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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

    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
    EquativMicrosoft Advertising
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    EquativMicrosoft Advertising
    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
    EquativMicrosoft Advertising
    Considered Both Products
    Equativ (formerly Smart AdServer)
    No answer on this topic
    Microsoft
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    68%
    Would buy again
    21 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    70%
    Delivers good value for the price
    21 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    65%
    Happy with the feature set
    20 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    59%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    17 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    67%
    Implementation went as expected
    20 Answers
    Features
    EquativMicrosoft Advertising
    Ad Network Integration
    Comparison of Ad Network Integration features of Equativ and Microsoft Advertising
    Feature
    Equativ
    8.0
    1 Ratings
    8% above category average
    Microsoft Advertising
    -
    Ratings
    Data Transfer8.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    DSP integration8.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ad Campaigns
    Comparison of Ad Campaigns features of Equativ and Microsoft Advertising
    Feature
    Equativ
    8.0
    1 Ratings
    2% above category average
    Microsoft Advertising
    6.5
    6 Ratings
    0% above category average
    Ad campaign creation8.01 Ratings8.06 Ratings
    Ad deployment9.01 Ratings8.36 Ratings
    Display advertising7.01 Ratings6.46 Ratings
    Ad display and retargeting segmentation8.01 Ratings6.46 Ratings
    Sequence targeting8.01 Ratings5.95 Ratings
    Contextual advertising00 Ratings5.56 Ratings
    Social advertising00 Ratings4.95 Ratings
    Ad Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of Ad Reporting & Analytics features of Equativ and Microsoft Advertising
    Feature
    Equativ
    7.5
    1 Ratings
    3% below category average
    Microsoft Advertising
    6.6
    8 Ratings
    4% below category average
    Ad dashboards8.01 Ratings6.28 Ratings
    Ad performance reports8.01 Ratings6.87 Ratings
    Ad conversion tracking7.01 Ratings7.36 Ratings
    Ad attribution reporting8.01 Ratings7.06 Ratings
    Cross-channel ad management7.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ad forecasting and optimization7.01 Ratings5.85 Ratings
    Ad Auctions
    Comparison of Ad Auctions features of Equativ and Microsoft Advertising
    Feature
    Equativ
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft Advertising
    7.3
    7 Ratings
    14% below category average
    Ad bidding00 Ratings7.37 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    EquativMicrosoft Advertising
    Small Businesses
    AdRoll
    Score3.7 out of 10
    WordStream
    Score6.9 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Criteo Commerce Growth
    Score8 out of 10
    WordStream
    Score6.9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Criteo Commerce Growth
    Score8 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    EquativMicrosoft Advertising
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    7.4
    (70 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Usability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.9
    (4 ratings)
    Support Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (11 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    EquativMicrosoft Advertising
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    Equativ (formerly Smart AdServer)
    No answers on this topic
    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
    Equativ (formerly Smart AdServer)
    No answers on this topic
    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
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    Support Rating
    Equativ (formerly Smart AdServer)
    No answers on this topic
    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
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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
    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
    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
    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