This morning, we’re hosting the DoubleClick Leadership Summit in Key Biscayne, Florida. This marks the 15th year that we’ve been bringing together our large advertiser, agency and publisher partners to discuss the future of digital marketing. And we have a lot to discuss. As we convene today, we’re in the midst of one of the largest shifts in consumer behavior ever, thanks to the rise of mobile devices.

We no longer “go online” but instead, engage in many small moments throughout the day, reflexively turning to the nearest device to solve an immediate need. In these moments, we expect the right answer and we expect it right away. In these I-want-to-know, I-want-to-go, I-want-to-do, I-want-to-buy moments decisions are made and preferences shaped. Brands that are there and relevant for consumers in these moments that matter win. 

Today, we’re announcing improvements to our DoubleClick products for advertisers and publishers designed to help them thrive in this moments-driven world. Here is a preview of what we’ll be announcing; you can also view a recording of the live stream announcements at the link below. 


Cross-device measurement, across the web
Today, the decision to make a purchase rarely starts and ends on the same device. For example you may first see an ad for a pair of running shoes while scrolling through the news at work, then actually decide to buy them a few days later when you realize your old ones need replacing. 

For almost two years, we’ve been investing in solutions that help marketers measure these cross-device conversions in AdWords. And the results have been amazing: marketers are finding that they see up to 16% more conversions from search when they look across devices and take the cross-screen journey into account. Check out our AdWords blog for some in-depth research on that front. 

Now, cross-device measurement is coming to all of our DoubleClick advertiser products, so marketers can measure conversions that start as a click on one device and end with a conversion on another for all their campaigns across the web, not just with the ads they buy from Google.

Cross-device measurement is already generating important insights for our clients. Here is what we heard from John Gray, SVP of Platforms & Partnerships at Team Detroit, a WPP agency:
“Cross-device measurement is a big step towards having metrics better represent what's actually happening with consumers in today's mobile-first world. This is essential insight for marketers. It not only allows us to achieve our clients' goals more efficiently, but helps us better understand the consumer journey, and reach them with the right messages as they take that path. In our early cross-device measurement tests, we're already seeing a material increase in conversions attributable to mobile, and making changes as a result.”

Support for native ads across DoubleClick
As consumers spend more and more time on their mobile phones, providing ad experiences that respect their context are more important than ever--for example an ad that shows up between levels of a mobile game, rather than disrupting the game itself. Publishers are embracing this change and introducing different types of “native” ad units that are designed to work within their environment, but it’s been a challenge for marketers and publishers to create and deliver these ads at scale. So we’re announcing support for native ads in DoubleClick. 

With this new solution, publishers can create their own clearly labeled custom native formats, and decide what ads on their apps should look like. DoubleClick then automatically generates the ads, serves them at scale, and provides metrics to fine tune those native ad campaigns. We will also provide standardized native templates that work across publishers at scale to make native ad buying easy for advertisers. 

Introducing Programmatic Guaranteed
In the early days of programmatic, it was all about direct response advertisers, buying and selling banner ads in an open auction. Today, however, programmatic is relied upon by major brands and premium publishers, across apps, mobile web, video and now native formats. 

Along with this expansion, we’re seeing that direct deals, those favored by brands and large publishers for premium inventory, are fast on the rise. Just across our own platforms, the volume of programmatic direct transactions has jumped 2x in the past year and eight of our top 25 publishers are now selling at least 10 percent of their impressions via programmatic direct.

To reflect this new reality, we’re introducing a new way of buying: Programmatic Guaranteed--guaranteed inventory, sold programmatically at pre-negotiated rates. The early numbers show that this is truly premium inventory, on par with reservations--with CPMs 15x the open market rate.

And finally, we’re refreshing the DoubleClick brand (www.doubleclick.com) to better represent our focus on helping marketers and publishers succeed in today’s hyper-connected world. 
After all, connection is what we’re all about: connecting advertisers and publishers, brands and consumers, messages and moments. We’re excited about the updates announced today and can’t wait to see how marketers and publishers use these new tools to own THEIR moment.


-- posted by Neal Mohan, Vice President, Video & Display Advertising


Check back on Monday for a week-long blog series where we’ll dive deeper into each of these announcements.