Business Services

Real-Time: The Difference Between Buy-Side Platforms and AdWords

The impact of real-time is huge for the world of advertising. Predictive advertising feels right around the corner for those in the know, but real-time bidding and reporting offers tremendous value to marketers who can tap into this data for actionable results.

AdWords data is usually served on a delay. They maintain an extremely large inventory, and deal with many buyers at once, so the process has a natural delay to help manage the flow. Buy-Side platforms offer the advantage of a pool of placements ready for sale. As a result, bidders are in control of their data and their ads.

Reach

In order to understand what makes placements so valuable, consider the placements that AdWords offers. All placements are run through the Google Display Network. This is only one source. An buy-side platform pools from multiple sources, using placements all over the Web. With proper targeting, you will be able to reach any member of your audience when you utilize a buy-side platform to purchase this wider range of inventory.

Targeting

AdWords limits targeting to context, leaving you to guess at user intent. Buy-side platforms offer the ability to target granularly. Industry wide, we’re not ready to target specific users but we can target by extremely specific groups. Age and gender are now a given, but marketers can explore types of business and education level for the targets they seek out.

Final Thoughts

One of the areas most impacted by real-time is reporting. Marketers can view their campaign performance and make judgments on which bids or targets are working best within minutes of deployment. This can take up to 18 hours on a platform like AdWords.

Bio: Ted Dhanik is a passionate direct marketing guru and industry insider. With fifteen years of experience in banner advertising, Ted Dhanik is ready to help businesses harness mobile to increase conversions. Contact Ted Dhanik to launch your first campaign with engage:BDR.