
Score 8.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Adobe Advertising CloudGoogle Ad Manager
Likelihood to Recommend
9.0
(17 ratings)
8.5
(36 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
1.8
(2 ratings)
7.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(2 ratings)
8.4
(4 ratings)
Support Rating
3.3
(4 ratings)
7.0
(2 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Adobe Advertising CloudGoogle Ad Manager
Likelihood to Recommend
Adobe
I think it is good to keep in mind the type of business application you have in mind when selecting Media Optimizer for your company. For us, as an agency, it makes sense for us to utilize the reporting and paid search optimizing portions for our clients as we manage over 300+ clients PPC campaigns. With this tool it is possible to set up campaigns easily and as long as the parameters are set correctly within the portfolio, there is a great opportunity for the tool to do its job and use the simulation/modeling process to run and grow a paid search campaign with ease of human interaction.
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Google
I like that I can see several clients in one place, which can be convenient. However, the UX could be a lot better as outlined previously. In other words, the benefits of combining clients into the Ad Manager don't seem to be much more beneficial than logging into each client's ad account separately
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Pros
Adobe
  • An all in one solution for so many things that range from advertising campaigns to pushing out content to PPC.
  • Integration for many channels without much setup, this includes lesser known search engines and various social media partners.
  • Automation for delegating many tasks that can be a hassle to accomplish.
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Google
  • The obvious is the data - Google Ads Manager gives me essential and even critical data about which jobs and industries are hot right now and what is driving the most response.
  • Google Ad Manager gives us more control over the search engine results page as we get more visibility and real estate on our branded search terms and job/industry-specific search terms.
  • Google Ad Manager gives us the chance to compete with major national players in job recruitment, Monster, Indeed, LinkedIn, etc.
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Cons
Adobe
  • As with most Adobe products, it can be a little tedious to use and requires a bit of extra training and "googling" around to make sure you are getting things right. It has improved over time within the entire Adobe suite, and I anticipate that this will be true of this as well.
  • Adobe training and learning platforms can include a lot of technical terminology and jargon that makes it difficult for a novice to understand without feeling like they need a whole new education.
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Google
  • Support. Not that they don't call or offer help, it's that our account people are bullies. I tell them I don't have time, so I am insulted and told that I need to get in front of the laptop otherwise I have "failed the company." I have never had a situation where I wasn't bullied by our Ad reps. They don't respect or value our time, which can make their calls frustrating.
  • Too quick on support. They don't take the time to understand the product. We are a preschool which shares a name with a popular motorcycle. An Ad rep insisted he knew the company so well that he could help me within five minutes. After being interrupted frequently, I just let him continue to tell me how I "could increase awareness of our aerodynamic seat design by creating ads with those keywords..."
  • Better management of trademark keywords and program awareness. We switched over to a new site, the domain changed for about ten seconds. All of our ads were unapproved and put on pause. The email stated it would be fixed very quickly, but I had to go in for the last 3 days to reactivate each one individually.
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Likelihood to Renew
Adobe
As of this writing, we have just discontinued our use of Adobe Media Optimizer. Other vendors gave us a better rate, a better contract option, and the product is just better than what we had with Adobe at the time. We may revisit Adobe again at the future, but it seems like they have a lot of work to do to catch up with the leader in the space
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Google
I think it's useful for our team and we rely on it to improve our business. It is within our budget also. Although we still will need an approval from the upper-level management team, I don't see any problem with that
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Usability
Adobe
It definitely takes some instruction to get to be able to use the system. One would struggle trying to get it to work without any previous experience with it. If you are famailiar with the interface it is actually quite fast and easy to maneuver around.
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Google
While most of Google Ad Manager is user-friendly, certain parts of the ad creation process could use some improvements. Specifically, the way you insert keywords can be clunky and time-consuming, and I would like to see better and more keyword suggestions when designing a campaign.
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Support Rating
Adobe
They are super knowledgable and help in almost all situations, however sometimes I feel they put you on hold to find the answers themselves as they literally have said. "Can you hold a few minutes while I research that answer for you?" Most of the time they come back with a solution, other times they manually escalate it to someone else.
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Google
I could say a lot about this topic. As an agency, we get a new [representative] to talk to almost every quarter to go over select accounts and the campaigns within. Most of the time, these [educated representatives], don't provide any new feedback, or I just simply [disagree] with their approach. This is not all the time however. I have learned a lot from a rare few, [individuals] that have given me new strategies and access to betas early on. The other side of support, is the [overseas support platform]. [It] is usually not very helpful, but you can [emphasize] issues and they can research [them]. The Google Tag Implementation team is pristine though. When you need them, you need to set an appointment, which is usually 2 weeks out; they are so over-my-head intelligent, I've never had a bad experience with them and whenever I needed them for a fix, they solved it [within] the first call.
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Implementation Rating
Adobe
It was difficult initially, but the implementation of the Dynamic Tag Manager was a big help and timesaver.
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Google
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Adobe
It was a step up from Marin in terms of UI. Very similar functionality to Marin. Compared to Kenshoo Search and Google Marketing Platform it was probably not as advanced but offered the benefit of integrating with other products in the Adobe stack like Adobe Analytics, Adobe Target, and Adobe Campaign.
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Google
As I've said in prior comments, I like how the Google Ad Manager makes better use of the Google data and results compared to the others. Yes, I've tried them - I used to evaluate software for a former company. They will all do the job I didn't like their usage as much as I preferred the Google information - and I said even that had flaws - so you have to realize that nothing is completely perfect so far.
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Return on Investment
Adobe
  • This has increased the number of clients.
  • This has increased the amount of productivity and time we can spend on clients.
  • This has increased the overall revenue because we can handle more than we used to be able to handle without this tool.
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Google
  • I was able to work well with my budgets - mainly because of the reports.
  • I saw a great spike in the way my ad traffic increased.
  • It was a very easy way to work with Google Ad Manager than connecting other platforms with less compatibility - Less investment.
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ScreenShots