Broadstreet Ads vs Google Ad Manager: Who Wins?

April 17, 2015

Broadstreet vs. Google Ad Manager (Formerly DFP)

We’re not going to tell you that Broadstreet is better than Google Ad Manager (formerly DFP) in all circumstances. And Google certainly couldn’t say that Ad Manager (DFP) is better than Broadstreet in all cases either. We have a specific target custom in mind: publishers who sell their own ads.

So then, What’s Broadstreet Good For?

Broadstreet’s greatest strength is catering to the needs of publishers who are actively selling their own ad inventory. This typically means news publishers, but tends to include digital magazines, niche blogs, and types of publications we haven’t even heard of yet. Look at what we’ve got going on:

RICH MEDIA AD FORMATS

You know what sort of ads really sell? Anything but your standard, boring, 300×250 or static box ads. Our publishers successfully beat back competition like Yelp, YP, and legacy news organizations by taking advantage of the different ad products we’ve made available on our platform. Check out this cube. How can an advertiser resist? It takes 6 images and 5 minutes to set up. And we’ve got tons of them.

THE AMAZING CUBE

One the the most popular among advertisers.

THE INSTANT FACEBOOK

Stays in sync with the Facebook page of your choice

THE REAL ESTATE GALLERY

Showcase real estate with a gallery and contact information

SIMPLE AD MANAGEMENT

When prospective users ask us why they might want to use Broadstreet instead of Ad Manager, we usually ask, “Have you tried Ad Manager yet?”

The first interaction with Ad Manager is usually so overwhelming that our customers know exactly why they’re picking Broadstreet over Ad Manager. And even if the publisher manages the steep learning curve, there are typically salespeople and other staff that need to be educated on how to use it too.

Ad Manager is incredibly sophisticated for a reason: it serves the needs of incredibly sophisticated enterprise organizations. But even sophisticated users won’t use 80 percent of the available feature set. In most cases, using Ad Manager to serve ads is like using an airplane to get to the post office. By contrast, Broadstreet’s UI is downright intuitive.

A VIBRANT PUBLISHER COMMUNITY

If you ever have a question about how to use Google AdManager, you’ve got one place to turn to: Google.com. If you have an unrelated question regarding what others are doing in your industry or trade, you’re on your own.

At Broadstreet, we have a community group set up where publishers ask technical questions, kick around ideas, and ask other users about their sales strategies. We also have a question and answer site for more formal support requests. And you always can email us too.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

We take feature requests, help you integrate our platform, refer affordable developers, and answer complex technical questions. We even have a company phone number posted. How many digital companies have the nerve to post their direct phone number online?

We’d like to toot our own horns and say that we provide amazing customer service compared to everyone else. But there’s no one else who even offers real customer service for non-enterprise users in our space. Some hypotheticals:

• How often will Google DFP answer the phone for a non-enterprise user? Probably never.
• How often will Google DFP answer an email for a non-enterprise user? Probably never.
• How often does Google DFP take feature requests seriously for non-enterprise users? Probably never.

Google DFP is free, which is nice. But we know how free services tend to work out in the long run [exhibit A][exhibit B].

PERFORMANCE

Broadstreet’s adserver outperforms Google DFP’s. Google DFP is pretty fast, but Broadstreet is usually about 10x faster in terms of delivery speed.

And … Ad Manager?

We can’t knock Ad Manager. Google has acquired and built a comprehensive ad platform that is reliable in terms of uptime, is error free, and has more delivery and targeting features than you’ll ever need or want to know about.

They just don’t have time to worry about issues facing small publishers. They didn’t become publicly traded by catering to the needs of little guys.

If you are have a national publication which needs RTB, extensive targeting rules, and enough complexity to teach you something new every day, go for Ad Manager; As long as money isn’t an issue in the long run, it’s the bees knees.

If you sell directly to customers, need to innovate to beat out the competition, and want something simple enough that you can learn within a few minutes, it’s got to be Broadstreet. They think so too.

Still want to hear more? Here are some additional features …

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