Google Ad Manager – A Guide For Publishers
September 11, 2024
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According to a survey by Advertiser Perceptions, a staggering 73% of publishers used Google Ad Manager as their preferred ad server and SSP in 2022. The media giant has consistently updated and improved its platform over the past decade to provide publishers with the most effective tools and features for their needs.
One of the most important features that Google Ad Manager provides to publishers is its reporting system. This feature allows publishers to gain valuable insights into their ad performance and identify opportunities to optimize and increase ad revenue.
As Google continues to expand and enhance its platform, the way publishers use reporting is also evolving. In the past, Ad Manager had only a few reports with limited publisher metrics and dimensions. However, publishers now have access to hundreds of metrics, which can be overwhelming for newcomers to Ad Manager.
To help new publishers navigate the reporting system and understand which metrics are vital for their success, we have created a definitive guide that explains the important Google metrics and what they signify.
The free version of Google Ad Manager has five reports. While future sell-through and video content reports are only available for Google Ad Manager 360 for publishers, you can access other reports with the free version of the ad server. Since each report consists of unique metrics, let’s understand them individually.
In the Ad Exchange historical report, you should include the following metrics:
The metric summarizes the total number of filled ad impressions served by Google Ad Manager, AdSense or Ad Exchange, Yield groups (if any), and header bidding. Google Ad Manager has categorized impressions into three types: Served, Downloaded, and Unfilled.
While Unfilled impressions are well understood by the name, Served impressions are counted by Ad Manager when an ad is served. A Served impression is counted irrespective of the rendering of the ad creative on the users’ device. Downloaded impressions are counted when an ad creative is rendered on the users’ device.
If you’re wondering whether Total impressions include both types, then let us tell you that the Downloaded impressions are counted under this metric.
It shows the total number of ad requests sent by the Ad Manager that couldn’t return an ad. Mathematically, the value is calculated by GAM by using the given formula:
Unfilled impressions = Total ad requests – Total code served count
Pro Tip: If the number of unfilled impressions is higher than expected, we suggest you combine the dimensions Ad unit and the Requested ad sizes with knowing the ad units for which you sent the ad requests, but the network couldn’t fill the inventories.
The metric shows how many ad impressions aren’t competing in dynamic allocation. Mathematically, this metric is calculated as given below:
Impressions not competing = Total eligible Ad Exchange impressions – Impressions competing in Ad Exchange.
Pro Tip: If this metric is higher than expected, we recommend you understand the line items’ priorities to reduce the number of impressions not competing in dynamic allocation.
The name says it all. The metric counts all the ad requests sent for a particular ad by the ad server.
This shows the number of ad requests where a particular buyer was matched with the ad request sent by Ad Exchange, Ad Server, or AdSense. To segregate and know the individual match rate of Ad Exchange or AdSense, you can view Ad Exchange matched ad requests, AdSense matched ad requests, etc.
Pro Tip: Publishers often ask why there is a difference between total impressions and matched ad requests OR total ad requests and matched requests. To be clear, it is not necessary for a matched ad request to deliver an impression due to multiple reasons (the ad might not get rendered, or users didn’t view the ad, and so on).
For example, if the Ad Exchange wins an impression, but the ad doesn’t render on the device; you will find Matched ad requests as 1, but Ad impressions will be 0.
Fill rate is among the most important metrics, showing the number of ad impressions the network fills. In GAM, it is calculated by:
Fill rate = Total number of ad impressions/Total number of ad requests
Pro Tip: If the fill rate is too low for your network, we have compiled a list of practices to help you boost it.
This metric displays the average eCPM totaled across the Ad Manager server, AdSense, Ad Exchange, and third-party mediation networks (if any). Mathematically, eCPM is calculated by the given formula:
eCPM = (Total ad revenue/Total ad impressions)*100
It shows the total amount of CPC, CPM, CPD, and vCPM revenue across the Ad Manager server, AdSense, Ad Exchange, and third-party mediation networks (if any). This metric is useful when dealing with advertisers with different pricing models.
The metric shows the total CPM and CPC revenue based on the number of ad units served by the Google Ad Manager server, AdSense, Ad Exchange, and third-party mediation networks.
Pro Tip: If the value is lower than desired, we recommend you optimize your ads and set up multiple ad networks or exchanges, and you can even set up header bidding if your website’s traffic is more than a million.
This shows the percentage of viewable ad impressions out of total measurable ad impressions. Mathematically, the server calculates it by using the following formula:
Total active view % viewable impressions = (Viewable ad impressions/Measurable ad impressions)*100
Viewability is an important factor that affects the ad revenue for publishers. So, it is recommended to include this metric more often.
Pro Tip: In case the viewability metrics are too low for your inventories, try different ad sizes and placement, review and improve page designs frequently, implement lazy loading and ad refresh technologies, etc.
Though Ad Exchange Historical is the most important report in Google Ad Manager, other reports also play important roles in helping publishers understand various factors to improve ad performance (in terms of revenue, delivery, speeds, and so on).
Total reach impressions: This metric is available in the Reach report and displays the total unique audiences exposed by a particular ad on the website. It is a key metric if you use frequency capping for your ad campaigns.
Non-viewable impression reasons: It is one of the best metrics in the Ad speed report. The metric shows how many ads weren’t viewed by the users and the reasons behind that. The metric can be further broken down into four categories i.e.
Pro Tip: Ad Speed report helps improve the loading/rendering of ad creative by metric Creative load time. The report provides insights into creatives’ loading speed and discusses factors affecting page speed and low viewability.
So, based on your requirements, you can include the essential metrics in your report. Besides, if the values don’t meet your expectations, we recommend you to improve your ad speed and user experience.
GDPR consent rate: The metric can be accessed by creating a Report on user messages. It helps publishers understand the frequency at which users opt for personalized ads after seeing the GDPR message during their pageviews.
A Google Ad Manager account is essential to creating an Ad Manager report.
Not all metrics are essential to evaluate your campaigns. Therefore, it is important to select the best metric combination through which you can extract useful insights.
There are two ways you can select the relevant metrics:
Goal-based metric selection: You can select metrics based on your goal. The goal might include improving user experience, improving conversions, Increasing impression values, brand awareness, etc. Such goal-setting will drive you to the list of metrics you need to track. This way, you can find the relevant combination that gives you useful information to make data-driven decisions and improvements.
Common but incredible A/B testing: The very common tactic is doing A/B testing. Test different combinations of metrics that meet your goal and give information to improve your goals. This approach might take time to implement and analyze, but it will give a firm output you can rely on to make right decisions.
Tracking important metrics is the secret to generating better ad revenue via Google Ad Manager. However, we suggest you not use these metrics alone to measure your ads’ performance, which could lead to wrong decisions.
Each of these metrics provides one side of a story. So, instead of focusing on a single metric, combine the relevant metrics with relevant dimensions. It helps you paint a clear picture of what is happening and where you need to move to improve revenue and reach heights.
Google Ad Manager metrics are parameters that give high-level insights into your campaigns, which you need to know to improve conversions and increase your ad revenue. You can select and add the metric you need to track into the Ad Manager report. Eventually, you can see the changes it shows across the time period to make further improvements.
Every time the creative is downloaded to the user's device, an impression is counted even before it begins to load. The impression does not need to be fully downloaded or seen by the users to be counted as an impression in the Google Ad Manager.
September 11, 2024
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