Google Greatly Revamps DoubleClick's Display Ad Offering

Google is making a big move in display advertising with the major upgrade to its product offering in the segment. Its main product, ever since the acquisition of Double Click almost two years ago for $3.1 billion, has been the DART ad server geared at large websites and publishers. For smaller ones, it offered Google Ad Manager. Both products are getting a big upgrade, tighter integration and a rebranding, becoming DoubleClick for Publishers and DFP Small Business, respectively.

"DFP comes in two flavors, tailored for different publishers' needs: DoubleClick for Publishers, for the largest online publishers, and DFP Small Business, a simple, free version designed for growing online publishers. We'll be upgrading current DART for Publishers publishers to DoubleClick for Publishers over the next year as we continue to add features and modules, and we'll be moving Google Ad Manager customers to DFP Small Business in the coming weeks," Neal Mohan, Vice President of Product Management at Google, explains.

The unified DFP is a complete revamp of the DART service and it has Google written all over it, from the cleaned up and minimal interface to the emphasis on more data being available to users. Google lists several improvements in DFP and high on the list is the revamped interface that the search giant says should "save time and reduce errors." But a lighter look doesn't mean less data; on the contrary, everything is now far more detailed to provide publishers as much information as they need.

Google worked its magic under the hood as well and the system is now powered by "sophisticated algorithms" to automate some of the tasks maximizing performance. Another Google touch is the emphasis on openness with a new public API enabling users to create their own customized apps to make use of DFP data and features. With the new dual focus, on small companies and large publishers, DFP also comes with new branding, mirroring DoubleClick's existing look.