Dive Brief:
- Google will not allow marketers to buy YouTube ads on programmatic network DoubleClick Ad Exchange after this year.
- YouTube ads will only be available via Google’s sales teams and its automated DoubleClick Bid Manager beginning next year.
- So far industry insiders are somewhat puzzled by the move that seems to only benefit Google, and makes it tougher for marketers to manage their video ad campaigns.
Dive Insight:
Shaking up how marketers will be able to buy YouTube ads beginning next year, Google is dropping its programmatic ad network DoubleClick Ad Exchange as an option and will force advertisers to either work directly with its sales team or use its more automated DoubleClick Bid Manager. The move cuts out third-party ad-tech vendors that offer marketers more insights and data about video ad campaigns than Google provides.
Neal Mohan, Google's head of display and video advertising, confirmed the move in a blog post, writing, “To continue improving the YouTube advertising experience for as many of our clients as possible, we’ll be focusing our future development efforts on the formats and channels used by most of our partners. To enable that, as of the end of the year, we’ll no longer support the small amount of YouTube buying happening on the DoubleClick Ad Exchange.”
The move gives Google more control over YouTube ads, but takes third-party ad tech firms that rely on the soon-to-be out DoubleClick Ad Exchange to manage campaigns and have access to rich ad performance data. Industry insiders believe the change is based on the search giant forcing buyers to use its ad tech.
