New features coming to DFA Report Builder in January

When we introduced the new DFA Reporting system back in the fall, we received great feedback from users saying things like, “I love Report Builder. You have no idea how much time you have saved me!” This month we’re adding some new features to Report Builder, some of which will spell even greater time savings in pulling reports.

Reach by frequency
As an advertiser it’s important to have insight into your campaigns reach as well as the number of times you are actually hitting your audience with your message. Now in Report Builder you can get the Reach by Frequency report which shows the number of users you reached by the number of times you've reached them.

Incremental reach
We’ve introduced three new metrics that measure the number of additional users reached by time period (day, week or month). Reach and incremental metrics are broken down by click, impression or total reach.

These new metrics are useful for analyzing the incremental number of people you are reaching for each day of spend. So you can tell within a given time frame whether your spend is going towards reaching new people or if you’re just hitting the same people again and again.

Reordering Floodlight activities and custom rich media events
The drag and drop interface of Report Builder is now also handy when you want to change the order of Floodlight activities and custom rich media events in your reports.

Copy and delete saved reports
Building reports can be time consuming process especially when you have to run them on a frequent basis. So now you can save additional time by being able to copy or delete saved reports in the ‘Reports’ tab.

Export Summary reports
The Summary Reports tab in DFA Reporting gives you at-a-glance details on your campaign performance. We’ve heard from clients that it would be helpful to be able to see the same data in the Report Builder query tool. So this new option lets you export summary reports to Report Builder. Upon export, you’ll see a pre-built page in Report Builder based on your current view of the Summary Reports tab and the great thing is this view is not limited to the number of rows on screen.

To learn more about these latest features available in Report Builder reference this article in the Help Center (DFA sign-in required).

Posted by Aaron Nelson, Product Manager

Attend the First DFA Trainings of 2012

Hit the ground running in 2012 and attend DFA training! We offer classroom and webinar training, so choose the option that best fits your needs. Visit the DFA Help Center to register (sign-in required).

Classroom Training

DFA Fundamentals: This full-day course (10am-5pm) is for new DFA users looking to understand the fundamentals of third-party ad serving including best practices for campaign trafficking, serving your ads and pulling reports.

• San Francisco - January 19
• Los Angeles - January 26

DFA Trafficking Lab: Get more practice trafficking campaigns. These sessions cover the basics such as assigning landing pages to creatives, updating campaigns, setting up geo-targeting and using creative rotation.

Class Prerequisite:Attendees should have taken the DFA Fundamentals class in the previous two months or have less than two months trafficking experience.

• San Francisco - January 20
• Los Angeles - January 27

MediaVisor: Learn more about planning and creating campaigns, advertisers, site placements and IOs as well as how to send RFPs.

• San Francisco - January 20

Webinar Training

Flawless Floodlight: How to Set up and Test Your Floodlight Tags - January 24
Learn how to set up, test, and provide Floodlight tags to sites. Also learn strategies for dealing with Floodlight issues when they arise.

Floodlight Features Demystified: Tags, Macros, and Custom Variables - January 31
Learn how to manage publisher and default pixels, leverage macros, and implement custom variables.

DFA for New Users - January 25
An introduction to the fundamentals of DFA.

Be sure to check back with us on this blog for regular updates to our training schedule. We look forward to seeing you in class!

Posted by Amanda Gangl, DFA Product Trainer

5 New Year’s Resolutions for Display Advertisers

(Cross posted from the AdWords Agency Blog)

Google’s Dan Taylor presents at Digiday Agency event Dec. 12, 2011

It’s that time of year again, the time to reflect on 2011 and think about resolutions for the new year. We may not be able to help you lose those extra 5 lbs., but we can inform some New Year’s resolutions for your business.

Last week, Google’s Dan Taylor presented at the Digiday Agency event on the 5 New Year’s Resolutions for Display Advertisers. See video and summary below.

Resolution # 1: I will be strategic in how I use remarketing

Remarketing is like plugging a leaky bucket, where the leak is website visitors leaving your site, and the plug is display ads that bring past visitors back to your site.

There are many ways to ‘plug’ the leak, but we offer up the follow strategies to be the most effective in doing so.

• Target based on audience: Layering demographic targeting on top of remarketing campaigns can help you tailor the message even more. For example, have one message for men, and a different one for women.
  
• Target based on intent: You can send a general message to homepage visitors and product-oriented reminders to visitors that browsed product pages but didn’t make a purchase. Using a creative with dynamically related products is a great way to do this.
  
• Expand your list sources: Some of our most effective remarketing customers use several sources to get their lists, such as YouTube mastheads and channels, their main website and campaign landing pages. Expanding the lists enables you to reach more potential customers.

Resolution # 2: I will use video to its full potential

Video is a great way to reach customers, yet it is often underutilized. Here are the best ways to use video to its fullest potential.

• With the latest changes to the YouTube homepage, we’ve pivoted the YouTube site experience to focus on channels and a socially-driven feed, the contents of which are controlled by the left hand sidebar. This gives marketers a powerful opportunity to enhance their brand exposure.
  
• Through the new AdWords for video front end, we’ve drastically reduced the time it takes to create a video. Easily run click-to-play or TrueView in-display formats across Google Display Network.
  
• We’ve also found that rich media, in tandem with video, is more effective than simple Flash. When you’re running rich media campaigns, think about including video to increase purchase intent.

Resolution # 3: I will fuse social media with display

Making display ads social increases the conversation with your customers. Here are some ways that this can be accomplished:

• Make social media a primary destination: Try linking Trueview ads back to a similarly branded channel for a great social experience.
  
• Social interactions within the banner: Actually having users interact with the banner (by playing a game, watching videos, etc.) and then having them share their experiences through social media continues the conversation.
  
• Bring social media endorsements in the banner: This is becoming more popular, and is a great way for friends to share recommendations.

Resolution # 4: I will go mobile with my display campaigns

Just as users are now moving more and more to a multi-screen experience via desktop, mobile, and display, so must marketers think about a display strategy that isn’t siloed.

• Tablet targeting: Users expect more from tablet ads and are increasingly using these for online shopping. We support tablet targeting including zeroing in on tablet audiences by device, location, time of day and contextually.
  
• Get smarter with smartphone targeting: Finding what’s right for your business is key here. With so many format options to choose from that are specific to mobile devices (click to video, click to map, click to call) it’s worth it to think what could be the most effective for your business.

Resolution #5: There’s a perfect ad for everyone.

It’s really the biggest resolution we’re focused on at Google that encompasses all the other ones and it’s adopting the philosophy that 'There’s a perfect ad for everyone.'

Our recipe for the perfect ad for everyone is driven by simplicity and also by the technology that’s enabling us to customize the advertising experience for everyone at scale.

There’s a simple recipe to the perfect ad: The right person + the right message + the right time + the right context = the perfect ad.

What are your new year’s resolutions for your business? Let us know by tweeting @GoogleDisplay.

Mary Shirley, Product Marketing

Putting Faces to Names in a Google +1 Custom Creative in DFA

Last month we introduced the ability to add a +1 button to ads trafficked in DFA. Now we’ve added a couple of features to the +1 creative template in DFA to make it even more effective as a recommendation engine for your brand.

Viewers of your ad can now see the faces of friends who have +1’d the ad. Putting a face to the name makes for more powerful impact as it makes the ad more personal and relevant. The result, we believe, are that people who see your ad will be more likely to click and respond to your call to action. In fact, 71% of shoppers say that recommendations from friends and family impact their purchasing decisions (Harris Interactive, June 2010).

Also, you now have full control over the placement of a +1 button in your display ad. For instance, you can set the size and annotation style of the button so aligns well with your creative concept.

Please note that if your account had previously been enabled for the +1 creative template functionality, you will now have access to the updated version. For more information on the +1 button and on the incorporating the +1 button in DFA reference this article in the Help Center (DFA sign-in required).

Posted by Gabe Stein, DFA Technical Specialist

End the year on a bright note: Attend a DFA Webinar in December

As the year is winding down and another is just about to begin, why not get a head start on one of your new resolutions and do something to help you become an expert at your job? We know the holiday season is a very busy time but that’s why we’re offering you an array of webinars for you to attend at your convenience.

This month we have a webinar dedicated to all of the exciting DFA product enhancements that took place during Q4 2011. Visit the DFA Help Center (sign-in required) to register for these or either of our Fundamentals webinars.

Q4 2011 DFA Product Releases - December 13
This webinar will focus on the recent DFA product releases and will cover DFA Trafficking enhancements and the new DFA Reporting suite, including Report Builder and Multi-Channel Funnels. Two identical sessions will be held to accommodate both Eastern and Western time zones.

DFA for New Users - December 14
This webinar is intended for new users to DFA. It will provide an introduction to the fundamentals of DFA Trafficking and demonstrate best practices for beginners.

MediaVisor Fundamentals - December 20
An introduction to the fundamentals of MediaVisor.

To sign up for any upcoming webinars and view recordings of past webinars, please visit the DFA Help Center (sign-in required). And be sure to check back with us here on the DFA blog for regular updates to our training schedule.

The training team would like to thank you for the last year’s worth of feedback and attendance - we really do value your feedback and develop our curriculum with you in mind. We wish you a happy holiday season and look forward to seeing and hearing from you in the new year!

Posted by Amanda Gangl, DFA Product Trainer

Bringing more mobile inventory to the DoubleClick Ad Exchange

(Originally posted on 11/29/11, updated 12/5/11)

It’s no secret that the mobile web is exploding. According to IDC, more people in the US are projected to access the web via a mobile device than on a computer by 2015. This makes mobile a very attractive opportunity for advertisers, and is creating a wave of new revenue opportunities for publishers.

In order to bring more mobile inventory to buyers on the DoubleClick Ad Exchange, we’ve launched two important initiatives for the mobile-specific 320x50 ad size.

First, buyers will be able to access AdMob in-app mobile inventory from AdMob publishers and application developers. Last week, we opened access to this inventory to a preselected set of Ad Exchange buyers. Second, as of today, we are beginning to test the ability for Ad Exchange publishers to opt in their 320x50 size mobile web inventory into the Ad Exchange. This will open up new mobile web inventory for Ad Exchange buyers. As publisher participation in these initiatives grows, we expect the inventory pool for in-app and mobile web inventory that’s specific to the 320x50 ad size to expand as well.

With the DoubleClick Ad Exchange, this new mobile inventory can be purchased via RTB or the UI. Ad Exchange buyers who are interested in the new 320x50 ad size should be sure to share their interest with their account manager.

Posted by Atul Bhandari, Product Manager, DoubleClick Ad Exchange

Bringing Reach and Media Cost Data into Report Builder

As a follow up to the September launch of Report Builder in DoubleClick for Advertisers, we’re pleased to announce several new features that will make the tool even more useful.

Incorporating Reach and Media Cost
New reach reports in Report Builder show an estimate of how many unique users have interacted with your ads. With the flexibility of Report Builder, you can choose specific advertisers, campaigns, ads, and placements, and gain insight into how many people they reached during a selected timeframe.

Media cost is now an available metric in Report Builder and you can add it to your reports as you would any metric. Media cost represents the cost of all impressions, clicks and activities during the specified date range, based on the schedule and pricing information you input into DFA for each placement.

Saved and Deferred Reports
A major benefit of Report Builder is the ability to create detailed reports with exactly the dimensions and metrics you need. Now you can save report reports, which act as templates so you can quickly re-run or reconfigure frequently-run reports.

You also now have the option to defer report generation, which saves the file so you can come back and download it later. This is especially helpful when running a big report, because you can keep working without having to wait for the report to finish generating.

To learn more about these latest features available in Report Builder reference this article in the Help Center (DFA sign-in required).

Posted by Pamela Eng, Product Marketing Manager