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Broadlume vs. Google Ad Manager vs. Microsoft Advertising

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Broadlume

    Score10 out of 10
    N/ABuilt by 2 ex-Googlers, Broadlume (formerly AdHawk) promises to provide an easy way to manage the user's Google AdWords & Facebook Ad campaigns. The founders say that, after years of manually analyzing & optimizing Ad Accounts for thousands of businesses, they feel confident saying software automation makes the work of an advertiser incredibly efficient. The platform aims to help leverage data science and machine learning to optimize campaigns and help increase ROI.N/A

    Google Ad Manager

    Score8.3 out of 10
    N/AGoogle Ad Manager is a platform for publishers that combines the former DoubleClick for Publishers and DoubleClick Ad Exchange products.N/A

    Microsoft Advertising

    Score7.7 out of 10
    N/AMicrosoft Advertising (formerly Bing Ads) contains Microsoft's advertising solutions. Advertising formats include search (Microsoft Search ads), Display and Native ads, Retail Media, and Video and Connected TV (CTV) ads. Services include Performance Max, the company's conversion optimization AI assistant and guide.N/A
    Pricing
    BroadlumeGoogle Ad ManagerMicrosoft Advertising
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    BroadlumeGoogle Ad ManagerMicrosoft Advertising
    Free Trial
    YesNoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesNoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesNoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details———
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    BroadlumeGoogle Ad ManagerMicrosoft Advertising
    Considered Multiple Products
    Broadlume
    No answer on this topic
    Google
    Chose Google Ad Manager
    Smartly definitely makes using Google ADS much easier, as it is more of an add-on and helps in cross-platform ad management.
    Incentivized
    Chose Google Ad Manager
    Among all the ad management platforms I use on a regular basis, Google Ad Manager is the most straightforward to use. However, I probably have a paid search bias, as I spend more time there than with the paid social or programmatic platforms. Even still, Google Ad Manager is …
    Incentivized
    Chose Google Ad Manager
    Google ads manager is the forefront in search marketing. Other platforms mirror features and trends set by Google while Google continues to innovate and evolve in a class of its own.
    Incentivized
    Chose Google Ad Manager
    Google Ads is [completely different from] Bing. I mostly advertise on Google and prefer it over Bing tenfold.
    Incentivized
    Chose Google Ad Manager
    These are great programs, but when you stack up against Google, they cover a marginal amount of space. You want to use a program that covers a wide area, and currently, the ones listed don't quite have the same reach as the others. I would recommend them to people with high …
    Incentivized
    Chose Google Ad Manager
    We tried Bing, and although the tool itself wasn't as sophisticated as Google, it just doesn't have the market share that Google has so our return on investment was much lower. Google is the 800 pound gorilla and its hard to compete against them in this space. They also do a …
    Incentivized
    Microsoft
    Chose Microsoft Advertising
    Because of duckduckgo we have to use Microsoft advertising and it turns out as the worst user experience given the company of this magnitude. Worst.
    Incentivized
    Chose Microsoft Advertising
    This is a platform that had potential if only it was run by ethically minded people. It's not.
    Incentivized
    Chose Microsoft Advertising
    Google and Facebook both performed superiorly to Bing, which actually only took the money and didn't give even one single impression back. In short, it's a useless system with no regard for the paying customer.
    Incentivized
    Chose Microsoft Advertising
    Bing Ads is great in the sense that they know they are not as good as Google Ads. So what they do is allow you to easily import your Google Ads Campaigns into your Bing Ads account. They are the same exact product (or solution) just on different search engines but due to an …
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    93%
    Would buy again
    14 Answers
    68%
    Would buy again
    21 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    14 Answers
    70%
    Delivers good value for the price
    21 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    93%
    Happy with the feature set
    14 Answers
    65%
    Happy with the feature set
    20 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    83%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    10 Answers
    59%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    17 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    75%
    Implementation went as expected
    9 Answers
    67%
    Implementation went as expected
    20 Answers
    Features
    BroadlumeGoogle Ad ManagerMicrosoft Advertising
    Ad Network Integration
    Comparison of Ad Network Integration features of Broadlume and Google Ad Manager and Microsoft Advertising
    Feature
    Broadlume
    10.0
    1 Ratings
    31% above category average
    Google Ad Manager
    7.8
    28 Ratings
    6% above category average
    Microsoft Advertising
    -
    Ratings
    Data Transfer10.01 Ratings7.628 Ratings00 Ratings
    DSP integration00 Ratings8.122 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ad Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of Ad Reporting & Analytics features of Broadlume and Google Ad Manager and Microsoft Advertising
    Feature
    Broadlume
    10.0
    1 Ratings
    25% above category average
    Google Ad Manager
    6.7
    39 Ratings
    15% below category average
    Microsoft Advertising
    6.6
    8 Ratings
    4% below category average
    Ad dashboards10.01 Ratings6.537 Ratings6.28 Ratings
    Ad conversion tracking10.01 Ratings6.738 Ratings7.36 Ratings
    Cross-channel ad management10.01 Ratings7.029 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ad forecasting and optimization10.01 Ratings5.734 Ratings5.85 Ratings
    Ad performance reports00 Ratings7.439 Ratings6.97 Ratings
    Ad attribution reporting00 Ratings6.834 Ratings7.06 Ratings
    Ad Campaigns
    Comparison of Ad Campaigns features of Broadlume and Google Ad Manager and Microsoft Advertising
    Feature
    Broadlume
    -
    Ratings
    Google Ad Manager
    7.4
    40 Ratings
    6% below category average
    Microsoft Advertising
    6.5
    6 Ratings
    0% above category average
    Ad campaign creation00 Ratings7.640 Ratings8.06 Ratings
    Ad deployment00 Ratings7.040 Ratings8.36 Ratings
    Display advertising00 Ratings7.639 Ratings6.46 Ratings
    Ad display and retargeting segmentation00 Ratings7.238 Ratings6.46 Ratings
    Sequence targeting00 Ratings7.528 Ratings5.85 Ratings
    Contextual advertising00 Ratings00 Ratings5.56 Ratings
    Social advertising00 Ratings00 Ratings4.85 Ratings
    Ad Auctions
    Comparison of Ad Auctions features of Broadlume and Google Ad Manager and Microsoft Advertising
    Feature
    Broadlume
    -
    Ratings
    Google Ad Manager
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft Advertising
    7.3
    7 Ratings
    14% below category average
    Ad bidding00 Ratings00 Ratings7.37 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    BroadlumeGoogle Ad ManagerMicrosoft Advertising
    Small Businesses
    AdRoll
    Score3.7 out of 10
    AdRoll
    Score3.7 out of 10
    WordStream
    Score6.9 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Criteo Commerce Growth
    Score8 out of 10
    Criteo Commerce Growth
    Score8 out of 10
    WordStream
    Score6.9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Criteo Commerce Growth
    Score8 out of 10
    Criteo Commerce Growth
    Score8 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    BroadlumeGoogle Ad ManagerMicrosoft Advertising
    Likelihood to Recommend
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.2
    (40 ratings)
    7.4
    (70 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Usability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    6.8
    (8 ratings)
    7.9
    (4 ratings)
    Support Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.0
    (2 ratings)
    9.1
    (11 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    BroadlumeGoogle Ad ManagerMicrosoft Advertising
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Broadlume
    Despite its shortcomings, AdHawk is a neat, useful tool that provides tactical information for developing solid Facebook ad campaigns. AdHawk is great for managing smaller Facebook Ad budgets. You're able to select a truly actionable guideline in an easy to view format for decision-making. You can really optimize an ad to perform best using the data AdHawk generates
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Despite using our account for advertising with every other social media company, Microsoft flagged ours as fraudulent. After dealing with them for weeks, we finally got to a manager, who said that they didn’t know anything, couldn’t provide any information, and was unable to do anything about it. It seems odd, but it would flagger account every time we try to upload the campaigns from Google directly into their ad manager. I would suggest if you try and use their platform, don’t tell them you’re using Google cause they seem to have a thing against it. Once your account is flagged, they have no reasonable way of resolving it, nor they are able to offer any support. You’re better off to just try a different way. Ultimately, just don’t use Microsoft advertising if you can possibly avoid it. Hopefully soon DuckDuckGo will have their own advertising platform and we can eliminate Microsoft given the terrible time we have working with this one of many, social media platforms.
    Read full review
    Pros
    Broadlume
    • Great UI
    • Accurate reporting
    • Strong data points
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Familiar interface, offers editor for bulk changes, adding negative keywords is much easier than in Google Ads
    • Nice reporting tools within the interface, detailed reports can be made fairly easily
    • Had very nice tools to help import/export ads directly from Google Ads, which saves a ton of time
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Broadlume
    • Ability to look at two campaigns at once (comparative stats)
    • Only available for Facebook or G+
    • No export feature for reporting
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Bing's ad platform could definitely use some improvements - it hasn't been updated in a long time, and it feels very outdated.
    • We feel that the optimization algorithms don't always perform as well for Bing Ads as they do in Google Ads (optimize for conversions, etc.).
    • It would be great to have even more integrations with LinkedIn audience targeting offered - right now, you can just make some bid optimizations in a couple of areas; we'd really like to get more robust options there, and maybe even things like cross-platform tracking.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Broadlume
    No answers on this topic
    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
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    We have had good success with it over all of our clients. We continually recommend bing to reach "the rest of the searchers".
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Broadlume
    AdHawk is extremely easy to use. Not many buttons to click to get to any area of importance. It's also very clean and sophisticated in design which makes for a pleasant experience. The optimization features even explain to you the value of going with the suggested strategy. Overall, AdHawk is a great software for managing Facebook and Google Ads
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    It's very easy to use overall. It has an import from Google Ads to make things simpler. Overall, I would say you can get up and running very quickly. It's similar to other platforms, so if you have used them, it's intuitive.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Broadlume
    No answers on this topic
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Our Bing Ads reps are very good and attentive. They've offered good recommendations and are quick to resolve unexpected issues and problems. Occasionally they have roped in technical support folks that have been friendly and helpful too. The general helpline for Bing Ads is also very good, especially when compared to Google's customer support.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Broadlume
    AdHawk is far better than the other products regarding how simplified the reporting of ad results are. AdHawk is cleaner and easier to understand. Allows for easy comparing of conversion points within a campaign. Other products are simply not as easy to use. Also, optimization is not a feature available with many services
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Obviously Google is a huge competitor. Typically Google is top of the game for many advertising solutions including search. Microsoft ads has a lower scale and reach compared to Google. However, Microsoft ads audience does not overlap much with Googles, providing incremental reach. Although Microsoft ads lags a bit behind in adapting the new updates that Google comes out with, their customer service is very good and they are likely to go out of their way to adapt their platform to your needs whereas their competitor does not
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Broadlume
    • Ad optimization data
    • Simplified ad management
    • Audience understanding
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • We've had a very hard time spending our budgets on Bing which has caused us a lot of extra work on our end. We've essentially had to move that money back to Google or other platforms.
    • It does have an easy import from Google so you're not doubling efforts.
    • The CPCs tend to be less expensive than Google - which is always good for business owners.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Broadlume Screenshots

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