Being a publisher, have you ever wondered what is the difference between AdX and AdSense or AdMob where all the three are digital advertising platforms? Both are owned by Google. Both are used by publishers of all sizes to monetize their content. And both provide publishers with access to the same advertisers and buyers.
So how do you choose which one is the best one for you?
Let’s have a better understanding of each by differentiating them :
What is Google AdX?
The origin of AdX (Google Ad Exchange) lies in DoubleClick Ad Exchange, a company founded in 1996 as an ad server. It was acquired by Google in 2008. It establishes an open platform where prices of the ad are set in a real-time auction.
Through Google AdX, web or app publishers can sell their ad inventory to advertisers and other agencies using real-time bidding (RTB) technology. The Ad Exchange enables allocation of ad space much more efficiently and enables these ads to get displayed.
Hence publishers can get access to more and more advertisers and also control who can advertise on their site by having control over setting the floor price. This enables them to make the most money for their ad space.
What is Google AdSense?
AdSense is Google’s product developed by the company in 2003. It enables publishers to earn profit for every ad click made.AdSense matches ads to a site based on the publisher’s content and visitors based upon various metrics such as the demographics of the visitor. Advertisers then bid for placement of their ads and these ads on AdSense come from Google Ads, the Google Display Network and other Google products.
Though Google AdSense is easy to set up and is much more popular than AdX/Double Click in Google search, its popularity doesn’t necessarily make AdSense the better product. AdX is an ad exchange network, whereas AdSense is an ad network.
So what exactly are the key differences? And which platform is more suitable for you?
Google AdX vs Google AdSense: What Are the Key Differences?
Google AdX | Google AdSense |
Google AdX is an ad exchange network. This means it is a programmatic advertising platform, offering real-time bidding (RTB) on ad spaces to ad networks, including AdSense, agencies and demand-side platforms. | Google AdSense is an advertising network. It allows publishers to monetize their content on desktop and mobile. |
For setting up Google AdX, you can partner with a third-party (Google AdX reseller) of your choice to get into Google Ad Exchange. Google runs — ‘Multiple Customer Management (MCM)‘ and ‘Google Publishing Partner’ programs for third parties to become Google’s authorized partner. You can access Google AdX demand via such resellers. | Setting it up is very easy. You just create ad placements and insert a tag on your site’s code. |
Publishers working with Google AdX have access to a larger inventory and can access buyers from Google Ads and other marketplaces using this exchange. | AdSense will take care of everything, from serving ads to targeting, to payment to the publisher. Google AdSense will fill those placements with cookie targeted ads from the Google Ads program. The filling rate is between 95-99%, so most of the time your ad units will be utilised. |
It also provides much more control to publishers over their ad space and allows them to sell their ad inventory directly. There’s also higher competition for ad inventory, which results in increased revenue per ad unit sold. | It’s not a very lucrative way to monetize content, as the platform is geared towards providing low-cost impressions to advertisers. Publishers can’t set a floor price on their ad units, and they can’t also sell those ad units on their own. In short, they’re stuck with what Google offers them. |
Google AdMob Vs AdX: What Are the Key Differences?
Google AdMob | Google AdX |
Google AdMob is a monetization platform for mobile applications. Publishers working with AdMob have access to Google demand source and third-party networks. | Google AdSense is an advertising network. It allows publishers to monetize their content on desktop and mobile. |
Setting it up is very easy. You just create ad placements and insert a tag on your site’s code provided by AdMob after creating your AdMob account. | For setting up Google AdX, you can partner with a third-party (Google AdX reseller) of your choice to get into Google Ad Exchange. Google runs — ‘Multiple Customer Management (MCM)‘ and ‘Google Publishing Partner’ programs for third parties to become Google’s authorized partner. You can access Google AdX demand via such resellers. |
To maximise publisher’s revenue, AdMob offers waterfall mediation and open bidding techniques. In the waterfall meditation technique, publishers can sometimes face a low fill rate and lower eCPM. | With Google Ad Exchange, the publisher can access wider inventory types (website, mobile app, video and games) for monetization. This increases the competition for ad inventories, which results in increased revenue per ad unit sold. |
AdMob restricts publishers to target their ad spaces only based on geo locations. | It’s not a very lucrative way to mGoogle Ad Exchange offers real-time dashboards for better visualisation, so publishers know the exact performance of their ad units. |
Google AdX vs AdSense or AdMob Revenue: Which Generates Greater Returns?
To conclude on this, it depends basically on whether your publication has a large enough audience and the resources and expertise in place to manage and optimize its ad operations effectively through Google Ad Exchange.
If the answers are positive, Google AdX then opens up many more customization possibilities and optimization paths to maximize revenue. If you don’t, however, then Google AdSense, which is easier to manage and optimize than an ad exchange, would provide higher yields.
What Should I Choose Then, AdX or AdSense?
Because of programmatic advertising and real time bidding, AdX has the potential to generate more revenue to publishers but requires more attention and dedication, or the resources to hire a third-party that can manage their ad ops for them.
Getting access to AdX is limited by Google to preferred publishers with at least 5 million monthly pageviews. Since publishers using AdX have large audiences, they expose themselves to the world’s most premium advertisers who are eager to spend significant advertising budgets on widely trafficked sites.
AdSense, on the other hand, is an easy and highly accessible way to generate revenue for even small-scale and niche publishers. This makes it a popular way to show text, image, video or interactive ads, which are targeted based on the site’s content and audience.
Any publisher who has a site that complies with the AdSense quality guidelines can apply for an account and easily get one, but in order to get access to Google AdX, you have to be a preferred publisher with a committed audience.
How to Sign-up for Google Ad Exchange?
Setting up a Google Ad Manager account can be tricky. Since Google provides access to Ad Exchange only to larger publishers who meet the below criteria:
5 billion page views per month
Complying to brand safety measures The publisher either needs to get invited by Google or sign up through a third-party channel partner.
AppBroda, the Google channel partner, can assist you with getting started with the Google Ad Manager account. Once your account gets approved, you'll have access to a global ad ecosystem with advanced functionality from Google Ad Manager and AppBroda.
How to access Google Ad Manager through AppBroda?
AppBroda Experts will set up the Ad Manager child account for the publishers. You need to sign up for AppBroda Console and set up your account. AdX Console is seamlessly integrated with the publisher's Google Ad Manager account. To avoid interruptions and a seamless monetization experience, our team performs audits and assists publishers in resolving issues like wrong in-app placements, inappropriate content, and policy violations.
Our AdX Experts ensure your policy issues get resolved within hours so that you don't lose your revenue. Frequent Policy audits and Quality Assurance are also performed to avoid future policy strikes. With AppBroda AdX, publishers get access to real-time ad activity insights like ROI dashboards. Our AdX Experts manages the account operations and recommends proven monetization strategies based on app category and performance.
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