Google Hints at Broader DoubleClick Integration

Months after Google’s DoubleClick buy was approved, the search giant has started integrating the technology it paid billions for. Google will add new options for ads running in its AdSense content network, such as frequency capping and view-through conversion reporting. The company will also allow users to opt-out of ad serving by DoubleClick and its content network.

Among the planned additions are frequency capping, frequency reporting, and view-through conversion measurement capabilities. None of the enhancements is available yet, and none will be for “a few months,” according to a Google spokesperson. Still, it’s clear the firm aims to ensure advertisers, publishers, and company observers that it’s working at incorporating DoubleClick into its ad operation.

“We’ll provide more details when the features are available in a few months; today we are just announcing that they will soon be available,” the spokesperson said of the AdSense enhancements via e-mail.

As part of the upcoming offerings, advertisers will soon be able to determine how many times they’d like an ad to be served to a user. Also, Google will report on how many people on average have viewed ads, and how many times they’ve viewed it.

Google would not explain what criteria will be used to measure view-through conversion; however, DoubleClick’s technology has enabled this form of measurement for years.

The company expects all of the additional features to boost ad quality. “We’ll be using the cookie data to improve ad quality as we are able to get improved signals on ad performance within the network and able to limit overexposure of advertisements,” said the spokesperson.

The new features will be available to AdSense content network advertisers only, not to advertisers running ads on Google’s site.

In May, Google opened its AdSense system to third-party ad tags, a change the firm called “a foundational element to our display strategy.” It hinted new ad capabilities could be enabled as a result of the system exposure to tags from Valueclick and rich media ad companies like EyeWonder and PointRoll.

Until then, ads served by Google on other publishers’ sites had been text-based units or standard display formats, limiting advertisers’ ability to take advantage of more interactive ad options when buying through Google. The restrictive system also prevented advertisers from employing tracking, reporting and research technologies they had grown accustomed to using when buying on sites like MSN, Yahoo, AOL, and ad networks.

Google in April added mobile ad opportunities, allowing advertisers to buy through an automated system in addition to directly from publishers.

Last month Google announced recent AdSense changes enabling advertisers to specify keywords when targeting ads to certain sites or placements. Google contended the change would make for more relevant ads.

The new features are enabled via a DoubleClick ad-serving cookie, so advertisers and publishers using DoubleClick won’t have to make changes. Those users who have opted-out from DoubleClick ad serving cookies are automatically removed from Google’s content network cookies. Users can opt-out from ad serving through Google’s privacy center.