Equativ vs. Google Ad Manager

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Equativ
Score 10.0 out of 10
N/A
Equativ (formerly Smart AdServer) is a French ad server provider with a large international presence. Customers tend to be European media outlets.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
EquativGoogle Ad Manager
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
EquativGoogle 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
EquativGoogle Ad Manager
Considered Both Products
Equativ

No answer on this topic

Google Ad Manager
Chose Google Ad Manager
The UI is better against all other options in the market. Even the opportunity that you have to integrate new inventory from your own is easier when doing it by yourself; we always had to go back to the support teams on all other products in order to do so. Also, the robust …
Features
EquativGoogle Ad Manager
Ad Network Integration
Comparison of Ad Network Integration features of Product A and Product B
Equativ
8.0
1 Ratings
9% above category average
Google Ad Manager
7.0
25 Ratings
4% below category average
Data Transfer8.01 Ratings7.025 Ratings
DSP integration8.01 Ratings7.020 Ratings
Ad Campaigns
Comparison of Ad Campaigns features of Product A and Product B
Equativ
8.0
1 Ratings
2% above category average
Google Ad Manager
7.4
36 Ratings
6% below category average
Ad campaign creation8.01 Ratings8.836 Ratings
Ad deployment9.01 Ratings7.236 Ratings
Display advertising7.01 Ratings7.235 Ratings
Ad display and retargeting segmentation8.01 Ratings7.234 Ratings
Sequence targeting8.01 Ratings6.626 Ratings
Ad Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Ad Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Equativ
7.5
1 Ratings
3% below category average
Google Ad Manager
6.7
35 Ratings
15% below category average
Ad dashboards8.01 Ratings6.133 Ratings
Ad performance reports8.01 Ratings7.035 Ratings
Ad conversion tracking7.01 Ratings6.534 Ratings
Ad attribution reporting8.01 Ratings6.531 Ratings
Cross-channel ad management7.01 Ratings7.027 Ratings
Ad forecasting and optimization7.01 Ratings7.031 Ratings
Best Alternatives
EquativGoogle 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
EquativGoogle Ad Manager
Likelihood to Recommend
8.0
(1 ratings)
8.4
(36 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
7.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
8.5
(4 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
7.0
(2 ratings)
User Testimonials
EquativGoogle Ad Manager
Likelihood to Recommend
Equativ (formerly Smart AdServer)
Smart AdServer is great for a marketing department, to track stats and clicks of their audience. It's a great way to engage the client without actually engaging them. We use it all the time to monitor where they're going, what they're interested in, and how engaging our posts are. I would say it's probably not a good idea for a smaller organization, as one social media manager could work it all out
Read full review
Google
Google Ads Manager is great if you need major visibility on a large ad network rather than targeting one specific website, app or platform. Let's be real here if you have any business that is done online (sell products, generate leads, etc) you pretty much have to be on Google. I've tried other advertising solutions including competitor search engines, sponsored content solutions, social media advertising, and none really compare to the traffic you can get that is keyword-driven, meaning a user is actually demonstrating interest in whatever you sell or offer.
Read full review
Pros
Equativ (formerly Smart AdServer)
  • It is easy to use, with functionality covering mobile, desktop and even tablet. I'm always on the go, so it's nice to be able to access my server from pretty much anywhere.
  • It has a wonderful intuitive user interface, every facet of this is designed and thought over, so it's easy to navigate around the program.
  • It offers a free trial so there's no real commitment if you just want to try it out, which is nice.
Read full review
Google
  • Interface. You can understand how to build the ads very easily. When you first begin, and throughout the process, there are little help icons which explain what you need to understand.
  • Pricing. By this, I mean the ability to change it at any time. You can select a variable rate, or you can preset it. Either way, you can change how much you spend every second if you'd like. This makes it easier to control your budget if you need to make emergency purchases and don't have much space in your budget.
  • Always growing. They are always announcing something new. Always growing and always trying to update.
Read full review
Cons
Equativ (formerly Smart AdServer)
  • I would like a more in-depth look at my traffic stats. I can see clicks, where my audience is going, but I'd like maybe some kind of perspective into who my audience is (18-24, adult, etc).
  • Constant updates. It's nice that they're always looking to update program, but the update can kinda get in the way of my work sometimes.
  • I'd prefer it if were a little cheaper – the free trial is nice, but getting my superiors to sign off on the cost (they're a bit old school) is a bit tough sometimes.
Read full review
Google
  • Bumper Machine - While this is still in beta, there is a lot of room for improvement for the machine to pick proper clips. I'm sure that will come in time though.
  • Inclusion of a Home Page Button - This is a simple request, truly, but one that bothers me everyday. I have a campaign home button, but it's not accessible unless you go back to the beginning of the platform. If the 'home' button was static, I'd be able to go to my preferred view with one click instead of having to loop around, as there isn't a trustworthy 'back button' option either.
  • Display - This is a big one. I have a love/hate relationship with display campaigns and algorithms. I have seen where they can perform [strongly] but also be massive budget bleeds with little ROI. It's not very industry specific either so I'm hoping to gain more consistency and trust with the future of the display algorithm.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Equativ (formerly Smart AdServer)
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
Read full review
Usability
Equativ (formerly Smart AdServer)
No answers on this topic
Google
As I have said, if you want all the Google functionality and can use all of the features that Google offers on a dashboard, it's a great choice. But, I'm not a fan because I think the interface could be redesigned to be more user-friendly - make it color-coded with different options - it just feels now like you can get all, but make it easier for the end designer to use.
Read full review
Support Rating
Equativ (formerly Smart AdServer)
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.
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
Equativ (formerly Smart AdServer)
Honestly, you can use either/or. I'm all about AdServer right now because since Adobe has implemented their cloud service, they've gotten more expensive. Smart AdServer is just one cost, and it's cheaper than Adobe Cloud
Read full review
Google
I personally liked it because of the complex features available. Knowing that this comes from Google, I did not have second thoughts - Comes from an Top tier brand. There were other products in the market, however, I chose to stick to this due to the following reasons, Customer support Self help articles
Read full review
Return on Investment
Equativ (formerly Smart AdServer)
  • It's helped my organization better manage our traffic flow.
  • It's reduced the amount of work on our social media manager.
  • It's helped my organization get a better perspective on our clientele - where they're going, what they're interested in, it's been a great asset to our business.
Read full review
Google
  • It had a massively positive impact for us, allowing us to generate revenue from ad space on our website.
  • Being able to custom quote ad space on our site, instead of relying on AdSense allowed us to increase our monthly ad revenue as well.
  • Providing reliable data to advertisers regarding impressions and CTRs helped create repeat-customers.
Read full review
ScreenShots