1. Google is rebranding its ad business after 18 years.
  2. The changes are rolling out in July 2018.
  3. Google Ad Words is becoming Google Ads, which will represent the full range of advertising capabilities offered by Google.
  4. Google Ads will have a new campaign type for small businesses.
  5. DoubleClick and Google Analytics will no longer be separate products.
  6. The two will be merged under a single brand called the Google Marketing Platform.
  7. The aim behind the merge of DoubleClick and Analytics is more collaboration to help advertisers plan, buy, measure and optimize in one place.
  8. Google Marketing Platform will also have Display and Video 360, which bring together features from DoubleClick Bid Manager, Campaign Manager, Studio and Audience Center.
  9. This means that agencies – creative, media, digital, etc. – can collaborate and execute ad campaigns end-to-end in one single place.
  10. Google gave special attention to publishers and how their monetization model has changed.
  11. To reflect that attention, it’s combining DoubleClick for Publishers and DoubleClick Ad Exchange in one programmatic platform called Google Ad Manager.
  12. Much of the changes are cosmetic. “The underlying products are not changing,” said Sridhar Ramaswamy, Google’s senior vice-president of ads, during a question and answer session with reporters in New York. “This is a better representation of what our products are and more importantly where they need to go.”
  13. The move is an indicator of Google’s broader martech ambitions. “Google is transforming itself into an enterprise caliber sales and technology provider,” says Mac Delaney, senior vice-president of media, investment and innovation at Merkle. “To do that, Google needs to reframe who they are.”
  14. The move also positions the company to look more like a marketing technology platform, competing for enterprise relationships with Adobe, Oracle and others.
  15. Still, not everyone is happy. “Google has a fragmented system right now,” says a digital ad agency executive, who spoke about Google’s plans on condition of anonymity. “I’m glad they renamed the business, but they have a way to go before they bring all the pieces together.”
  16. It could also spell bad news for agencies. “Brands will get a full picture of their customers by combining the ads, data and measurement in the new marketing platform,” says Dan Taylor, Google’s managing director of global display. “It’s designed to offer marketers a choice of what media they buy, how they buy it and how they measure it,” he adds.
  17. Despite all the changes, how brands pay for ads will NOT change despite the merger of its two main ad-buying products DoubleClick Bid Manager and DoubleClick Campaign Manager, which are now united under one product called Display and Video 360.
  18. And finally, when a company rebrands its most prominent products after 18 years, the expectations are high. “What DoubleClick did for Google, it had a seismic impact on its business and the entire ad industry,” Delaney says. “So if it’s going to dissolve the brand, you should expect whatever is next to be equally transformative.”