Google's own Bid Manager is now Display & Video 360
DoubleClick Bid Manager was Google's platform for buying display and video ads programmatically. In June 2018 Google brought it into Display & Video 360, part of the new Google Marketing Platform, together with Campaign Manager, Studio and Audience Center.
The old name survives in one place: the Bid Manager API, which pulls Display & Video 360 performance reports.
Display & Video 360 buys display, video and audio ads across ad exchanges. It is an enterprise product, used mostly by agencies and large advertisers, and it does not set bids on Google search keywords.
A Google Ads bid manager is something else
If you run search campaigns in Google Ads, a bid manager is whatever sets the most you pay for a click on each keyword. There are three ways to do it.
| Option | Who sets the bid | How often | Fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smart Bidding | Google, toward a target you set | Every auction | Large accounts with plenty of conversion data |
| Manual CPC by hand | You, keyword by keyword | When someone gets to it, often weekly | Small accounts with time to spare |
| A bid management tool on manual CPC | The tool, keyword by keyword | From daily rules to every few minutes | Accounts that want keyword control without the manual work |
For managing search campaigns across several search engines at enterprise scale, Google sells a separate product, Search Ads 360.
What to look for in a Google Ads bid manager
- Keyword-level bids: one price per keyword, set from that keyword's own results rather than a campaign average
- How often it reprices: auctions move through the day, so a daily rule is already behind
- Phone calls: for most service businesses the call is the sale, and a bid manager that can't count calls under-prices the keywords that make the phone ring
- Explanations: you should be able to see why each bid was set
- Your own account: it should work on the account you already own, so switching it off loses nothing
- Pricing: a flat fee stays the same as you spend more, while a percentage of spend grows with it
Where Adlogic Engine fits
Adlogic Engine is a Google Ads bid manager for search campaigns. It runs your campaigns on manual CPC and reprices every keyword every 15 minutes, 96 times a day, using a predictive model built from your own account's history. It connects to your existing account through Google's official API, leaves your ads, keyword lists and targeting to you, and costs a flat monthly fee.
Frequently asked questions
Is Google Bid Manager the same as Google Ads?
No. Bid Manager was a display and video buying platform and is now part of Display & Video 360. Google Ads is where search campaigns run, and their keyword bids are set by Smart Bidding, by hand, or by a bid management tool.
Can Display & Video 360 manage my Google search ads?
No. Display & Video 360 buys display, video and audio ads. Search campaigns are managed in Google Ads, or at enterprise scale in Search Ads 360.
Does a Google Ads bid manager replace Smart Bidding?
It can. A bid manager like Adlogic runs your campaigns on manual CPC and sets the bids itself, so those campaigns don't use Smart Bidding.