Adobe Advertising Cloud vs. Google Marketing Platform

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Adobe Advertising Cloud
Score 8.9 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 Marketing Platform
Score 9.0 out of 10
N/A
Google Marketing Platform (a combination of former DoubleClick advertiser tools and Google Analytics 360 Suite) is a set of tools for marketers to manage their advertising campaigns. DoubleClick was acquired by Google in 2008. It focuses on uploading ads and reporting their performance and also provides forecasting tools to help predict future campaign needs. Bid optimization tools help manage pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns across search engines (e.g. Bing, Google, Yahoo!).N/A
Pricing
Adobe Advertising CloudGoogle Marketing Platform
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Adobe Advertising CloudGoogle Marketing Platform
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 Marketing Platform
Considered Both Products
Adobe Advertising Cloud
Chose Adobe Advertising Cloud
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 …
Chose Adobe Advertising Cloud
An issue I touched on is how out of control budgeting is with Adobe Media Optimizer, recommending a budget of 30% just in one keyword is when I realized that something was amiss with how Adobe Media Optimizer tracks budgets and keywords. This issue not the case with Google …
Chose Adobe Advertising Cloud
Adobe Media Optimizer is the best solution if you are already an Omniture customer because of the deep integration and the ability to pull reports from either interface.
Google Marketing Platform
Chose Google Marketing Platform
In the past we have tested Marin and Adobe AdLens for automated keyword bidding. Both have not worked well for our business as lead generation comes with a lot of challenges (i.e. verification process, daily and monthly lead caps etc.). AdLens recommends to add as many keywords …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Adobe Advertising CloudGoogle Marketing Platform
Ad Network Integration
Comparison of Ad Network Integration features of Product A and Product B
Adobe Advertising Cloud
6.7
8 Ratings
10% below category average
Google Marketing Platform
9.5
28 Ratings
25% above category average
Data Transfer6.98 Ratings10.023 Ratings
DSP integration6.58 Ratings9.026 Ratings
Ad Campaigns
Comparison of Ad Campaigns features of Product A and Product B
Adobe Advertising Cloud
5.9
9 Ratings
28% below category average
Google Marketing Platform
7.9
32 Ratings
1% above category average
Ad campaign creation7.19 Ratings8.432 Ratings
Ad deployment7.19 Ratings8.432 Ratings
Display advertising4.89 Ratings8.029 Ratings
Ad display and retargeting segmentation5.39 Ratings7.730 Ratings
Sequence targeting5.48 Ratings7.023 Ratings
Ad Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Ad Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Adobe Advertising Cloud
6.9
9 Ratings
12% below category average
Google Marketing Platform
7.2
32 Ratings
7% below category average
Ad dashboards6.39 Ratings6.730 Ratings
Ad performance reports5.99 Ratings7.332 Ratings
Ad conversion tracking7.57 Ratings7.331 Ratings
Ad attribution reporting6.78 Ratings7.030 Ratings
Cross-channel ad management7.78 Ratings7.325 Ratings
Ad forecasting and optimization7.38 Ratings7.524 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Adobe Advertising CloudGoogle Marketing Platform
Small Businesses
Google Ad Manager
Google Ad Manager
Score 8.6 out of 10
Google Ad Manager
Google Ad Manager
Score 8.6 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
The Trade Desk
The Trade Desk
Score 8.1 out of 10
The Trade Desk
The Trade Desk
Score 8.1 out of 10
Enterprises
Google Marketing Platform
Google Marketing Platform
Score 9.0 out of 10
Adobe Advertising Cloud
Adobe Advertising Cloud
Score 8.9 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Adobe Advertising CloudGoogle Marketing Platform
Likelihood to Recommend
7.4
(16 ratings)
7.4
(44 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
1.8
(2 ratings)
8.0
(13 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(1 ratings)
8.0
(2 ratings)
Support Rating
3.3
(4 ratings)
9.0
(4 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.0
(1 ratings)
6.0
(2 ratings)
User Testimonials
Adobe Advertising CloudGoogle Marketing Platform
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.
Read full review
Google
I feel pretty neutral about Google Marketing Platform. For the longest time, my company wasn't using it because each of the features (Data Studio, Analytics, etc.) could be accessed separately. In fact, most of the time, I don't even go into Google Marketing Platform because it's easier to directly navigate to the individual platforms. There are very few features about GMP that can only be accessed from the GMP UI. The Integrations Center is probably the main feature I utilize from the GMP UI, which allows me to see a summary of the integrations I have in place across all my client properties and accounts.
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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
  • Bringing together data from multiple channels and engines and allows you to visualize the data in an easy to use platform. This saves time from using multiple logins for the different platforms.
  • Auto bidding tools save time from manual bidding, as it allows you to set the specific terms around what levels you want to cap your CPCs at. You then let DoubleClick adjust your bids to gain the most conversions from the cheapest CPCs. This frees up time to do other in-depth analysis and strategy.
  • DoubleClick also has the ability to track conversions and clicks on any page using their floodlight tags. This is good for tracking certain actions on yours or a client's site and is especially good if they do not use any other tools, such as Google Analytics or Adobe, to track conversions and user actions on site. You can also use these in conjunction with the auto bidding tools.
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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.
Read full review
Google
  • The process for on-boarding new users can be difficult if they do not already have a Gmail or Gmail-linked account.
  • Difficult to troubleshoot technical issues (with the platform, with tags, etc.) because of the lack of customer support. Unclear if the agency has a dedicated team or individual to assist, and often have to deal with out-sourced support teams.
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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
Due to its adapting behavior with industry ad formats and seamless integration with publishers and DSP's, I don't see myself moving away from DCM. As we see the display advertising is getting more programatic and automated due to the rise of DSP and concept of RTB, Double Click has evolved with new advanced best practices
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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
The Doubleclick interface is easy and simple to get a hang of. The options are slightly limited compared to other DSPs. But, for a simple campaign, this is a great DSP to move forward with. They have a ton of data and can plug into a lot of different partners
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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
They do not have strong support team. It is tough to get answer when I need it. They always refer you to an online guide and not an actual person. If so, the person is based out of an offshore team in India and does not know the specific client goals .
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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
I would highly recommend asking clients to provide 3PAS tags or use an internal 3PAS
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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.
Read full review
Google
Marin takes a lot more time for everything, mainly for the campaigns setup. This also leads to many mistakes, which impact the performance. I've used Marin on a couple of previous clients and we've had many problems with it, mainly with correct conversion tracking and account optimizations. Besides, Marin is behind all the new features available on AdWords, which makes the tracking also not very flexible.
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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
  • DS3 has improved ROI considerably due to its ability to make the work of a team of digital marketers to go further and improving internal efficiency.
  • There is a notable improvement in account performance for those integrated with DoubleClick as opposed to not, with better tracking, new bid strategy options, and a more responsive interface.
  • The additional fee on top of media spend is a considerable expense for a large advertiser, but the necessity of a product/solution such as this means that there is always likely to be some comparative cost.
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ScreenShots