Google Ad Manager vs. The Trade Desk

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
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
The Trade Desk
Score 9.0 out of 10
N/A
The Trade Desk is the eponymous flagship product from the company headquartered in Ventura California, a demand-side / data management hybrid platform (DSP / DMP).N/A
Pricing
Google Ad ManagerThe Trade Desk
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Google Ad ManagerThe Trade Desk
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
Google Ad ManagerThe Trade Desk
Considered Both Products
Google Ad Manager
Chose Google Ad Manager
The main advantage of Google Ad Manager over The Trade Desk is based on the fact that Google Ad Manager has better data to identify a user on any device as it has more data and the user is signed in over Google Ad Manager´s set of properties. That is why results on Google Ad …
The Trade Desk

No answer on this topic

Features
Google Ad ManagerThe Trade Desk
Ad Network Integration
Comparison of Ad Network Integration features of Product A and Product B
Google Ad Manager
7.5
26 Ratings
2% above category average
The Trade Desk
-
Ratings
Data Transfer7.526 Ratings00 Ratings
DSP integration7.521 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad Campaigns
Comparison of Ad Campaigns features of Product A and Product B
Google Ad Manager
7.5
37 Ratings
5% below category average
The Trade Desk
-
Ratings
Ad campaign creation8.437 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad deployment7.937 Ratings00 Ratings
Display advertising7.136 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad display and retargeting segmentation7.135 Ratings00 Ratings
Sequence targeting6.826 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Ad Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Google Ad Manager
7.1
36 Ratings
9% below category average
The Trade Desk
-
Ratings
Ad dashboards7.334 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad performance reports7.436 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad conversion tracking7.035 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad attribution reporting6.632 Ratings00 Ratings
Cross-channel ad management7.027 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad forecasting and optimization7.031 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Google Ad ManagerThe Trade Desk
Small Businesses
Criteo Commerce Growth
Criteo Commerce Growth
Score 8.0 out of 10
Adobe Advertising Cloud
Adobe Advertising Cloud
Score 8.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
The Trade Desk
The Trade Desk
Score 9.0 out of 10
Adobe Advertising Cloud
Adobe Advertising Cloud
Score 8.8 out of 10
Enterprises
Criteo Commerce Growth
Criteo Commerce Growth
Score 8.0 out of 10
Adobe Advertising Cloud
Adobe Advertising Cloud
Score 8.8 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Google Ad ManagerThe Trade Desk
Likelihood to Recommend
8.5
(36 ratings)
9.0
(8 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
7.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.4
(4 ratings)
8.0
(2 ratings)
Support Rating
7.0
(2 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Google Ad ManagerThe Trade Desk
Likelihood to Recommend
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.
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The Trade Desk
After extensive research of DSP and DMP platforms in the market, our agency made the wise decision to license TTD's platform and develop a long-term partnership. TTD continues to innovate and offer cutting-edge media buying solutions, access to more audience data segments, and access to new and emerging media channels like CTV/OTT and digital-out-of-home. We couldn't be happier with TTD's technology and is one of the most advanced agency users of TTD is a key differentiator for our agency.
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Pros
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.
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The Trade Desk
  • User engagement - Cookie matching provides better engagement and effectiveness
  • Reporting of campaigns - Great reporting on display advertising & platforms
  • Dashboard reporting - Scalable to global deployment & campaigns
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Cons
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.
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The Trade Desk
  • Reporting platform leaves a lot to be desired. Requires a lot of trial/error to pull exactly what you need to drive optimizations/learnings.
  • The "stop"/"continue bidding" feature for sitelists, devices, player sizes, etc is awful. When you set something up specifically, you should not have the AUTOMATIC option to serve beyond those parameters.
  • Trafficking video (VAST/VPAID) tags requires a manual insertion of a click URL. Completely redundant ask and is not provided by advertisers as that URL lives within the ad tag. Should not require multiple actions traffic a video tag.
  • Creative approval process (manual) doesn't seem necessary and is not a part of peers' platforms. There is no "pause/deactivate" feature for creative, you remove them or adjust the end date.
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Likelihood to Renew
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
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The Trade Desk
No answers on this topic
Usability
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.
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The Trade Desk
easy to understand dashboards and the self started ability to get going on your own terms. It's great to target niche groups across the world while still being able to report at a high level to C-suite. Wish it drove more conversions, but display can be a struggle there. Overall, would use it again.
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Support Rating
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.
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The Trade Desk
We noted no issues with our limited interaction with support. The software operated just as expected and we found that we were able to navigate needs on our own. We understand that The Trade Desk offers excellent support, so we believe it will be a good resource to us in the future.
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Alternatives Considered
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.
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The Trade Desk
The Trade Desk is a much better product than AppNexus. Even though both products showed promise awhile back, AppNexus stopped innovating and The Trade Desk became specialists on data, cross site tracking and CTV inventory thus having a better and more unique product that actually adds value to your advertising efforts.
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Return on Investment
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.
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The Trade Desk
  • The good thing about having an agency account is The Trade Desk lets you add your markups to the client billing.
  • We had a very positive response from clients regarding their perceived ROI on their ad spend through The Trade Desk.
  • We did not have many national clients, mostly local dealerships, so it was difficult for them to allocate a lot of funds to display advertising, even though the ROI yield was acceptable.
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ScreenShots