Google announces Ad Manager

Just one day after the completion of the $3.1 billion DoubleClick Inc. acquisition, Google has announced a new, and free, ad serving platform.

by Helen Leggatt

google%20ad%20manager%20logo.gif Called Ad Manager, Google’s newest offering is still in limited beta testing. Once officially launched it will aid small to medium sized businesses with the selling, scheduling, delivery and measurement of their entire directly-sold and network-based inventory.

The Ad Manager service will be offered free of charge, unlike many similar ad serving businesses including DoubleClick’s very own DART.

Ad Manager users won’t be limited to carrying ads from Google AdSense. Ads from other online ad networks can be used and can be in various formats including video, text and display.

Erin Teare Martin, Advertising Manager for Infoplease.com, has been involved in the limited beta. "Using Google Ad Manager, the delivery rate of our ads has improved by 10-15%. Before Google Ad Manager, we were maintaining two servers to keep ads running and they required ongoing maintenance. Since Google Ad Manager is a hosted solution, we have freed up those resources."

Tags: Ad Manager, ad network, DART, DoubleClick, Google