Google Marketing Platform vs. Smaato

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Google Marketing Platform
Score 9.0 out of 10
N/A
Google Marketing Platform (a combination of former DoubleClick advertiser tools and Google Analytics 360 Suite) is a set of tools for marketers to manage their advertising campaigns. DoubleClick was acquired by Google in 2008. It focuses on uploading ads and reporting their performance and also provides forecasting tools to help predict future campaign needs. Bid optimization tools help manage pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns across search engines (e.g. Bing, Google, Yahoo!).N/A
Smaato
Score 8.9 out of 10
N/A
Smaato is a supply-side publisher platform (SSP) from the Verve Group since the 2021 acquisition.N/A
Pricing
Google Marketing PlatformSmaato
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Google Marketing PlatformSmaato
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Features
Google Marketing PlatformSmaato
Ad Network Integration
Comparison of Ad Network Integration features of Product A and Product B
Google Marketing Platform
9.5
28 Ratings
25% above category average
Smaato
-
Ratings
Data Transfer10.023 Ratings00 Ratings
DSP integration9.026 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad Campaigns
Comparison of Ad Campaigns features of Product A and Product B
Google Marketing Platform
7.9
32 Ratings
1% above category average
Smaato
-
Ratings
Ad campaign creation8.432 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad deployment8.432 Ratings00 Ratings
Display advertising8.029 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad display and retargeting segmentation7.730 Ratings00 Ratings
Sequence targeting7.023 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Ad Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Google Marketing Platform
7.2
32 Ratings
8% below category average
Smaato
-
Ratings
Ad dashboards6.730 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad performance reports7.332 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad conversion tracking7.331 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad attribution reporting7.030 Ratings00 Ratings
Cross-channel ad management7.325 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad forecasting and optimization7.524 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Google Marketing PlatformSmaato
Small Businesses
Google Ad Manager
Google Ad Manager
Score 8.6 out of 10
Google Ad Manager
Google Ad Manager
Score 8.6 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
The Trade Desk
The Trade Desk
Score 8.0 out of 10
The Trade Desk
The Trade Desk
Score 8.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Adobe Advertising Cloud
Adobe Advertising Cloud
Score 8.8 out of 10
Adobe Advertising Cloud
Adobe Advertising Cloud
Score 8.8 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Google Marketing PlatformSmaato
Likelihood to Recommend
7.4
(44 ratings)
7.0
(2 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.0
(13 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(2 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
9.0
(4 ratings)
7.0
(1 ratings)
Online Training
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
6.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Google Marketing PlatformSmaato
Likelihood to Recommend
Google
I feel pretty neutral about Google Marketing Platform. For the longest time, my company wasn't using it because each of the features (Data Studio, Analytics, etc.) could be accessed separately. In fact, most of the time, I don't even go into Google Marketing Platform because it's easier to directly navigate to the individual platforms. There are very few features about GMP that can only be accessed from the GMP UI. The Integrations Center is probably the main feature I utilize from the GMP UI, which allows me to see a summary of the integrations I have in place across all my client properties and accounts.
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Verve Group
Smaato is very well suited for user acquisition and retargeting companies. Their overlap in terms of audiences and publishers with other exchanges is very limited, which makes it a great alternative when you need to scale a campaign and want to maintain your frequency cap. They work very well in branding campaigns as well as performance campaigns.
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Pros
Google
  • Bringing together data from multiple channels and engines and allows you to visualize the data in an easy to use platform. This saves time from using multiple logins for the different platforms.
  • Auto bidding tools save time from manual bidding, as it allows you to set the specific terms around what levels you want to cap your CPCs at. You then let DoubleClick adjust your bids to gain the most conversions from the cheapest CPCs. This frees up time to do other in-depth analysis and strategy.
  • DoubleClick also has the ability to track conversions and clicks on any page using their floodlight tags. This is good for tracking certain actions on yours or a client's site and is especially good if they do not use any other tools, such as Google Analytics or Adobe, to track conversions and user actions on site. You can also use these in conjunction with the auto bidding tools.
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Verve Group
  • Fill - the ad requests we send to Smaato have seen a great requests-to-impression ration.
  • Revenue - We've seen a lift in overall revenue thanks to the high CPM bids we get from Smaato.
  • Payments are always on time and they have a responsive financial team that is helpful in answering any questions.
  • Customer service - They are very fast to respond to any issues. The set up was streamlined thanks to their professional customer service.
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Cons
Google
  • The process for on-boarding new users can be difficult if they do not already have a Gmail or Gmail-linked account.
  • Difficult to troubleshoot technical issues (with the platform, with tags, etc.) because of the lack of customer support. Unclear if the agency has a dedicated team or individual to assist, and often have to deal with out-sourced support teams.
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Verve Group
  • Inventory can be a bit pricey in competitive markets like the US.
  • Reporting dashboard is limited, needs work.
  • They don't offer a lof of transparency about margins over media cost.
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Likelihood to Renew
Google
Due to its adapting behavior with industry ad formats and seamless integration with publishers and DSP's, I don't see myself moving away from DCM. As we see the display advertising is getting more programatic and automated due to the rise of DSP and concept of RTB, Double Click has evolved with new advanced best practices
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Verve Group
No answers on this topic
Usability
Google
The Doubleclick interface is easy and simple to get a hang of. The options are slightly limited compared to other DSPs. But, for a simple campaign, this is a great DSP to move forward with. They have a ton of data and can plug into a lot of different partners
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Verve Group
Smaato has a UI where you can control your line items on the traffic you want to receive. That is a key unique selling point that other SSPs don't offer. Most of the items that you will need like reporting can be done on a self serve manner and that is a big plus, specifically for changes that need to happen really fast and you don't need to deal with account managers that may take some time to answer emails.
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Support Rating
Google
They do not have strong support team. It is tough to get answer when I need it. They always refer you to an online guide and not an actual person. If so, the person is based out of an offshore team in India and does not know the specific client goals .
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Verve Group
Smaato's account management team is very professional. They are quite fast in terms of customer support, which is very helpful. One item that stands out is that they are willing to understand what you need for each campaign and what is the best way to move forward. They don't just jump quickly into trying to upsell more of Smaato's products (audiences, data) like other SSPs do.
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Implementation Rating
Google
I would highly recommend asking clients to provide 3PAS tags or use an internal 3PAS
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Verve Group
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Google
Marin takes a lot more time for everything, mainly for the campaigns setup. This also leads to many mistakes, which impact the performance. I've used Marin on a couple of previous clients and we've had many problems with it, mainly with correct conversion tracking and account optimizations. Besides, Marin is behind all the new features available on AdWords, which makes the tracking also not very flexible.
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Verve Group
With over 20 demand partners in our stack, Smaato is in the top 5
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Return on Investment
Google
  • DS3 has improved ROI considerably due to its ability to make the work of a team of digital marketers to go further and improving internal efficiency.
  • There is a notable improvement in account performance for those integrated with DoubleClick as opposed to not, with better tracking, new bid strategy options, and a more responsive interface.
  • The additional fee on top of media spend is a considerable expense for a large advertiser, but the necessity of a product/solution such as this means that there is always likely to be some comparative cost.
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Verve Group
  • Increased overall revenue
  • Strong demand pool
  • Easy reporting
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ScreenShots