What is Google Ad Manager?
Google Ad Manager (GAM) is a sophisticated ad serving platform that eases the complexity of ad management for publishers across both desktop and mobile, as well as in-app, and for games.
GAM presents a comprehensive portfolio of options for publishers to utilize for growing ad revenue, managing programmatic advertising and ensuring brand protection.
GAM is ideal for publishers who have a robust amount of direct sales, larger sales, or ad ops teams that require control over inventory and delivery.
With Google Ad Manager, you can achieve the following:
- State of the Art Inventory Management & Workflow
- Premium Revenue Opportunities
- Advanced-Data Analysis
What are the steps that go into setting up a GAM account?
In order to begin using GAM, you need a valid Google AdSense account. If you don’t have an AdSense account, you can sign up for one here. The Google AdSense account is only required to set-up the Ad Manager account and is not required to be actively used in GAM.
First, sign up for Google Ad Manager: Go to the Google Ad Manager sign up page to register for an account.
Second, click Create Account, then choose whether the account is For myself or To manage my business.
Third, progress through the registration until completion.
Create your inventory structure
Google Ad Manager allows publishers to add and define their inventory structure within the platform. We recommend having a well-planned inventory structure prior to creating new ad units, placements or key-values.
The inventory within Google Ad Manager will define all of the ad units across your site. This means that your structure within Google Ad Manager should be a copy of the organization of your site’s content.
Google Ad Manager supports the inclusion of powerful ad networks including AdSense, Ad Exchange and other premium third-party networks.
How to Create Ad Units, Placements and Key-Values in Ad Manager
In order to begin earning revenue from your traffic, you need to know how to build ad units and furnish your website layout to present the new ad units. Below is an instruction on how to get started with the building blocks of monetization within Google Ad Manager.
How to Tag your Pages with Google Publisher Tags
Once you have created your ad units, you’re ready to begin serving ads. To get started, you are required to connect Google Publisher Tags (GPT) on your website to request and display advertisements originating from Google Ad Manager.
GPT tags are essentially lines of code that function to request the delivery of ads from GAM to your website. These tags pass along browser, geo-location and other anonymous pieces of information about the user.
Traffic Ads to Your Inventory – Create Your First Order and Line Items
An order constitutes an agreement between a publisher and an advertiser. The agreement contains line items which includes the details of the advertiser’s campaign (i.e., the duration of the ad campaign, where the ad will appear on your website). A publisher will have a separate agreement with each advertiser that agrees to purchase inventory.
Additional Points:
For directly-sold campaigns, where a publisher is guaranteeing a specific number or percentage of impressions to an advertiser, choose the Sponsorship or Standard line item types in GAM.
Consider applying a frequency cap to each line item to potentially increase your CPM earnings from ad networks.
In order to prevent campaign issues with advertisers, be sure to confirm your list of allowed countries to ensure your allowed geographical targeting aligns with the ad network’s delivery capabilities.
Use Google Ad Manager’s Value CPM tool to rank your non-guaranteed inventory.
Final Steps
Prior to ads being permitted to display alongside your content, GAM requires publishers to upload the actual image or video (the advertiser’s creative) that will appear for a user on your website.
How to Add Creatives to Your Network
In addition to Google Ad Manager, we can offer you products, solutions & services. Full stop.
Google Ad Manager 360 (We’re a certified reseller)
Premium Display Monetization via AdX (Premium monetization stack)
Video Monetization (Elite SSPs)
Content Recommendation
Consulting Services
We do it all and we do it well. We will do everything to put you in the best situation to succeed. If we have something that you’re seeking, fill out the form below and let’s have a discussion together in the near future.
