Adobe Target vs. Google Optimize

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Adobe Target
Score 7.4 out of 10
N/A
Adobe Test and Target is an A/B, multi-variate testing platform which Adobe acquired as part of the Omniture platform in 2009. It is now part of the Adobe Marketing Cloud. It offers tight integration with Adobe analytics and content management products.N/A
Google Optimize
Score 8.9 out of 10
N/A
Google offers the Optimize A/B testing tool for testing website content and versions.N/A
Pricing
Adobe TargetGoogle Optimize
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Google Optimize
Free
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Adobe TargetGoogle Optimize
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Adobe TargetGoogle Optimize
Considered Both Products
Adobe Target
Chose Adobe Target
In my personal opinion, Optimizely is a clear choice here while Google Optimize is for the low-budget minded decision-makers and Evergage for the COE more geared toward personalization; however, in our case we were already locked into using Target prior to my arrival. I don't …
Google Optimize
Chose Google Optimize
Adobe Target is extremely powerful and provides features Google Optimize does not, but Adobe Target is also more expensive and harder to use. Google Optimize could benefit by offering basic built-in reporting so it doesn't require Google Analytics events.
Chose Google Optimize
Google Optimize is a great entry-level test platform and is an ideal solution for my clients that want something simple to start with and see value. Although not as robust as the paid platforms, it still does the job well and delivers believable data ties to one of the most …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Adobe TargetGoogle Optimize
Testing and Experimentation
Comparison of Testing and Experimentation features of Product A and Product B
Adobe Target
8.1
9 Ratings
6% below category average
Google Optimize
7.5
7 Ratings
14% below category average
a/b experiment testing8.59 Ratings8.27 Ratings
Split URL testing8.28 Ratings10.07 Ratings
Multivariate testing8.28 Ratings9.87 Ratings
Multi-page/funnel testing7.36 Ratings10.05 Ratings
Cross-browser testing8.65 Ratings6.44 Ratings
Mobile app testing8.65 Ratings2.72 Ratings
Test significance7.59 Ratings6.06 Ratings
Visual / WYSIWYG editor7.78 Ratings7.96 Ratings
Advanced code editor8.07 Ratings7.96 Ratings
Page surveys7.84 Ratings5.02 Ratings
Visitor recordings8.24 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Preview mode8.28 Ratings9.05 Ratings
Test duration calculator8.18 Ratings9.03 Ratings
Experiment scheduler8.19 Ratings9.04 Ratings
Experiment workflow and approval7.96 Ratings8.93 Ratings
Dynamic experiment activation7.84 Ratings6.92 Ratings
Client-side tests8.57 Ratings6.03 Ratings
Server-side tests7.74 Ratings2.62 Ratings
Mutually exclusive tests8.28 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Audience Segmentation & Targeting
Comparison of Audience Segmentation & Targeting features of Product A and Product B
Adobe Target
8.4
9 Ratings
5% below category average
Google Optimize
9.7
7 Ratings
10% above category average
Standard visitor segmentation8.69 Ratings9.17 Ratings
Behavioral visitor segmentation8.28 Ratings9.75 Ratings
Traffic allocation control8.69 Ratings10.06 Ratings
Website personalization8.28 Ratings10.06 Ratings
Results and Analysis
Comparison of Results and Analysis features of Product A and Product B
Adobe Target
8.1
9 Ratings
5% below category average
Google Optimize
8.7
7 Ratings
2% above category average
Heatmap tool8.24 Ratings2.01 Ratings
Click analytics7.37 Ratings9.03 Ratings
Scroll maps7.84 Ratings9.02 Ratings
Form fill analysis8.74 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Conversion tracking8.28 Ratings9.06 Ratings
Goal tracking8.28 Ratings9.96 Ratings
Test reporting8.59 Ratings10.05 Ratings
Results segmentation8.28 Ratings10.04 Ratings
CSV export7.37 Ratings9.93 Ratings
Experiments results dashboard8.39 Ratings9.97 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Adobe TargetGoogle Optimize
Small Businesses
Kameleoon
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Score 9.5 out of 10
Kameleoon
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Score 9.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Kameleoon
Kameleoon
Score 9.5 out of 10
Kameleoon
Kameleoon
Score 9.5 out of 10
Enterprises
Dynamic Yield
Dynamic Yield
Score 9.1 out of 10
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Score 9.1 out of 10
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User Ratings
Adobe TargetGoogle Optimize
Likelihood to Recommend
6.8
(36 ratings)
8.0
(9 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
6.3
(24 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
1.1
(4 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Availability
6.1
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
8.0
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
3.5
(9 ratings)
8.7
(4 ratings)
In-Person Training
8.1
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
6.1
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
7.2
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Adobe TargetGoogle Optimize
Likelihood to Recommend
Adobe
If you're using the Adobe stack and tools to power your website, Target is a great solution to implement. I've utilized Target within two organizations, one running on Adobe Experience Manager (AEM), and the other on Adobe Magento. I don't see how companies could harness the full capacity of Target without also having Adobe Analytics integrated. This is their 'secret sauce' and might not be a good solution for companies who are invested in Google Analytics 360. Integration was straightforward but did require support from the Adobe team to implement successfully. While Target is a great tool for digital teams to support, you'll need your tech team aligned and available to support implementation.
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Google
Google Optimize is well suited for testing small changes on the browser pages. You have the option of changing designs, texts, and some small features on the page. The audience can be divided using a long list of factors, so it makes it quite easy to set up the test. It is not well suited for complicated feature tests where you need to monitor the user over a long period or where the user is likely to use multiple sessions across multiple devices or browsers
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Pros
Adobe
  • This application gives us an incredible integration with Adobe Analytics that allows its operation to be the best and determine the performance of our website.
  • It offers us an analysis based on user behavior and a web page customization option to adapt and meet the needs of those users.
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Google
  • Easy to follow set up procedures. Once I walk a client through the process, it's effortless for them to emulate on subsequent tests.
  • Lots of geo and user attribute customization features to be able to drill down into specific targeted audiences — all based on the power of Google's immense data system.
  • Google Optimize is the logical choice for many people to start with since most are already familiar with and using GA.
Read full review
Cons
Adobe
  • This is something a lot of testing tools struggle with, but I think the WYSIWYG ("What you see is what you get") editor - or Visual Experience Composer (VEC) in Adobe terminology - could definitely use some work. It's a struggle to execute many tests beyond simple copy, color, placement changes, and even the features that do exist are often clunky if not altogether broken.
  • The interface itself can be a bit counterintuitive in certain parts. If you are familiar with other tools, it's likely middle of the road in this respect; think much easier to understand than Monetate for instance, but a far cry from the simplicity of an Optimizely.
  • It can be a bit buggy from time to time. The worst example is the frequency at which the tool will fail to save due to an error, but not inform you of this until you try to save, at which point your only option is to log out, log back in, and make all of your updates once again. It can become an extreme pain point at times, and I personally have just gotten into the habit of saving every couple of minutes to avoid a massive loss of productivity.
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Google
  • Track site performance with each test version; see if the resource timing of each test has anything to do with conversion rates.
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Likelihood to Renew
Adobe
We have a team of people trained on how to use the application and it integrates well with the other Adobe products we use. Our future roadmap of testing will require some complex scenarios which we hope Target will be able to accomplish
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Google
No answers on this topic
Usability
Adobe
Can be difficult to learn, but once you understand Mboxes and the nuances of the system it's very user friendly
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Google
Google has always been known to make easy-to-use products. The Google Optimize interface is intuitive and easy to follow for anyone.
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
Adobe
i don't think we use the full functionalities of the tool, but to use the full functions, it's almost impossible (Too hard)
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Google
No answers on this topic
Performance
Adobe
The bottleneck is never the software program
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Google
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Adobe
On several occasions, we have had the need to ask for help from the Adobe Target support team, and I must say that they have provided us with an excellent experience, as they take care of solving the problems quickly and with high precision
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Google
Google has well-documented resources and unlimited use cases that can be found online. Plus, their support is always helpful and available.
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In-Person Training
Adobe
The instructor that came to train us was awesome and this training was very useful. I would recommend it for anyone who is going to be using this software. I only mark it lower because it is an added expense to an already expensive product, and a lot of the training covered the "Target" portion of the software (which again, we didn't use)
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Google
No answers on this topic
Online Training
Adobe
The training was very easy to understand, however it would have been more useful to my development team than me. It was also primarily over-the-phone, which is never as easy to follow as in-person. We ended up scheduling and paying for an in-person training session to supplement the online/phone training because it wasn't helpful enough.
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Google
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Adobe
Implement using a global mBox on the page so you can change any and everything over the traditional method. Traditional method is good if you do not have technical web dev resources, do not know Javascript/jQuery, or you have money to blow on mBox calls. Global deployment reduces mBox calls and allows you to touch many parts of the page easily. A lot more customizable
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Google
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Adobe
We seriously considered another software but because we use so many other Adobe products this made the most sense for us. If you are not dependent on other Adobe software and are a smaller company, in my opinion, Target may not be the best fit.
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Google
Google Optimize being part of the Google stack makes it great in reporting and analysis. Wish Google would add more features like dynamic tests, multi funnel tests, conversion calculator based on the total number of traffic of the page being tested instead of using the websites total traffic. Should integrate form analysis, heatmap, and page analytics.
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Return on Investment
Adobe
  • We have been able to run specific A/B tests that have shown an increase in conversion, which in turn has led to very large banked sales numbers for the year.
  • We have been able to prove that using and automated Merchandising process did not decrease conversion. This allowed us to greatly increase efficiency by opening up resource time.
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Google
  • We were able to increase our main KPI for conversions by almost 50% by testing button copy.
  • We were able to increase secondary KPIs for conversions by almost 30% by testing form design.
Read full review
ScreenShots