Just days after a Microsoft and Yahoo search-engine and advertising partnership was approved by U.S. and European regulators, Google has rolled out an upgraded ad-serving platform for publishers. Dubbed DoubleClick for Publishers, or DFP for short, the single platform replaces DoubleClick’s DART for Publishers and Google Ad Manager by combining Google’s technology and infrastructure with DoubleClick’s display-advertising and ad-serving experience.
Neal Mohan, vice president of product management at Google, said Monday that DFP is part of a suite of products (including AdSense and DoubleClick Ad Exchange) to help online publishers maximize advertising revenues. “Ad serving is the machinery that powers the online advertising world,” he said, “so improving that technology can put a lot of money in publishers’ pockets.”
Under the DFP Hood
As Mohan suggested, DFP includes new features to help publishers get the most value from their online content. Google is promising the platform will help publishers of all sizes monetize their web sites more efficiently.
Features include a redesigned interface that aims to save time and reduce errors, more detailed reporting and forecasting data to help publishers understand where revenue is coming from and what ads are most valuable, and algorithms that automatically improve ad performance and delivery.
DFP also offers a new, open API that lets publishers integrate their own or third-party apps with DFP, such as tools for sales, order management, and work flow. DFP also works with the new DoubleClick Ad Exchange “dynamic allocation” feature, which promises to maximize revenue by letting publishers open up their ad space to bids from multiple ad networks.
Warding Off Microsoft
DFP comes in two Google-described “flavors” it said are customized to meet the needs of publishers large and small. DFP is targeted at large online publishers who currently use DART for Publishers. DFP Small Business is a free version for growing online publishers…