Google Ad Manager vs. StackAdapt

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
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
StackAdapt
Score 8.8 out of 10
N/A
StackAdapt, headquartered in Toronto offers their native advertising specialized DSP, supporting programmatic advertising with audience discovery, B2B targeting, and engagement analytics among other features.N/A
Pricing
Google Ad ManagerStackAdapt
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Google Ad ManagerStackAdapt
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
Google Ad ManagerStackAdapt
Features
Google Ad ManagerStackAdapt
Ad Network Integration
Comparison of Ad Network Integration features of Product A and Product B
Google Ad Manager
7.6
Ratings
3% above category average
StackAdapt
-
Ratings
Data Transfer7.50 Ratings00 Ratings
DSP integration7.70 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad Campaigns
Comparison of Ad Campaigns features of Product A and Product B
Google Ad Manager
7.4
Ratings
5% below category average
StackAdapt
-
Ratings
Ad campaign creation9.20 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad deployment8.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Display advertising7.20 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad display and retargeting segmentation7.20 Ratings00 Ratings
Sequence targeting5.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Ad Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Google Ad Manager
6.9
Ratings
11% below category average
StackAdapt
-
Ratings
Ad dashboards5.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad performance reports7.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad conversion tracking7.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad attribution reporting7.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Cross-channel ad management8.10 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad forecasting and optimization7.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Google Ad ManagerStackAdapt
Small Businesses
LinkedIn Marketing Solutions
LinkedIn Marketing Solutions
Score 9.0 out of 10
Adobe Advertising Cloud
Adobe Advertising Cloud
Score 8.6 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 9.0 out of 10
Adobe Advertising Cloud
Adobe Advertising Cloud
Score 8.6 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Google Ad ManagerStackAdapt
Likelihood to Recommend
8.0
(0 ratings)
8.2
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
7.0
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(0 ratings)
8.2
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
7.0
(0 ratings)
9.5
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Google Ad ManagerStackAdapt
Likelihood to Recommend
It is only suited for marketing. Make sure you have analytics on your site to track the people coming, final sales, and conversions because it is at it's best when you can use it to really read and understand the data at hand. Google Ads does everything it needs to in ads, and you don't need to be an expert to begin with it. However, I would not just tell someone to "go create an account" if they know very little about digital ads. Consult with someone first. It can be a little daunting if you were to do that!
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Campaigns for Brand Awareness: StackAdapt works effectively in campaigns for brand awareness where expanding brand visibility and reaching a large audience are the main objectives. Advertisers can target particular demographics, hobbies, and behaviors with its sophisticated targeting features, making sure that the correct audience groups receive brand messaging.
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Pros
  • Hyper targeting - I love how we can target, analyze, and then hyper target [advertisements] to our audiences to be able to hyper target the audiences that convert best. [Audiences besides] Google understands them, but also demographics, locations, search terms, and more.
  • Advanced reporting - Without Google's seemingly endless ways to read and break down reports, we would not be able to best make decisions to maximize ROI.
  • Strong conversion algorithm updates - The algorithm has become impressively strong for 'maximized conversions' and 'smart' campaigns. [That's] coming from someone who hated these portions of the algorithm until about 2019 where the updates (and continued updates) have worked incredibly well for these algorithms' purpose.
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  • Communication: Their reps are incredibly transparent, thorough and detailed. I really, really appreciate that.
  • Creativity: Not only are the reps communicative, they actually bring new, fresh ideas to the table. As busy as we are, I can't thank them enough for that.
  • Easy-to-use: As detailed as the dashboard is, it's actually pretty easy to use and bring new users up-to-speed on.
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Cons
  • Sometimes it can bog down and crash. This is rare, but it is processing a lot of steps/changes all at once and it's not expected to be perfect.
  • Being able to quickly filter by campaign types would be nice (PPC/Display/Video Pre-roll). Our fix is to run these campaigns in totally separate accounts, so there is no overlapping in reporting/etc. This helps with seeing stats clearly without having to filter constantly.
  • It could be visually prettier.
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  • There has been occasional slopping maintenance of the campaigns, and we have to follow up with questions about spending spikes or significant changes in delivery CPMs.
  • Account rep knowledge can sometimes be lacking. When we question our reps about performance, we sometimes get confusing or nonsensical answers.
  • The reporting UI is definitely clunky and unintuitive.
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Likelihood to Renew
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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The platform is easy to use and understand whether it is being used as self-serve or a managed service. The audience targeting is solid, and array of placements is versatile. With these, the level of engagement for video content is usually great
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Usability
Love the product and how the GUI is as it is user friendly. When working with the product it is better to have some knowledge of what ad's you want to deploy where so that it is easier to use and move forward.
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It is very user friendly and if any team members need further help, we are able to easily access their customer service team for hands on assistance with an actual human being, not a robot. Their team has been incredibly kind, understanding and thorough. It is really a great all in one tool for a business who relies greatly on advertising campaigns.
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Support Rating
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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Support has been exceptional. Our dedicated team is always available and ready to answer any questions that may arise. We receive updates from them on a regular basis and they go above and beyond providing assistance when needed. The team is absolutely one of the bright spots in our relationship with StackAdapt
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Alternatives Considered
As I alluded to earlier, you kind of have to be on Google if you want to search marketing. I've tried Bing Ads and I just don't see the same volume or quality. With dwindling targeting abilities on social media sites like Facebook, Google is still tall and mighty and helps us with intent-based targeting rather than just interest-based targeting.
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StackAdapt has an easier self-serve platform than JamLoop, where you can also buy programmatic CTV and display banners. Though they lack audio placements, which is another cross-channel tactic in StackAdapt to reach the same audience with multiple formats. Comparable CPM rates on CTV, and customer support on both is similarly strong.
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Return on Investment
  • It has made the data from this accessible for all of my team to see.
  • The ability to make changes can be bad - if the team does not agree.
  • Getting current results lets us decide what needs to be changed and take their advice to see how things could improve.
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  • For one of our clients, we've generated over 4.3x ROAS this year, which far exceeded our expectations for a programmatic display ad platform.
  • Getting results for our clients with StackAdapt gives us an edge in attracting new clients, which helps us maintain client retention and satisfaction.
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ScreenShots