Would you like to know where your competitors are running their display ads, who they are buying that inventory from and exactly what ads are in rotation currently? Well, you can - and you've been able to for quite some time. As of this week though it's become less expensive and for those with a limited market research budget, that should come as welcome news.
Competitive intelligence service WhatRunsWhere this week released Ad Vantage, a stand-alone service for tracking display ads running exclusively on the Google Display Network. While Facebook remains in some respect the king of display, Google is expected to pass them as early as this year. Why is that important? A scaled down version of the WhatRunsWhere service can still prove to be incredibly useful.
"Many of our smaller customers place ads only on the Google Display Network, so they didn't need the more robust capabilities of the complete WhatRunsWhere solution, which includes competitive intelligence of banner and text ad campaigns across the entire web and mobile universe," said Mike Cojanu, chief executive officer of WhatRunsWhere. According to Cojanu, Ad Vantage was developed "to zero in on their (small advertisers) needs while reducing their costs."
WhatRunsWhere's more robust offering provides insights on over 40 networks, but this version (which focuses exclusively on the Google Display Network) will definitely be appealing to many - particularly if you're on a limited market research budget or just want to get a general idea of what your competitors are up to in terms of their display efforts. The Ad Vantage service is currently offered at a price of $20/mo or $200 annually.