Lost for AdWords: Google rebrands its ads and marketing portfolio

27 Jun 2018

Google campus in Mountain View, California. Image: Dreamframer/Shutterstock

Google’s AdWords and DoubleClick brands are no more. Say hello to Google Ads, Marketing Platform and Ad Manager.

Driven by increased consumer expectations from mobile, Google is retiring its venerable AdWords and DoubleClick brands and is replacing them with three new primary brands with machine learning at their core.

Under the product reshuffle – nothing is changing under the hood, apparently – Google AdWords will now be known as Google Ads; DoubleClick and Google Analytics 360 Suite will be known as the Google Marketing Platform; and DoubleClick for Publishers and DoubleClick Ad Exchange will be integrated under Google Ad Manager.

Google launched AdWords nearly 18 years ago as a way to monetise the search platform, with the idea inspired by a search for eco-friendly stationery.

DoubleClick even predates Google at 22 and was acquired by the internet search engine in 2008 for $3.1bn.

Mobile and machine learning rule the roost

“A lot has changed since then,” explained Sridhar Ramaswamy, senior vice-president of ads and commerce at Google.

“Mobile is now a huge part of our everyday lives. People quickly switch from searching for products, to watching videos, browsing content, playing games and more. As a result, marketers have more opportunities to reach consumers across channels, screens and formats.

“Advertising on Google has evolved, too – from helping marketers connect with people on Google Search, to helping them connect at every step of the consumer journey. As the opportunity to engage consumers has grown and become more complex, we are simplifying our products for advertisers and publishers of all sizes so they can more easily reach consumers anywhere, at any moment and on any channel.”

Ramaswamy said that the new Google Ads, Google Marketing Platform and Google Ad Manager brands better reflect how the company helps advertisers connect with consumers, and will make it easier for advertisers and publishers to choose which products are right for their businesses.

“As part of this, we are releasing new solutions that help advertisers get started with Google Ads and drive collaboration across teams.”

Here’s what you need to know about the changes.

Google Ads

Ramaswamy explained that Google Ads represents the entire range of capabilities the internet giant offers across its properties, from Google to partner sites and apps, including answering questions, watching videos on YouTube, and exploring and finding new things on Google Maps or Google Play.

“For small businesses specifically, we’re introducing a new campaign type in Google Ads that makes it easier than ever to get started with online advertising. It brings the machine-learning technology of Google Ads to small businesses and helps them get results without any heavy lifting, so they can stay focused on running their businesses.”

Google Marketing Platform

The new Google Marketing Platform brings ads and analytics technology together and helps marketers plan, buy, measure, and optimise digital media and customer experiences in one place.

“As part of Google Marketing Platform, we’re announcing Display and Video 360,” Ramaswamy said.

“Display and Video 360 brings together features from DoubleClick Bid Manager, Campaign Manager, Studio and Audience Center to allow creative, agency and media teams to collaborate and execute ad campaigns end to end in a single place.”

Google Ad Manager

Google Ad Manager brings DoubleClick for Publishers and DoubleClick Ad Exchange together under a single unified platform in recognition of how publishers now monetise their content from multiple screens.

“With this evolution, we’re excited to do even more for our partners – earning them more money, more efficiently, wherever people are watching videos, playing games or engaging with content, and however advertisers are looking to work with them,” Ramaswamy said.

Google campus in Mountain View, California. Image: Dreamframer/Shutterstock

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com