The search marketing landscape can change quickly and marketers need tools that can adapt just as fast - to understand immediate opportunities, and react if necessary. Late last year, we announced executive reporting from DoubleClick Search to give marketers the ability to see their campaign performance quickly, across their entire business or in any specific view. Today, we’d like to highlight how a top digital agency has found success with our tools to increase efficiency and get a better handle on their business.

With hundreds of clients around the globe, The Search Agency’s leaders were finding it increasingly hard to keep an eye on the health of their business. Keen to quickly understand the performance while eliminating time-consuming monthly and quarterly reporting tasks, they adopted executive reporting from DoubleClick Search to help oversee company’s interests.

The team needed a way to get the big picture—fast. They also had to have details such as monthly and quarterly reports of all the agency’s business, aggregated for industries or individual clients, with in-depth costs by month, quarter or device.

“That kind of detail is essential for day-to-day work, but also for quick KPIs,” says Wiratunga. “If I’m walking into a board room with my department leads about a certain client or if I get called into a meeting with 15 minutes to prep, I need a way to see—on the fly—exactly what’s happening with an account and all of its issues.” 

After implementing executive reporting, Wiratunga was able to save multiple hours each month and quarter by eliminating repetitive reporting tasks for his team, and focusing them instead on more strategic work. He was also able to prepare for client escalations on short notice as needed. To get the full scoop on The Search Agency’s success, read the full customer story here.

This week, we’ve covered how to use Studio Layouts to give yourself more space for brainstorming while still being able to build HTML5 and engaging Lightbox and YouTube Mastheads with ease. Today we’ll focus on how you can elevate even your static image ads to rich media with Layouts.

Building rich media ads in Flash is complex, translating from Flash to HTML5 is even more complex, and the whole process can leave agencies throwing their hands in the air and reverting back to static image ads. DoubleClick Studio Layouts provide an opportunity to elevate your standard banner ads and trade up from static images to rich media, without the added cost and production time. 

Millmaine jumps from static image to HTML5 rich media in one hour.

Millmaine Entertainment Marketing typically created digital campaigns for their client, the National Gallery of Australia, that primarily involved standard ad units. According to Gerard Rowan, Creative Director at Millmaine, “normally, we would just run some static images, but I had been researching the possibilities of DoubleClick Studio and when I came across Layouts, it seemed like an easy way to implement a rich media campaign.”

Millmaine used the HTML5 Featured Video Layout to create a unit that reused the National Gallery’s existing TV commercial in a display ad, giving them more reach across the web. To promote the "Gold and the Incas" exhibit specifically, they built an ad that evoked scenes from the ancient Incan civilization intercut with shots of the actual exhibit.

Rowan says the process of creating the campaign with Layouts was “nice and quick”. In fact, he had the ads up and running within one hour. “With DoubleClick Studio Layouts, it was a matter of swapping out some of the elements, such as the background image and the call-to-action button, and then supplying a link to the YouTube video for our television commercial.”

The choice paid off. More than 84,000 people viewed it in one day, and 3,230 clicked through to learn more. In the end, more than a quarter million people saw the ad, which was used for a home page takeover of the main newspaper in Australia’s capital city, The Canberra Times. 

Rowan concluded, “We don’t usually have days and weeks to turn jobs around. More often we have a few hours. So we are looking for quick and effective solutions like DoubleClick Studio Layouts, which give us the potential to build more rich media content so we can do more exciting web ads for our clients.”

Learn more about Studio Layouts here, and get started today by visiting the Layouts tab in your DoubleClick Studio Account.

Posted by Becky Chappell, DoubleClick Product Marketing

Yesterday’s blog post focused on how to easily build HTML5 ads using Studio Layouts. Today, we’ll discuss the various types of engaging ad units you can build with Studio Layouts.

While we recommend that you use Studio Layouts to build out your long-tail of ad units for your display campaign, that doesn’t mean that all of those units have to be bland banners. Studio Layouts offers a rich selection of IAB rising star and Engagement ad formats that let you make your creative ideas shine through interactive units that engage viewers.

LG livestreams using a Layout.

Take LG as an example -- in late 2013, LG faced the impending product launch of their new G2 smartphone, and they needed to convince a huge, global audience of the benefits of the device. Their launch centered around the unveiling of their phone at a big event in New York City, but they wanted to reach even more viewers who couldn’t attend in person. 

According to Danny Kim, Digital Marketing Manager with LG Mobile Communications in Seoul, Korea, “The launch campaign was focused on product awareness and branding. So the most important metrics were impressions, reach, and engagement.”

To achieve these goals, LG’s creative team used Studio Layouts to build a Lightbox Engagement ad unit that could livestream the video from their event across the web. By syndicating their video content through the live-stream, LG received “almost 10 million playbacks during the live-streamed show, which is a huge number for a product launch...the results were a pleasant surprise,” says Kim.

Additionally, by using Studio Layouts to build this ad, LG was able to complete the development process in record time. The QA process was accomplished in six hours and the tags trafficked in less than one day. Without Layouts, this process could take multiple days to complete, so using the Layouts template cut the turnaround time by more than 80%. 

What cool formats are available?

Studio Layouts currently offers six different formats of Lightbox Engagement ads, including Featured video and video gallery, as well as a masthead version of the image gallery, carousel and background masthead. (Engagement ads are Google Display Network’s proprietary ad format that measures user engagement via a required 2-second hover before the ad expands.) 

You can also build full YouTube Mastheads with Studio Layouts; we’ve turned our most common YouTube Masthead formats - Background, Carousel, Featured Video, and Image Gallery -- into Layouts so that you can easily create these units without the long review timelines that often accompany hand-coded YouTube Mastheads. 

To get started with Layouts, simply click on the Layouts tab in the top-level navigation bar in your DoubleClick Studio account. Learn more>>

Posted by Becky Chappell, DoubleClick Product Marketing

Yesterday we explained how you can use Studio Layouts to open up more time in your project schedule for the brainstorming and creative ideation for your campaigns. Today, we’ll specifically take a look at a customer who used Studio Layouts to gain access to HTML5 creative. 

Bask Digital discovers HTML5 Layouts

HTML5 ads can be tricky to build, but HTML5 Studio Layouts let you take the same assets from your flash ads, plug them into the HTML5 Layout, and create HTML5 ads in minutes. For Bask Digital, a California-based web and social media shop for political campaigns, this ease-of-use enabled them to incorporate HTML5 ads into their campaigns for the first time at a large scale.

Previously, managing partner Jonas Kleiner used to spend hours creating HTML5 ads from scratch, compressing videos and tinkering with the code. The whole process was very complex and the steep learning curve meant that training his design team to code HTML5 ads was not a realistic option.

Once Kleiner learned about Studio Layouts, he found that he and his team were able to build HTML5 ads in 15-30 minutes, compared to the hours it used to take them to hand code everything. 

“We just have to create a background image, embed a YouTube video, and it’s done. And then we have all the tracking and tabbing available, just like with other Doubleclick Rich Media ads,” says Kleiner. “HTML5 Layouts brings the campaign down to the core of design. Rather than using effects, you need to create a really good image, and then use the power of good graphic design to drive eyeballs.” 

Using Studio Layouts, Kleiner and his team at BASK have been able to incorporate HTML5 into their campaigns, where it otherwise would not have been feasible. 

What HTML5 Studio Layouts are available?

There are currently nine different HTML5 formats available in Studio Layouts, including 3D image gallery, scroll box, slideshow, swipe gallery, video and image gallery, GDN Lightbox Featured Video, YouTube video wall and a featured video format. You can view demos of all of these formats here. 

In the near future, we’ll be launching our first in-app Layouts (HTML5 ad units that can work within mobile and tablet applications) as well as additional HTML5 formats for mobile web. 

To get started with Layouts, simply click on the Layouts tab in the top-level navigation bar in your DoubleClick Studio account. Learn more>>

Posted by Becky Chappell, DoubleClick Product Marketing

We began “The Layout Series” in Aug. 2013 with the initial launch of DoubleClick Studio Layouts. This week, we’ll continue the theme with “The Layouts Series 2.0,” providing updates about the product and why it matters to you.

We have never talked to a creative who doesn’t want more time to brainstorm and innovate. The quick turnarounds for digital campaigns mean that you already have limited time to get your big ideas on paper. But your brainstorming time is also eaten up by the time it takes to build all the supplemental ad units needed to flesh out a campaign.

Today, your project timeline might look something like this:

When half of the project timeline has to be devoted to building out all the ads to match the media buy, your brainstorming and design time gets cornered into shorter periods at the beginning of the project.

We built DoubleClick Studio Layouts with this reality in mind. Studio Layouts help creative agencies and production shops condense the time it takes to build out that long-tail of standard units for a campaign, so that you have more time to come up with a great idea at the outset of the project. 

With Studio Layouts, your project timelines can now look more like this:

If you can build the long-tail of your ad units in half the time, you can make space at the beginning of the project for more brainstorming and design time, giving you the chance to come up with really innovative ideas. 

Once you’ve built your “big, bad” creative units and sold your idea into your client, take the creative assets from those primary units, upload them to the Studio Layouts filler tool, preview and publish. Instead of spending an hour or two hand-coding each additional ad unit, select from one of 21 different formats (26 different sizes) and build each ad in 5-10 minutes. 

Example media spec sheet:

Studio Layouts can save you 75% of your production time, because it’s easy to build out all the additional units you need to complete your campaign. Plus, because all the trafficking and reporting tags are baked in to each Layout, there are fewer areas where things can break, so your ads should go through QA much faster.

Use Studio Layouts to give yourself the space to innovate for your digital campaigns, by becoming more efficient with your ad production on the backend of your project. 

You can get started using Studio Layouts today - check out the Layouts tab in the top navigation bar of your DoubleClick Studio account. Learn more >> 

Posted by Becky Chappell, DoubleClick Product Marketing

Over the past several years, we’ve been working on a gradual redesign of many Google products like Search, Maps, Gmail, and AdWords -- with the goal of offering a simple, streamlined user experience that helps you get tasks done quickly and efficiently.

Today, we’re rolling out this new look and feel across all our DoubleClick products -- another example of how we’re continuing to unify our solutions across the platform. With this update, you’ll find that all products part of DoubleClick Digital Marketing now offer more screen real estate to our tools and reports, to help you focus on your tasks at hand. This means that you’ll experience the same, easy workflows across our products -- whether you’re managing search, display, rich media, and beyond. Note that this change only affects the style of the page, and does not change any functionality of our products today.

We hope that the new design will help you better navigate through your account and focus more on your data so you continue to succeed with our tools. To stay up-to-date on new DoubleClick developments, follow us on our Google+ page.

Programmatic buying in DoubleClick Bid Manager keeps getting easier. We offer training for all levels, from new user training to advanced webinars. To help you learn faster and more efficiently, we’ve launched the new Bid Manager checklists along with two new optimization webinars.

Bid Manager checklists
Learn the basics of Bid Manager or master more advanced campaign management topics using the new Bid Manager checklists. These self-paced learning paths help you learn and master the product based on your role:

• Basics for new users: Learn the basics of a demand-side platform and apply these concepts to an advertiser's media plan in Bid Manager. This checklist includes Bid Manager Fundamentals eLearning and certification. You'll also learn how Bid Manager integrates with DoubleClick Campaign Manager & DFA6. 
• Account setup: Learn to set up and structure a new account, set up new users, and create new advertisers. 
• Campaign implementation: Walk through step-by-step guidelines, tips, and best practices for setting up new campaigns. We offer checklists for campaign managers based on whether or not they use DoubleClick Campaign Manager & DFA6.

Regardless of your level of experience with real time bidding and DoubleClick Bid Manager, we have a learning track that’s right for you!

Join a webinar this spring
Continue your learning by joining a live training webinar this spring. See the schedule below and register through the Training page in the Bid Manager Help Center (sign-in required).

Bid Manager Overview for new users – 4/17

Get an overview of Bid Manager – including the basic benefits and features of demand-side platforms and how ad exchanges work. Learn the steps to setting up a new campaign in Bid Manager. We'll also cover Core Bid Manager functionality and how it works with DoubleClick Campaign Manager & DFA6, as well as how to analyze performance and optimize campaigns. Register

We also offer eLearning and Certification, available in Spanish, Portuguese-Brazilian, and more.

Optimization webinar series
Learn key features in DoubleClick Bid Manager so you can more effectively manage your programmatic campaigns.

Bids and budgets – 5/13
Learn tips on setting up bids, budgets, and frequency caps, and evaluating the performance to make optimizations. Register 

Audience buying – 5/29
Learn to use the audience targeting feature for both third-party and first-party audience targeting. We'll look at tools like the Audience Composition report, and provide best practices for your remarketing line items. Register 

These webinars are intended for Bid Manager users who have completed Fundamentals training. If you’re a Bid Manager customer but are not yet using the tool, complete the Fundamentals eLearning.

Advanced webinars

Launch your campaign – 4/23
Now that you know the basics, it's time to set your bid strategies. In this webinar, you’ll walk through turning a media plan into a live campaign in Bid Manager. We'll also cover different strategies for gaining reach and increasing ROI, as well as setting up remarketing recency. Register

Creative Approvals – 6/3
Learn more about the creative approval process and find out what you need to do if creatives aren't approved. Register

These webinars are intended for Bid Manager users who have completed Fundamentals training. If you’re a Bid Manager customer but are not yet using the tool, complete the Fundamentals eLearning.

Watch a pre-recorded webinar
We also offer recorded webinars in our Help Center, covering an Overview for new users, topics like keyword contextual targeting, creative approvals, upgrades, and more. While you’re there, be sure to read about our latest product releases.

Some sessions mention prerequisites where we recommend background knowledge. Please note these to make sure you get the most out of each session. Lastly, be aware of any regional time differences before enrolling in any of the live sessions.

Keep in mind, the Bid Manager Help Center is only available to current Bid Manager users, so you'll need to sign in with the Google account you use for Bid Manager.

Be sure to sign up for the DoubleClick Digest to get the latest DoubleClick news, research, events, and product updates.

Posted by Molly Larrison, DoubleClick Bid Manager Product Trainer

In March, we added the following feature to DoubleClick Search (DS):

• Support for the new AdWords “Search Network with Display Select” campaigns
  AdWords has launched a new campaign type, “Search Network with Display Select”, which is helping advertisers gain up to 15% more customers than search campaigns alone. Any new campaigns that you create in DS will automatically be “Search Network with Display Select” campaigns. DS will continue to support legacy “Search & Display Networks” campaigns for a few months. Learn more.

We also made the following feature updates:

• Include impression share in executive reports
  You can now add a chart to an executive report that displays the impression share metric for your Google AdWords keywords. With impression share metrics, you can easily report how many of the overall potential impressions you’re capturing.

• Improved targeting settings for Bing Ads ad groups
  We made some improvements to clarify that a Bing Ads ad group can override the campaign’s location and device settings independently. In other words, you can override one or both of these settings when you create or edit a Bing Ads ad group.

• Segment Google Analytics goals by device
  When a reporting table includes columns for Google Analytics goals, you can now segment the table by device as well as by ads.

• Bid strategies for PLA campaigns
  To optimize bidding on Product Listing Ads, you can now apply an ROI bid strategy to product targets, an ad group with product targets, or an entire campaign. You can even use the same bid strategy to let DS optimize your bids across both product targets and keywords to reach your ROI goals. Learn more.

• Formula columns: new functions, new columns, and new aggregation options
• New functions
  We have added 18 functions that you can use in formula columns: 14 for manipulating strings, 2 for specifying relative dates, and 2 for error handling. In addition, to_number(), to_percent(), and to_money() can now convert localized strings into numbers. See a list of all functions in the new function list for DS formula columns.
• New columns You can now use the Status and Keyword_match_type columns in a formula column. These columns are considered to be enumerated columns because they always contain one of a few values pre-defined by DS. Make sure that any functions you create refer to one of the pre-defined values that the column can contain.
  Here’s an example function that outputs "Brand-Broad" for keywords that are labeled with the “Brand” label and have been defined with a broad match type: If(and(Has_label("Brand"),keyword_match_type="Broad"),
  "Brand-Broad","Brand")
• New aggregation options When you create a formula column, you can specify how the summary row in a reporting table aggregates data from a formula column. Previously, a summary row always summed the raw data in the individual rows and then applied the formula to the sum. Now you can specify that a summary row applies the formula to each row and then sums the formula results.

Posted by the DoubleClick Search team

At the beginning of March, we announced a month-long campaign to revamp our DoubleClick Studio Certification program. Over the course of the month, we have released new resources to better communicate the benefits of being a Studio Certified user, and new badges to help you develop a diverse set of skills.

Our new certification resources - by the numbers:

• 1 new landing page on the Rich Media Gallery 
• 2 new one-sheeters for creative and media agencies*
• 5 new case studies featuring studio certified creative agencies*
• 12 tips and tricks, available via our Certification Poster 
• EX: Did you know certified users now have access to Live DoubleClick Chat Support?

The new certification badges include:

• Engagement Ads badge: This badge lets you prove your expertise building Google Display Network Engagement Ad formats.

• Updated QA badge: The updated badge includes comprehensive testing for Flash, HTML5, and dynamic creatives. 
• Note: If you took the QA Certification exam before March 13th, 2014, you'll need to get re-certified with the new QA badge by July 1st, 2014.

Media agencies -- if you're looking for a creative agency that knows the in's and out's of the DoubleClick product, you can find them on our Certified Partner list. 

Creative Agencies -- even if you're already certified in our core badges, you can continue to develop your skills in more complex areas, such as dynamic creative, the YouTube Masthead and VPAID. So keep building your expertise and get certified today.

Posted by Becky Chappell, DoubleClick Product Marketing 

*available in the resources section of the new Certification landing page

Yesterday, the Media Rating Council (MRC) announced that it is lifting its advisory on transacting on viewability for display advertising, originally issued in November 2012. In taking this step, the MRC is signaling that great strides have been made toward the goal of transacting display advertising using viewable impressions, and the industry is ready to begin the process of adopting viewable impressions as a standard metric. We applaud this move and are thrilled to see the industry move closer to the reality of a true viewability currency.

Google has been a longtime supporter of this effort and we’ve partnered with the industry, the Media Rating Council and the IAB, as part of the Making Measurement Make Sense (3MS) initiative, to help guide the definition and adoption of a viewable impression standard. Last April our viewability measurement solution Active View received accreditation by the Media Rating Council and, in the coming months, we’ll be making Active View reporting available to all DoubleClick customers across our platform. We believe that giving marketers, agencies and publishers access to a common, integrated viewable impression metric will set the foundation for viewable impressions to become an actionable currency.

But measurement alone will not make viewable impressions a currency. To become a currency we need technology that allows advertisers and publishers to not only measure, but also transact on viewable impressions. In December, we took our first step toward making viewable impressions a true currency by giving advertisers the ability to target and buy only viewable impressions on the Google Display Network. We’ve seen a strong positive response as thousands of advertisers and brands have adopted viewable impression buying on our network, but we’re not stopping there. We’re investing heavily in Active View and working quickly to enable our DoubleClick platform clients to value, buy, sell, serve and optimize to viewable impressions across the web. 

The MRC announcement represents an important milestone in the journey towards a viewable currency. As marketers and agencies adopt the viewable standard we can start to build a new display market that is more transparent and actionable for brand marketers.

Posted by Sanaz Ahari, Senior Product Manager