Considering implementing a bid management platform agency-wide?
Read ymarketing's quick POV on the Top 4 Enterprise platforms utilizing research from Digital Marketing Depot, Econsultancy and Forrester.
8. Bid Management
• Bid Management Capabilities
– All four evaluated platforms provide similar bid management
capabilities
– No clear comparative advantage
8
Marin DoubleClick Adobe Kenshoo
Portfolio management ● ● ● ●
Rules-based optimization ● ● ● ●
Source: Econsultancy, PPC Bid Management Technology: A Buyer’s Guide August 2012
9. Optimization
• Optimization Capabilities
– Marin, Adobe and Kenshoo support multiple types of optimization
– DoubleClick lacks specific capabilities but are enhancing quickly
9
Marin DoubleClick Adobe Kenshoo
Time-based / day-parting targeting ● ● ● ●
Budget targeting ● ● ● ●
Hourly optimization ● ● ● ●
QS Optimization ● ● ●
Predictive Modeling ● Roadmap Item ● ●
Bid Optimization from tracking tags ● ● ● ●
Source: Digital Marketing Depot: “Market Intelligence Report” Enterprise PPC Campaign Management Tools 2013: A Marketer’s Guide”
Source: Econsultancy,”PPC Bid Management Technology: A Buyer’s Guide” August 2012
10. Channel Integration
• Channel Integration Capabilities
– Marin and Adobe are clear leaders in channel integration
– DoubleClick search has limited integration – but gains GDN w/ DFA
10
Marin DoubleClick Adobe Kenshoo
Google Search ● ● ● ●
Google Display Network ● Via DFA ●
Yahoo! Bing ● ● ● ●
Facebook ● Via DFA ● ●
Twitter ● Via DFA ●
LinkedIn ● Via DFA ●
Source: Digital Marketing Depot: “Market Intelligence Report” Enterprise PPC Campaign Management Tools 2013: A Marketer’s Guide”
Source: Econsultancy,”PPC Bid Management Technology: A Buyer’s Guide” August 2012
11. Tracking
• Reporting Capabilities
– With the exception of Click Fraud Analysis, all four evaluated
platforms provide similar tracking capabilities.
– Exception: Marin does not reference a “click fraud analysis” function
11
Marin DoubleClick Adobe Kenshoo
Click/Landing Tracking ● ● ● ●
Click Fraud Analyzer ● ● ●
Content Network/
Placement Targeting ● ● ● ●
Comparing against other
Media Channels ● ● ● ●
Source: Econsultancy, PPC Bid Management Technology: A Buyer’s Guide August 2012
12. Reporting
• Reporting Capabilities
– All four evaluated platforms provide similar reporting capabilities,
– No clear comparative advantage
12
Marin DoubleClick Adobe Kenshoo
Cross-engine reporting ● ● ● ●
Ad-hoc queries ● ● ● ●
Ability to Import/Export
reporting/data ● ● ● ●
Source: Econsultancy, PPC Bid Management Technology: A Buyer’s Guide August 2012
13. Analytics
• Advanced Analytics Capabilities
– Adobe has the most comprehensive advanced analytics capabilities,
however, based on analysis, capabilities seem to span two tools
(AdLense, and Search Center).
– Marin and Kenshoo also provide robust advanced analytics capabilities
– C
13
Marin DoubleClick Adobe Kenshoo
Attribution models:
Multi-Channel* ● ● ● ●
Attribution Models:
Online/Offline* ● Roadmap Item ● ●
Predictive Modeling** ● Roadmap Item ● ●
Competitor Analysis** ●
Simulations and
Forecasting** ● Forecasting on
Roadmap ● ●
*Source: Digital Marketing Depot: “Market Intelligence Report” Enterprise PPC Campaign Management Tools 2013: A Marketer’s Guide”
**Source: Econsultancy,”PPC Bid Management Technology: A Buyer’s Guide” August 2012
15. Notable Clientele
15
Marin DoubleClick** Adobe Kenshoo
Auto Trader WPP* Timex Accor
Hotels.com Publicis* First Choice Burberry
Pricegrabber.com Interpublic* The Home Depot Expedia
Betfair Aeigis*
Carphone
Warehouse
GroupM*
Findaproperty.com Omnicom* Marks & Spencer Havas Digital*
Source: Econsultancy, PPC Bid Management Technology: A Buyer’s Guide August 2012
*Agency Partner
**Did not disclose end-clients
16. Forrester Analysis
16
• Marin Software
– Strong Performer: “This ambitious vendor provides a solution well-suited to direct response
advertisers seeking support for a mix of biddable media options…Client references give its
conditional bid optimization and ease of use average marks.”
• DoubleClick Search
– Risky Bet: “Don’t discount this product’s greatest strength – being part of Google. It can access
more development and support resources than any other provider in the study and thus improve
quickly. However, today the platform is not competitive…It supports biddable buys on fewer
media outlets than its competitors. For now, neither we nor its client references can confidently
recommend this platform.”
• Adobe
– Contender: “…built from the technology of Efficient Frontier, is a good option for large-budget
advertisers – particularly current SiteCatalyst users – that seek a single platform to manage
biddable buys across search, display and social…Adobe gets high marks for the breadth of media
is supports, and client references score its bid optimization as 4 on a 5-point scale. Its campaign
management, testing, error management and reporting functionalities are neither as complete or
flexible as competitors.”
• Kenshoo
– Leader: “We find Kenshoo the sole leader in our study, to be the surest option for the mainstream
search marketing manager. It’s leader-level campaign management functionality…offeres seven
proprietary tools for keyword identification and prioritization…”
Source: Forrester: “The Forrester Wave: Bid Management Software Providers” November 2012
17. Econsultancy Analysis
17
Market Positioning: Company Market Positioning: Technology
3 2
4
Cross-channel
digital marketing
focus
Pure focus on
PPC
Technology
Only
Agency /
Services
offering
Training
essential
Minimal
training
required
Automated
approach – little
human input needed
1 Adobe 2 DoubleClick 3 Kenshoo 4 Marin
Manual intervention
encouraged
1
2
4
1
3
Source: Econsultancy, PPC Bid Management Technology: A Buyer’s Guide August 2012
21. POV Summary
21
• Bidding Platforms in General
– Everyone has built a better mousetrap when you research bid
management platforms, each has their strengths:
• Adobe, through their suite of tools has a comprehensive offering;
highly considerable if you go “all-Adobe”
• DoubleClick has seemingly unbeatable negotiable rates, a solid
roadmap and reputation as an industry standard
• Kenshoo is Forrester’s pick as a leader in the industry
• Marin, as one of the platform leaders, also receives high marks
from internal team members for ease of use and speed
– Testing one or more platform in order to see if efficiency and
cost-effectiveness can be improved should be considered.
23. In their own words: Marin
Marin Software is a leading provider of online advertising
management solutions, offering an integrated platform for managing
search, display, and social marketing. The company provides solutions
for advertisers and agencies of all sizes, enabling them to improve
financial performance, save time, and make better decisions. Marin
Enterprise, the company’s flagship product, addresses the needs of
online marketers spending at least $50,000 per month on biddable
media.
Headquartered in San Francisco, with offices worldwide, Marin’s
technology powers marketing campaigns for over 2,000 customers
managing more than $4 billion of annualized ad spend in more than
160 countries.
Source: Econsultancy, PPC Bid Management Technology: A Buyer’s Guide August 2012 26
24. In their own words: DoubleClick
DoubleClick Search is an account management tool that offers
agencies and marketers increased speed, reliability, and improved
workflow for managing large search campaigns across engines through
a familiar and intuitive AdWords-like interface. Rebuilt completely on
Google’s global infrastructure, DoubleClick Search allows users to
create, manage, report on, and optimize their search campaigns
alongside their display marketing efforts, allowing for deep insights
into search funnels as well as multichannel attribution.
DoubleClick Search ensures the scalability of complex search
campaigns, allowing advertisers to stay on top of search and display
trends, as search volume and complexity continues to increase.
Source: Econsultancy, PPC Bid Management Technology: A Buyer’s Guide August 2012 27
25. In their own words: Adobe
Adobe® Digital Marketing Suite is a collection of web analytics and
website optimization products that provide insight into the
performance of online marketing initiatives, empowering
organizations to make informed decisions and helping to ensure the
success of online marketing programs.
Digital Marketing Suite allows marketers to increase ROI from digital
marketing programs by delivering actionable, real-time data and
insights that drive successful
Source: Econsultancy, PPC Bid Management Technology: A Buyer’s Guide August 2012 28
26. In their own words: Kenshoo
Kenshoo is a digital marketing software company. We help
organizations manage and optimize online advertising campaigns
across search engines and social networks. Our global technology
platform helps automate workflow and improve performance whilst
integrating across all marketing channels. In other words, Kenshoo
helps advertisers and agencies do their jobs faster and better. Our
clients report time savings of 50% through the use of our products and
our platform delivers $16 billion+ in annual customer sales revenue.
Source: Econsultancy, PPC Bid Management Technology: A Buyer’s Guide August 2012 29