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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Equativ

    Score10 out of 10
    N/AEquativ (formerly Smart AdServer) is a French ad server provider with a large international presence. Customers tend to be European media outlets.N/A

    Kevel

    Score7.9 out of 10
    Enterprise companies (1,001+ employees)
    Kevel's (formerly Adzerk) APIs is designed to make it easy for engineers and PMs to build their own server-side, fully-customized ad server. E-retailers and user communities can use Kevel to build ad servers to promote anything from native ads to internal content to sponsored listings (where vendors and sellers pay for their organic listing to be promoted in search and browsing results). According to the vendor, engineers reliably see a significant reduction in dev time using Kevel’s APIs…N/A

    Simpli.fi

    Score10 out of 10
    Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
    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).N/A
    Pricing
    EquativKevelSimpli.fi
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    EquativKevelSimpli.fi
    Free Trial
    NoYesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoYesNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details—Pricing is customized based on feature needs, support needs, and monthly request volume.—
    More Pricing Information
    Features
    EquativKevelSimpli.fi
    Ad Network Integration
    Comparison of Ad Network Integration features of Equativ and Kevel and Simpli.fi
    Feature
    Equativ
    8.0
    1 Ratings
    8% above category average
    Kevel
    10.0
    1 Ratings
    31% above category average
    Simpli.fi
    5.8
    2 Ratings
    24% below category average
    Data Transfer8.01 Ratings00 Ratings3.72 Ratings
    DSP integration8.01 Ratings10.01 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Ad Campaigns
    Comparison of Ad Campaigns features of Equativ and Kevel and Simpli.fi
    Feature
    Equativ
    8.0
    1 Ratings
    2% above category average
    Kevel
    10.0
    1 Ratings
    24% above category average
    Simpli.fi
    -
    Ratings
    Ad campaign creation8.01 Ratings10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ad deployment9.01 Ratings10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Display advertising7.01 Ratings10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ad display and retargeting segmentation8.01 Ratings10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Sequence targeting8.01 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ad Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of Ad Reporting & Analytics features of Equativ and Kevel and Simpli.fi
    Feature
    Equativ
    7.5
    1 Ratings
    3% below category average
    Kevel
    9.2
    1 Ratings
    17% above category average
    Simpli.fi
    -
    Ratings
    Ad dashboards8.01 Ratings9.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ad performance reports8.01 Ratings9.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ad conversion tracking7.01 Ratings10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ad attribution reporting8.01 Ratings9.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Cross-channel ad management7.01 Ratings9.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ad forecasting and optimization7.01 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    EquativKevelSimpli.fi
    Small Businesses
    AdRoll
    Score3.7 out of 10
    AdRoll
    Score3.7 out of 10
    AdRoll
    Score3.7 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Criteo Commerce Growth
    Score8 out of 10
    Criteo Commerce Growth
    Score8 out of 10
    Criteo Commerce Growth
    Score8 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Criteo Commerce Growth
    Score8 out of 10
    Criteo Commerce Growth
    Score8 out of 10
    Criteo Commerce Growth
    Score8 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    EquativKevelSimpli.fi
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    1.9
    (3 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    EquativKevelSimpli.fi
    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
    Incentivized
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    Kevel
    For ad serving, implementing client-side header bidding with prebid was actually easier with Kevel than it is with Google Ad Manager in most cases, particularly for display advertising. I found though that with more complex integrations (like video), there were more solutions and code snippets available with other larger ad servers (Google).
    Incentivized
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    Simpli.fi
    If you don't care where your campaigns are running, if you don't care about your clients then feel free to do business with them. I would not recommend them to other agencies or business if they have a lot of particular advertisers and clients that they work with. It is too much work for them. If you want to do a self-service model with Simpli.fi, then I could recommend working with them. As long as I don't have to deal with their customer service daily, and my company has the control of the campaigns, I can feel more comfortable working with them. But even still, there are a lot of red flags that have been raised over the last few years and I am skeptical.
    Incentivized
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    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.
    Incentivized
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    Kevel
    • More personable team that can address customizations needed to the product.
    • Easy to use interface.
    • Frequent product updates with notifications via email.
    • Well documented API.
    Incentivized
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    Simpli.fi
    • Simpli.fi's Geo-Fencing capabilities are top notch! The ability to include an unlimited number of geo-fences within a campaign is invaluable, as is the ability to measure the effectiveness of a geo-fencing campaign in driving foot traffic to our clients' physical locations.
    • Our organization appreciates the knowledge, experience and responsiveness of Simpli.fi's customer support staff.
    • One of the things Simpli.fi does particularly well is the education of its users and re-sellers. From monthly webinars, to its Bullseye learning courses, they have a way to make the complex understandable to even the most green digital sellers!
    Incentivized
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    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.
    Incentivized
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    Kevel
    • User interface could be faster to load.
    Incentivized
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    Simpli.fi
    • The approaches are not easily understood by our sales reps.
    • The reporting platform is pretty basic. The new platform is still in beta version.
    Incentivized
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    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
    Incentivized
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    Kevel
    Kevel was an easier initial implementation for header bidding with prebid. The team worked alongside us to make sure everything was operating as intended. We ultimately switched to Ads Manager to access AdX demand and other features that were not possible with Kevel (for instance, EBDA). There are benefits to both but I appreciated the attention we got from Kevel support when we were first working through the implementation. We are still using Kevel for many things, just not as our primary display advertising ad server.
    Incentivized
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    Simpli.fi
    We have done a lot of research on many other vendors that offer the same or even more as Simpli.fi and have found a great fit for our business. There are many other options out there for programmatic buying! My advice to you is do your research. Don't just jump into bed with one without knowing all of the facts. Ask questions. Do some digging. And NEVER take anything they say at face value. They are there to sell you the product and if you move forward, you will for sure be disappointed
    Incentivized
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    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.
    Incentivized
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    Kevel
    • Kevel enabled us to get up and running with client side header bidding when our team was still small and the technology was still new. This improved our ability to monetize our inventory.
    Incentivized
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    Simpli.fi
    • We have been able to leverage Simpli.fi's geo-fencing tools to pry business away from larger competitors.
    • The lack of a customer-facing dashboard is a weakness.
    • Simpli.fi's low barrier of entry has allowed us to scale at our pace without the threat of being cut off in the face of high minimum spends.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Kevel Screenshots

    Screenshot of Adzerk homepageScreenshot of Decision API JSON exampleScreenshot of Management API example