Brand Networks Platform vs. Google Ad Manager

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Brand Networks Platform
Score 5.0 out of 10
N/A
The Brand Networks Platform is an ad serving platform from Brand Networks headquartered in Boston.N/A
Google Ad Manager
Score 8.5 out of 10
N/A
Google Ad Manager is a platform for publishers that combines the former DoubleClick for Publishers and DoubleClick Ad Exchange products.N/A
Pricing
Brand Networks PlatformGoogle Ad Manager
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Brand Networks PlatformGoogle Ad Manager
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
Brand Networks PlatformGoogle Ad Manager
Features
Brand Networks PlatformGoogle Ad Manager
Ad Network Integration
Comparison of Ad Network Integration features of Product A and Product B
Brand Networks Platform
6.0
1 Ratings
20% below category average
Google Ad Manager
7.6
24 Ratings
3% above category average
Data Transfer6.01 Ratings7.524 Ratings
DSP integration6.01 Ratings7.719 Ratings
Ad Campaigns
Comparison of Ad Campaigns features of Product A and Product B
Brand Networks Platform
8.0
1 Ratings
3% above category average
Google Ad Manager
7.3
35 Ratings
6% below category average
Ad campaign creation7.01 Ratings9.335 Ratings
Ad deployment8.01 Ratings7.935 Ratings
Ad display and retargeting segmentation9.01 Ratings7.333 Ratings
Display advertising00 Ratings7.334 Ratings
Sequence targeting00 Ratings5.025 Ratings
Ad Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Ad Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Brand Networks Platform
5.8
1 Ratings
28% below category average
Google Ad Manager
6.9
34 Ratings
11% below category average
Ad dashboards5.01 Ratings5.032 Ratings
Ad performance reports7.01 Ratings7.034 Ratings
Ad conversion tracking4.01 Ratings7.033 Ratings
Ad attribution reporting4.01 Ratings7.030 Ratings
Cross-channel ad management9.01 Ratings8.126 Ratings
Ad forecasting and optimization6.01 Ratings7.030 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Brand Networks PlatformGoogle Ad Manager
Small Businesses
LinkedIn Marketing Solutions
LinkedIn Marketing Solutions
Score 8.9 out of 10
LinkedIn Marketing Solutions
LinkedIn Marketing Solutions
Score 8.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
The Trade Desk
The Trade Desk
Score 9.0 out of 10
The Trade Desk
The Trade Desk
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
LinkedIn Marketing Solutions
LinkedIn Marketing Solutions
Score 8.9 out of 10
LinkedIn Marketing Solutions
LinkedIn Marketing Solutions
Score 8.9 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Brand Networks PlatformGoogle Ad Manager
Likelihood to Recommend
5.0
(1 ratings)
8.0
(35 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
7.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(3 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
7.0
(2 ratings)
User Testimonials
Brand Networks PlatformGoogle Ad Manager
Likelihood to Recommend
Brand Networks
If you have a multiple social channel strategy, the Brand Networks Platform does a good job of comparing and summarizing the cross-platform performance of all the social campaigns. They also have really good optimization technology, so if you have a beginner media buyer who doesn't have a lot of time to devote to (or knowledge about) optimizing campaigns, the BN tool would be helpful.
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Google
Google Ads Manager is great if you need major visibility on a large ad network rather than targeting one specific website, app or platform. Let's be real here if you have any business that is done online (sell products, generate leads, etc) you pretty much have to be on Google. I've tried other advertising solutions including competitor search engines, sponsored content solutions, social media advertising, and none really compare to the traffic you can get that is keyword-driven, meaning a user is actually demonstrating interest in whatever you sell or offer.
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Pros
Brand Networks
  • Sleek design -- very attractive UI
  • Constantly innovating and updating the platform
  • Their support desk is very good. Very responsive and can usually update my issue within 1-2 business days.
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Google
  • Interface. You can understand how to build the ads very easily. When you first begin, and throughout the process, there are little help icons which explain what you need to understand.
  • Pricing. By this, I mean the ability to change it at any time. You can select a variable rate, or you can preset it. Either way, you can change how much you spend every second if you'd like. This makes it easier to control your budget if you need to make emergency purchases and don't have much space in your budget.
  • Always growing. They are always announcing something new. Always growing and always trying to update.
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Cons
Brand Networks
  • API data issues. There are somewhat frequent breakdowns in continuous data being pulled from the social platforms
  • The campaign creation flow is a little clunky and has a couple bugs. Users often forgo using the platform to set up new campaigns, and use the native platforms instead
  • Because it's in continual development, there are lots of little bugs that slip through the cracks
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Google
  • Bumper Machine - While this is still in beta, there is a lot of room for improvement for the machine to pick proper clips. I'm sure that will come in time though.
  • Inclusion of a Home Page Button - This is a simple request, truly, but one that bothers me everyday. I have a campaign home button, but it's not accessible unless you go back to the beginning of the platform. If the 'home' button was static, I'd be able to go to my preferred view with one click instead of having to loop around, as there isn't a trustworthy 'back button' option either.
  • Display - This is a big one. I have a love/hate relationship with display campaigns and algorithms. I have seen where they can perform [strongly] but also be massive budget bleeds with little ROI. It's not very industry specific either so I'm hoping to gain more consistency and trust with the future of the display algorithm.
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Likelihood to Renew
Brand Networks
No answers on this topic
Google
I think it's useful for our team and we rely on it to improve our business. It is within our budget also. Although we still will need an approval from the upper-level management team, I don't see any problem with that
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Usability
Brand Networks
No answers on this topic
Google
As I have said, if you want all the Google functionality and can use all of the features that Google offers on a dashboard, it's a great choice. But, I'm not a fan because I think the interface could be redesigned to be more user-friendly - make it color-coded with different options - it just feels now like you can get all, but make it easier for the end designer to use.
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Support Rating
Brand Networks
No answers on this topic
Google
I could say a lot about this topic. As an agency, we get a new [representative] to talk to almost every quarter to go over select accounts and the campaigns within. Most of the time, these [educated representatives], don't provide any new feedback, or I just simply [disagree] with their approach. This is not all the time however. I have learned a lot from a rare few, [individuals] that have given me new strategies and access to betas early on. The other side of support, is the [overseas support platform]. [It] is usually not very helpful, but you can [emphasize] issues and they can research [them]. The Google Tag Implementation team is pristine though. When you need them, you need to set an appointment, which is usually 2 weeks out; they are so over-my-head intelligent, I've never had a bad experience with them and whenever I needed them for a fix, they solved it [within] the first call.
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Alternatives Considered
Brand Networks
Facebook for Business has far fewer bugs and errors. Brand Networks has made some major changes over the 3 years that I have been using the platform, but because they are constantly changing and overhauling their platform, there are naturally more bugs in the system -- and this can interfere with the user experience.
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Google
I personally liked it because of the complex features available. Knowing that this comes from Google, I did not have second thoughts - Comes from an Top tier brand. There were other products in the market, however, I chose to stick to this due to the following reasons, Customer support Self help articles
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Return on Investment
Brand Networks
  • If you can create the report you need through automation, you can have those automatically sent to your email or a client's email. That saves time.
  • If optimization works correctly, you get even more efficient costs against you given campaign objective.
  • However, when features are broken, or there is a bug and I can't pull the performance data I need immediately, it detracts from my productivity
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Google
  • It had a massively positive impact for us, allowing us to generate revenue from ad space on our website.
  • Being able to custom quote ad space on our site, instead of relying on AdSense allowed us to increase our monthly ad revenue as well.
  • Providing reliable data to advertisers regarding impressions and CTRs helped create repeat-customers.
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ScreenShots