At the DoubleClick Leadership Summit, we discussed the implications for brands, broadcasters and publishers of the shift from Primetime to All-the-time.

As part of our presentation, we focussed on four ways for brands to break through the noise and cut through the cross-screen complexity to drive more effective video advertising:

• Be on the best screen for the moment
• Connect and engage with every interaction
• Buy smarter across every screen
• Focus on impact not views

Read the article on the new DoubleClick.com to learn what each of these mean for advertisers, broadcasters and publishers?

	Posted by Rany Ng Director of Product Management, Video & TV Advertising, Google
	Anish Kattukaran Product Marketing, Video Platforms & Brand Measurement, Google

Last week at the DoubleClick Leadership Summit, we announced the availability of Native Ads for Apps on our DoubleClick platforms. In this post, we’ll dive into the details of this new ad format and what it means for our clients.

The mobile revolution has changed the way we engage with content. We check our phones literally hundreds of times a day: to catch up with friends and family, read an article, or watch a video while waiting in line. In these moments, we believe ads have the best chance to be effective when they are placed with respect to a user’s context.

Imagine an ad that pops up in the middle of your game; it would be incredibly disruptive. But, one that appears between levels would feel more natural. Or, an ad that blocks your feed as you scroll through; that would be annoying. But, one that’s stitched within the feed would be almost expected. What’s necessary in today’s environment is native advertising—advertising that’s clearly marked and complements the user experience.

Introducing Native Ads on DoubleClick

Native ads fit in with the look and feel of publisher content, enabling better, more effective ad experiences for users. Context is incredibly important on mobile, and that’s why over the next few weeks we’re rolling out our native ad solution for apps to DoubleClick for Publishers clients globally.

Native ads for apps in DFP provides publishers with the full flexibility needed to create seamless ad experiences for their users. Instead of serving a static banner ad, DFP delivers ad components (headline, image, links, etc) to a publisher’s app where they’re rendered into a native ad defined by the developer’s code. By providing the building blocks of an ad, our native solution allows a publisher to create ads that are seamless with content, can take advantage of mobile features like swipe gestures and 3D animation, and can be adjusted to create beautiful ads for any device or screen size.

Setting up native ads for apps in DoubleClick for Publishers is easy. Publishers can choose from two of the most popular mobile formats, app install ads or content ads, or create fully custom native ads by including any additional fields for DFP to send to their app. In addition, publishers using our standard native ad formats can maximize revenue by accessing demand from our native ads beta in DoubleClick Ad Exchange.

Of course, it’s essential that publishers clearly mark native ads as advertising. Ads that trick users into clicking or are indistinguishable from content are bad for the whole ecosystem, including users, advertisers, and publishers.

Native experiences are essential on mobile

When users pick up their phones, it’s critical that they’re presented with a seamless ad experience. With native ads in DFP, publishers can maintain a beautiful user experience in their apps while providing brands an opportunity to reach their audience on mobile. Advertisers should reach out to their publisher partners to find out how they can use native ads to connect with their customers and reach them when they’re most receptive.

To learn more about native ads in DoubleClick, check out our help center or, reach out to your account manager today. Also, visit the mobile solutions section of our website to see how DoubleClick can help you engage your audience on every screen.

Posted by Josh Cohen Senior Product Manager, DoubleClick

As Neal Mohan announced last week at the DoubleClick Leadership Summit, Marketplace in DoubleClick Ad Exchange is now available to all customers globally, and we’re working to bring Programmatic Guaranteed to more publishers as soon as possible.

Today, the biggest brands and agencies are increasingly running premium digital campaigns across apps, videos, and native formats using programmatic technology, and we’re seeing this shift reflected across our platforms. Over the last year, the overall volume of programmatic transactions on our systems has grown 59%, while programmatic direct deals have jumped 2X. Today, eight of our top 25 publishers are selling at least 10% of their ad inventory through direct programmatic deals.

The growth of programmatic is just part of the story. Programmatic Direct deals, the channel of choice for many premium publishers, are also driving higher inventory prices. Preferred Deals and Private Auctions are generating CPMs that are double or triple what publishers see in the open auction. 

Introducing Marketplace in DoubleClick Ad Exchange

We see tremendous value in Programmatic Direct but, finding and connecting with all potential advertisers looking for premium offers is a challenge. That’s why we developed Marketplace, an easy to use interface for Ad Exchange buyers to discover, negotiate, and manage deals with the world’s best apps, sites, and properties. For publishers, Marketplace is where their brand is showcased through a customizable publisher profile, and where their programmatic direct offers are discoverable by programmatic buyers globally. 

Marketplace in DoubleClick Ad Exchange is just the beginning of how we see Programmatic sales evolving in the future. The programmatic buying trend shows no sign of slowing and, we believe even more premium deals will happen through programmatic channels. That’s why, over the rest of this year we’ll be rolling out a brand new way to transact through DoubleClick: Programmatic Guaranteed.

Blending Direct with Programmatic Sales

Programmatic Guaranteed allows publishers to offer their reserved, premium inventory via a new programmatic channel in DoubleClick for Publishers, and provide brands an opportunity to buy reservations in a more efficient way. Publishers can lock in revenue, while giving advertisers guaranteed access to premium inventory with programmatic targeting and frequency management. It simplifies the workflow of a guaranteed deal, cutting down the steps it takes to implement, from 40 steps to 4. And the best part, it does this all through our Real-Time Bidding infrastructure.

In our pilot testing with DoubleClick Bid Manager, Programmatic Guaranteed deals have been creating tremendous value. We’ve seen CPMs at 15-times open auction prices - on par with upfront or reserved campaigns. But in the future, we see incredible new opportunities for Programmatic Guaranteed. Since our solution utilizes Real-Time Bidding, instead of just automating line item booking in the ad server, we can open up innovative new deal types to give publishers enhanced flexibility that truly blends direct and programmatic capabilities.

We’re excited about the future of programmatic buying and selling and the possibilities it will bring for all of our partners. If you’re interested in learning more about Marketplace in DoubleClick Ad Exchange reach out to your account manager today, and stay tuned as we look to expand our pilot of Programmatic Guaranteed to more buyers. 

This is the first announcement in our post-DLS series. Join us over the next week as we release more details of all our recent product announcements. Next up, Native Ads in DoubleClick

Posted by Scott Spencer, Director of Product Management

This morning, we’re hosting the DoubleClick Leadership Summit in Key Biscayne, Florida. This marks the 15th year that we’ve been bringing together our large advertiser, agency and publisher partners to discuss the future of digital marketing. And we have a lot to discuss. As we convene today, we’re in the midst of one of the largest shifts in consumer behavior ever, thanks to the rise of mobile devices.

We no longer “go online” but instead, engage in many small moments throughout the day, reflexively turning to the nearest device to solve an immediate need. In these moments, we expect the right answer and we expect it right away. In these I-want-to-know, I-want-to-go, I-want-to-do, I-want-to-buy moments decisions are made and preferences shaped. Brands that are there and relevant for consumers in these moments that matter win. 

Today, we’re announcing improvements to our DoubleClick products for advertisers and publishers designed to help them thrive in this moments-driven world. Here is a preview of what we’ll be announcing; you can also join us for the live stream, starting at 9 a.m. ET. 

View the live stream recording here.

Cross-device measurement, across the web

Today, the decision to make a purchase rarely starts and ends on the same device. For example you may first see an ad for a pair of running shoes while scrolling through the news at work, then actually decide to buy them a few days later when you realize your old ones need replacing. 

For almost two years, we’ve been investing in solutions that help marketers measure these cross-device conversions in AdWords. And the results have been amazing: marketers are finding that they see up to 16% more conversions from search when they look across devices and take the cross-screen journey into account. Check out our AdWords blog for some in-depth research on that front. 

Now, cross-device measurement is coming to all of our DoubleClick advertiser products, so marketers can measure conversions that start as a click on one device and end with a conversion on another for all their campaigns across the web, not just with the ads they buy from Google.

Cross-device measurement is already generating important insights for our clients. Here is what we heard from John Gray, SVP of Platforms & Partnerships at Team Detroit, a WPP agency:

“Cross-device measurement is a big step towards having metrics better represent what's actually happening with consumers in today's mobile-first world. This is essential insight for marketers. It not only allows us to achieve our clients' goals more efficiently, but helps us better understand the consumer journey, and reach them with the right messages as they take that path. In our early cross-device measurement tests, we're already seeing a material increase in conversions attributable to mobile, and making changes as a result.”

Support for native ads across DoubleClick

As consumers spend more and more time on their mobile phones, providing ad experiences that respect their context are more important than ever--for example an ad that shows up between levels of a mobile game, rather than disrupting the game itself. Publishers are embracing this change and introducing different types of “native” ad units that are designed to work within their environment, but it’s been a challenge for marketers and publishers to create and deliver these ads at scale. So we’re announcing support for native ads in DoubleClick. 

With this new solution, publishers can create their own clearly labeled custom native formats, and decide what ads on their apps should look like. DoubleClick then automatically generates the ads, serves them at scale, and provides metrics to fine tune those native ad campaigns. We will also provide standardized native templates that work across publishers at scale to make native ad buying easy for advertisers. 

Introducing Programmatic Guaranteed

In the early days of programmatic, it was all about direct response advertisers, buying and selling banner ads in an open auction. Today, however, programmatic is relied upon by major brands and premium publishers, across apps, mobile web, video and now native formats. 

Along with this expansion, we’re seeing that direct deals, those favored by brands and large publishers for premium inventory, are fast on the rise. Just across our own platforms, the volume of programmatic direct transactions has jumped 2x in the past year and eight of our top 25 publishers are now selling at least 10 percent of their impressions via programmatic direct.

To reflect this new reality, we’re introducing a new way of buying: Programmatic Guaranteed--guaranteed inventory, sold programmatically at pre-negotiated rates.

The early numbers show that this is truly premium inventory, on par with reservations--with CPMs 15x the open market rate.

And finally, we’re refreshing the DoubleClick brand (www.doubleclick.com) to better represent our focus on helping marketers and publishers succeed in today’s hyper-connected world. 

After all, connection is what we’re all about: connecting advertisers and publishers, brands and consumers, messages and moments. We’re excited about the updates announced today and can’t wait to see how marketers and publishers use these new tools to own THEIR moment.

Posted by Neal Mohan, Vice President, Video & Display Advertising

Check back next week for our post-DLS blog series where we’ll dive deeper into each of these announcements.

Laura Desmond, Global CEO at Starcom Mediavest Group, will be keynoting the live stream from the DoubleClick Leadership Summit on June 17th. We caught up with Laura for a quick glimpse of what she’ll be speaking to and what owning the moment means to her. 

Register now to hear her live on June 17 at 9AM ET.

The rate of change is only accelerating, driven by rapid technology advancements and evolving consumer behaviors. FOMO isn’t just for millennials anymore—it’s a pressure our industry feels everyday.

Brands need to shift from mass-market strategies to precision ones that deliver relevancy along with immediacy. Core to delivering is keeping the consumer at the center, understanding them deeply, and delivering experiences that match their pace and purpose. 

Owning the moment requires more than just being “real-time.” Winning now depends on the ability to mix velocity and relevancy, drawing upon data, unification, personalization and agility. 

On Wednesday, I’ll be sharing how against a backdrop of great change, brands can drive impact with velocity marketing. Today’s best marketers are much like the hottest EDM mix artists -- leveraging technology, data, and collaboration to own the moment, deliver relevancy, and spur action. 

Register now to hear more from Laura on Wednesday, June 17th at 9AM ET.

Guest post by Laura Desmond, Global Chief Executive Officer, Starcom Mediavest Group

On June 17th at 9 a.m. ET, join us for a live stream broadcast from the DoubleClick Leadership Summit, our annual event bringing together industry leaders for a conversation about the future of digital marketing. We’ve received several questions about what to expect from this year’s event. Below are some of the most commonly asked questions, and what we are able to share for now.

Remember to register here and tune in to the live stream for the full scoop!

The theme for this year’s summit is “Own the Moment.” What does that mean?
Thanks to mobile, we’re currently in the midst of one the largest shifts in consumer behavior ever. What we’re finding is that consumers are no longer “going online” in long digital sessions, but turning reflexively to the nearest device to solve an immediate need in countless moments throughout their day. For marketers, the next big challenge -- and the one we want to help them solve -- is how to effectively reach consumers at those moments in a relevant and engaging way. You can expect to hear much more about this at our summit.

Who are some of the speakers we can expect to hear from this year?
We’re really excited about our slate of speakers both from within Google and from our partners. Laura Desmond, Starcom MediaVest Group’s Global CEO, will join us to talk about how brands can amp their relevance and impact with velocity marketing. We’ll also be joined by The New York Times’ EVP & Chief Revenue Officer, Meredith Kopit Levien who’ll do a deep dive on the topic with Laura, while sharing a publisher’s perspective.

This event is usually full of announcements. What will you be announcing this year?
You can expect a heavy focus on mobile this year and innovations that we’ve developed to help large advertisers, agencies and publishers succeed in a multiscreen world. We’ll touch on new ways both marketers and publishers can create engaging experiences for the mobile environment, as well as how marketers should be thinking about measuring every moment that matters.

Sign up for the live stream now!

Posted by Yamini Gupta, Product Marketing Manager