What’s new in Google Ad Manager?

GAM news in August 2024

Here’s what’s already going on:

• The good news is that Google is still working on the Privacy Sandbox environment, which is designed to transition away from the widespread use of third-party cookies in Chrome. A part of it is the Protected Audience API, which utilizes special groups of users with similar interests to whom ads can be presented. Importantly, not advertisers store information about a person’s interests, but the specific device browser. From August 2024, you can generate reports about the Protected Audience API winner ad impressions from sellers not affiliated with Google;
• Publishers no longer have the opportunity to use “Video optimization” report metrics, as this option was just removed from the external API. There are many more video reporting alternatives, which you can learn more about from the Google Ad Manager Help Center.

These features are currently in the Beta phase:

• Not long ago, Collapsible Anchor ads in Google Ad Manager were only available for mobile apps and desktop web. Right now, you can use this ad format on the mobile web. If you haven’t stumbled across them, they initially appear as bigger ads and feature a button to reduce their size to a more compact one. Here’s how you can implement this beta ad format:
  • after signing in to GAM, go to “Inventory”, after that to “Inventory rules” and finally “Size settings”,
  • now you can pick “New inventory rule” or edit one that already exists,
  • decide whether you want your ads to appear on top or bottom of the screen (or both) and in which areas of your website you want them to be displayed,
  • look for the section named “Collapsible ads” and click “Enable collapsible anchor ads for mobile web”,
  • hit the “Save” button – and it’s done!
• A manual experiment is a fantastic way to test your Google Ad Manager settings. Among other things, you can choose to test ad formats (web Interstitials and Anchor ads at the moment). If you do, after running the experiment, you can implement ad units proposed by Google without using code. All you will need to do is click “apply” after the end of the process;
• Another feature in Beta worth trying is Interactive reports. The results of your data analysis appear directly on the same page where you are setting up the report. This lets you see the outcomes immediately after selecting and adding metrics and dimensions. When analyzing data in a reporting tool or platform, being able to customize the report outcomes can significantly enhance your ability to extract meaningful insights. With Interactive reports, you will be able to use flags (that show whether specific values were reached), data comparisons, paginations, and brand-new sorting options. What’s more, you will be able to display all metrics and dimensions in a new window or select them with the aid of a “type-to-select” search bar;
• If Google Ad Manager can’t use third-party cookies (on the web) or device IDs (on apps), backup identifiers may help keep ads running smoothly on that site or app. If you are a user of GAM 360, you can experiment with different kinds of backup identifiers (right now, only with first-party IDs or publisher provided identifiers – PPID) and understand the financial impact their implementation might have. This feature is called an impact estimate, and it’s worth trying!

What’s on the Google Ad Manager horizon:

• Sharing first-party identifiers with Authorized Buyers and Open Bidding demand will soon be possible. This new feature will apply to web ads. However, users in the European Economic Area (EEA), the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and California will not be able to share them with non-Google partners;
• In the first months of 2025, Google Ad Manager users will see a new User Interface (UI) for Private Auctions. Notably, the update will enable a single Private Auction to include web and app inventory. Currently, these auctions consist of only one inventory type. Additionally, you will benefit from external API for Private Auctions. Moreover, GAM users won’t be able to use features like estimated impressions per day, creative restrictions, “Games” inventory type, or inventory URL targeting – they will all be discontinued.

Keeping up to date with Google

Great, now you’re up to date with GAM! However, remember to check the Google Ads Status Dashboard regularly to stay aware of any critical errors that might also impact your monetization. Additionally, GAM is a robust solution, but you can squeeze even more out of it! Thanks to partnering with GCPP, especially GCPP Premier badge holders like optAd360, you can get even more value from it, for instance, through the Multiple Customer Management (MCM) feature. Not only will you get access to Google Ad Exchange (Google AdX), but also additional dozens of Supply-Side Platforms! To make the most of GAM and benefit from many other optAd360 features, please read our requirements and complete the registration form!