The Justice Department’s proposed antitrust remedies for Google’s Search trial could force the tech giant to crack open its walled garden and give buyers more data on where their ads run.
Of course, this is not the first time that buyers have clamored for more visibility over where their ads show up.
Like a lot of topics legal and adtech-related, it can get wonky. So here’s the run-down of what buyers currently get, what they want, and whether they can actually get it.
What is the DOJ proposing, exactly?
Under the DOJ’s plan, somewhat vague in its language, Google would be required to provide advertisers with readily accessible placement and performance reporting in Google Analytics and Ads Data Hub for ads placed through or purchased through Google.
Naturally, buyers are keen to get their hands on more data from Google.
“Given lack of full visibility, how could you really know as a brand that you’re certain where you show up all the time,” Calvin Nichols, head of paid search at Wpromote, told ADWEEK.
Ok, what do advertisers get at the moment?
Currently, Google provides advertisers with partial visibility into where ads are placed—whether on search results, YouTube, or Google Maps—but not a complete breakdown, according to two current and one former ad buyer who have bought Google ads.
But buyers said that Google’s Performance Max, where buyers automate goal-based campaigns that run across Google inventory, including search, display, and YouTube, is the least transparent mode of buying.
In Pmax reports, downloaded from Google Ads and delivered via an Excel spreadsheet, buyers can see impressions, views, clicks, and CPM data, broken down by performance across display, video, and app campaigns in aggregate, rather than by platforms like YouTube or Search.
“As Google blurs lines with campaign types that serve across different networks, they are playing in their own sandbox,” said Stasia Fulginiti, director, paid search + YouTube at Rain the Growth Agency.
Google has conceded some control here, like giving advertisers visibility into YouTube videos where Pmax ads appear.
