Google launches initiative to help publishers optimize their data
- Sara Fischer, author of Axios Media Trends
Publishers have been pushing for access to Google user data insights. Photo: AP file
Google is opening up its ad serving technology to help publishers glean better insights about their business data. The "Insights Engine Project," a long-term, large-scale investment by Google, will help publishers export and analyze aggregate demographics, like gender and age, the same way publishers can access aggregate data on TV.
Why it matters: It's the first time Google is giving publishers aggregate insights about their audience off of their own platforms — something publishers have been hoping to access for years.
The initiative will allow publishers to do two big things off the bat using DFP (DoubleClick for Publishers), or Google's ad serving technology:
- Integrate their data from Google's advertising or publishing platforms into a secure enterprise cloud called BigQuery. (It doesn't require publishers to share additional data with Google, just use a new enterprise software to make their data more digestible).
- Integrate their data with a new Data Studio, where publishers can download new "insight cards" (picture below) to make smarter decisions about their data.
Jonathan Bellack, Google's Director of Product Management, told reporters: "This is a test of sharing things. It's not us asking them to do anything new ... It''s a way we can help publishers learn new things and take action to help them do their business better."
