Criteo: Great Interface, at a Price
May 16, 2018
Criteo: Great Interface, at a Price
Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with Criteo
We use Criteo for dynamic retargeting ads for users who have visited our website and not converted. Our digital marketing department uses the product and reports the results upward to management. We were searching for a reasonable retargeting solution which could be implemented relatively easily, and after trying Google AdWords, we decided to give Criteo a try.
- Great interface - easy to understand and train others to use. While some might consider the dashboard too simplistic, I found that the simplicity of the dashboard made it an easy, 5-minute endeavor to go in and tweak bids whenever needed.
- Good customer service - particularly the set-up team worked very closely with us and was always very responsive. When we were moved over to their existing accounts team, the customer service remained top-notch, and they were quick to proactively point out things we could do to improve our results.
- Relatively wide display network - our Criteo ads show on a variety of websites; we found that the breadth of the network was nearly as extensive as Google's display network.
- Level of control over ads - Most features of Criteo can't be managed directly in the dashboard. That can be a problem when you want ads adjusted quickly, for example, if you make a change to your logo. Customer Service has to be contacted in that case.
- Cost - Of the several retargeting platforms we tried, Criteo was the most costly. This is in terms of cost per click and cost per conversion. In the end, we just couldn't justify paying substantially more for a similar ad network to Google just for the level of customer service.
- Reporting - There is no reporting provided automatically, and user data is gated; it was difficult for us to ascertain anything about the audience we were serving ads to, and even basic geographic data wasn't available to us.
- More Impressions/Exposure - We wanted additional branding, and Criteo provided plenty of exposure to a relevant audience for us.
- Benchmark for CPA - We tested several different retargeting providers, and Criteo provided a benchmark amount we should pay per CPA, when compared to other providers.
Criteo is easier to get up and running, and provides a better user experience on their dashboard, but the product comes at a premium. Compared to other, similar retargeting tools, Criteo was more expensive. We used Criteo for over a year, but ultimately paused our campaigns to work on a less expensive platform with more control over our ads and network.