As you’re here, we assume you know what Google Ad Exchange for publishers is and why you should get in. The next question is, how do you get Google AdX account?
If you’ve used any of Google’s services, you know that the company prefers the users to get in by themselves. For instance, you can access AdSense demand by pasting its tag to your site, and it’s done. The rest is all set, and you’ll be paid every 30 days. But, most publishers aren’t satisfied with the money they make from Google AdSense. The reason is ad revenue.
Google AdX is the next step in your monetization strategy. Similar to Adsense, you can enter AdX by yourself. It’s an exchange (not an ad network with many differences between them) that allows you to sell impressions rather than clicks.
Besides, you’ll get access to a pool of new advertisers with deep pockets and year-long campaigns. In fact, from our analysis, we found that Google Ad Exchange is the best exchange in terms of revenue contribution. You get it; now, here’s how to get Google AdX.
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What’s the Difference Between Google Ad Manager and Ad Exchange?
Google Ad Manager is an ad server that helps publishers like you manage ad serving, set up and run direct deals, track the revenue, target the right inventory, and more. An ad exchange is a marketplace where publishers and media buyers come together to buy and sell ad impressions.
AdX is one of the many ad exchanges. You can access it via Google Ad Manager. Google has integrated AdX and GAM so that they complete each other. So, they are together but different.
How to Sign Up for Google Ad Exchange?
There are different ways you can signup for Google Ad Exchange.
- Through Google Account Manager
- Partner with Third Party
1. Ask Google (Your Google Account Manager)
The simplest way to get into AdX is to ask Google itself. Usually, you’ll be assigned a Google Account Manager*, and you can just ask him/her whether you can get into Google AdX.
*Google Account Manager will be assigned to every publisher who uses Google’s ad server – Google Ad Manager (formerly Google DoubleClick).
Most likely, the account manager will push you to Google AdX if you’re eligible. So, what if you’re not eligible?
But first, what do you need to be eligible?
What Are the Eligibility Criteria for Google Ad Exchange (Google AdX)?
Google doesn’t publicly list the minimum requirements to access its exchange. But 10 million page views per month is the number that’s been thrown around a lot as the minimum requirement for a publisher.
We highly doubt it. We know a handful of publishers with 10 million page views/mo. who couldn’t get into Google AdX until we showed them the other way? That being said, certain things won’t get you to AdX. It includes:
– Having non-brand-safe content. Your site should be free from the following:
- Health or medical-related information or drug paraphernalia,
- Promoting racial or ethnic origins or content related to religious beliefs,
- Content showing the negative financial status of any person,
- Adult content
- Provoking sales of weapons, political affiliation, and
- Sales of tobacco, alcohol.
– Altering site behavior (initiating downloads, redirecting to unwanted websites, etc.) without users’ consent.
– Triggering pop-unders.
– Failing to host an ads.txt file.
– Publishing content in non-supported languages. Yes, Google doesn’t m0netize all the languages. Here are the languages that aren’t supported at the moment:
- Croatian,
- Estonian,
- Greek,
- Hebrew,
- Indonesian,
- Latvian,
- Lithuanian,
- Romanian, and
- Serbian.
2. Partner with a Third-party
You can partner with a third-party (Google AdX reseller) of your choice to get into Google Ad Exchange. Google runs — ‘Multiple Customer Management (MCM)‘ and ‘Google Publishing Partner’ programs for third parties to become Google’s authorized partner. You can access Google AdX demand via such resellers.
The authorized partners will resell your inventory through Google AdX even when you aren’t getting the invitation from Google. There’s a catch. You have to pay them for access. Most partners will take 10 to 20 percent of the ad revenue generated (via AdX) every month. If you are making $8000 from AdX, they’ll charge $800 for their services. It’s a good option as you’re getting exchange access.
But still, you are leaving money on the table. Selling your ad impressions via Google’s ad exchange is absolutely right. However, it’s not the ideal setup to reap the maximum benefits. Your revenue will increase (sometimes up to 50%) when you make Google AdX compete with other global exchanges.
That leads us to — header bidding.
You can get a Google AdX account by asking your Google Account Manager. If your request is not accepted, you can contact an authorised Google MCM Partner to get access to the Google Ad Exchange demand.
Ideal Setup
By now, you should’ve heard about header bidding. If not, it’s time. Header bidding is an advanced programmatic technique that gives you access to several ad exchanges like AdX, SSPs, and ad networks. One of the advantages of header bidding is that you’ll be able to conduct auctions without any bias, and the highest bidder will win the auction, thus, earning the best possible CPM (or ad revenue).
What’s Next?
All in all, the Google Ad Exchange account is one of the best ad platforms. It offers various options for website owners to put banners and other ads on their websites.
Getting an account is easy if you’ve over a million page views, but you must follow a few rules. If Google finds that your content doesn’t meet the criteria to be served ads on AdX, it will reject you. So, ensure you comply with its content-quality guidelines and have no invalid traffic on the website.
