Google Marketing Platform vs. MatchCraft AdVantage

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
MatchCraft
Score 10.0 out of 10
N/A
MatchCraft Advantage is a search engine marketing (SEM) platform for managing many paid advertising campaigns at once, ideally for agencies managing campaigns for a number of small to midsize businesses with their local marketing efforts. To that end it automates many elements of running Google Adwords and Bing Ads campaigns and offers bidding suggestions via Matchcraft's proprietary algorithms. AdVantage Display is a built in set of tools for targeted display ads, and AdVantage Remarketing…N/A
Pricing
Google Marketing PlatformMatchCraft AdVantage
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Google Marketing PlatformMatchCraft
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 Marketing PlatformMatchCraft AdVantage
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Google Marketing PlatformMatchCraft AdVantage
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
MatchCraft AdVantage
-
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
MatchCraft AdVantage
-
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
MatchCraft AdVantage
-
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 PlatformMatchCraft AdVantage
Small Businesses
Google Ad Manager
Google Ad Manager
Score 8.6 out of 10
Serpstat
Serpstat
Score 9.3 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
The Trade Desk
The Trade Desk
Score 8.0 out of 10
WordStream Advisor
WordStream Advisor
Score 7.0 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 PlatformMatchCraft AdVantage
Likelihood to Recommend
7.4
(44 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.0
(13 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
9.0
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
6.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Google Marketing PlatformMatchCraft AdVantage
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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Matchcraft
If you have multiple campaigns running at the same time, you need your campaign setups to be quick and easy, or you have multiple users managing campaigns, then MatchCraft Advantage is right for you. It also performs well with both small and large budgets. If you want to do re-targeting but don't want/know how to implement the tag, MatchCraft has built-in features for that. However if you want to run video campaigns and campaigns in specific mobile apps, then for now MatchCraft will not work for you
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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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Matchcraft
  • Automated bid adjustments for PPC campaigns. Manual bid strategies can be tedious to manage. MatchCraft's bidding system helps improve click throughs while keeping the click costs pretty low.
  • The report generation features of the platform MatchCraft platform are easy to use and provide actionable data from campaigns. PDF reports require only a few clicks and there is also an interactive dashboard that gives all the key metrics in a graphical format. Both features are customizable.
  • User management is a breeze in the MatchCraft platform. You can add, edit, activate, deactivate, and change the permissions as needed.
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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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Matchcraft
  • Not all Google/Bing features are available through the MatchCraft platform. Since they are limited to what is available in the API some features like video campaign management and specific app targeting are missing.
  • Customized report scheduling is not yet available for each campaign and the automated reports can only be sent to one email address. Additional recipients have to be sent their's manually.
  • Reports can take a little time to be generated. Not more than 1 minute but it can slow you down if you have multiple reports to send.
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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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Matchcraft
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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Matchcraft
No answers on this topic
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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Matchcraft
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Google
I would highly recommend asking clients to provide 3PAS tags or use an internal 3PAS
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Matchcraft
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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Matchcraft
The interface on MatchCraft is much easier to get started with than the native PPC provider interfaces. MatchCraft finds ways of maximizing ROI within current spend target rather than recommending 'increased budget' as the fix for all issues. the reporting dashboard is also easier to use and report generation takes only a few clicks. The main downside is that MatchCraft is limited to what the PPC providers allow through the APIs
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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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Matchcraft
  • It has allowed the company to handle a higher volume of campaigns at the same time.
  • Click costs have been reduced across almost all campaigns while click rates have increased.
  • Budget management (under/overspending) has been improved.
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ScreenShots