Last Updated: November 10, 2022

What is Google Marketing Platform?

Google Marketing Platform is a set of tools through which you can access and manage all the analytics and advertising products from Google and that too from one centralized location.

These products may belong only to your organization and/or to your clients’ organizations.

What is Google Marketing Platform used for?

The Google Marketing Platform provides a single platform to marketers where they can integrate analytics and advertising data.

It is important to remember that the Google Marketing Platform is not used to create and run marketing campaigns. The name is a bit of a misnomer.

What is part of the Google Marketing Platform?

The Google Marketing platform is made up of analytics and advertising products from Google.

Analytics products from the Google Marketing Platform

Following are the examples of analytics products from Google:

1. Google Analytics
2. Analytics 360
3. Google Tag Manager
4. Tag Manager 360
5. Google Optimize
6. Optimize 360
7. Google Surveys
8. Surveys 360
9. Google Data Studio.

The analytics products could be free or paid (i.e. require a subscription).

The free analytics products from Google are meant for small businesses. Whereas, paid analytics products from Google are meant for enterprises.

Following are examples of FREE analytics products from Google:

#1 Google Analytics – a tool to track website and mobile app usage data.

#2 Google Tag Manager – a tool to deploy and manage marketing and analytics tags.

#3 Google Optimize – a tool used to run A/B tests on a website.

#4 Google Data Studio – dashboarding and data visualization tool.

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Following are examples of paid analytics products from Google:

1. Analytics 360
2. Tag Manager 360
3. Optimize 360
4. Google Surveys –
5. Surveys 360

What is Analytics 360?

Analytics 360 is the paid version of Google Analytics which comes with enhanced features, higher data limits, service level agreement and enterprise-level technical support.

What is Tag Manager 360?

Tag Manager 360 is the paid version of Google Tag Manager which comes with enhanced features, service level agreement and enterprise-level technical support.

What is Optimize 360?

Optimize 360 is the paid version of Google Optimize which comes with enhanced features, service level agreement and enterprise-level technical support.

What is Google Surveys?

Google surveys is a paid tool used to create and run online surveys.

What is Surveys 360?

Surveys 360 is another paid tool for creating and running online surveys but is meant for enterprises. It comes with enhanced features, service level agreement and enterprise-level technical support.

Advertising products from the Google Marketing Platform

Following are the examples of advertising products from Google:

1. Google Ads
2. Campaign Manager 360
3. Display & Video 360
4. Search Ads 360

The advertising products could be free or paid (i.e. require a subscription).

The free advertising products from Google are meant for small businesses. Whereas, paid advertising products from Google are meant for enterprises.

Following are examples of FREE advertising products from Google:

1. Google Ads – the tool used to create and manage Google Ads campaigns.

Following are examples of paid advertising products from Google:

1. Campaign Manager 360 (CM360) 
2. Display & Video 360 (DV360)
3. Search Ads 360 (SA360)

What is CM360 (Campaign Manager 360)?

CM360 is an ad server that is used for hosting ad creatives. It is also used for reporting, tracking and planning. 

The use of campaign manager 360 allows unified reporting from several different ad platforms. 

What is DV360 (Display & Video 360)?

DV360 is an ad management platform through which you can run and manage display and video ads across multiple ad platforms and ad networks like Google Ads, Facebook, DV360 or Dianomi (ad network).  

Although DV360 is primarily used to buy inventory (i.e. run campaigns), it can also be used for hosting ad creatives and for reporting, tracking and planning.

However, the best practice is to use CM360 for hosting ad creatives and for reporting, tracking and planning and use DV360 only for buying inventory. 

To accomplish this objective we connect DV360 to CM360. 

What is SA360 (Search Ads 360)?

SA360 is an ad management platform through which you can run and manage search marketing campaigns across multiple search engines (Google, Yahoo, Baidu, Bing) and media channels. 

Some of the largest search marketing campaigns in the world are managed by SA360.

Who uses Google Marketing Platform?

Google marketing platform is used by both small businesses and enterprises. But enterprises are more likely to benefit from it.

Is Google Marketing Platform the same as Google Analytics?

No.

Google Marketing Platform is a set of tools through which you can access and manage all the analytics and advertising products from Google.

Whereas, Google Analytics is just one of the products of the Google Marketing Platform.

What is the difference between Google Ads and Google Marketing Platform?

Unlike Google Ads, the Google Marketing Platform is not used to create and run marketing campaigns. The name is a bit of a misnomer.

The Google Marketing Platform is a set of tools through which you can access and manage all the analytics and advertising products from Google.

What is the difference between Google Ads and SA360?

#1 Google Ads allow you to run and manage search ads as well as display and video ads.

Whereas, through SA360 you can only run and manage search ads. You can not run display and video ads.

#2 Google Ads allow you to run and manage search ads only on the Google search engine.

Whereas, SA360 allows you to run and manage search ads across multiple search engines (Google, Yahoo, Baidu, Bing) and media channels.

#3 Google Ads is free to use. There is no fee for using the Google Ads platform. Whereas SA360 is a monthly subscription service. 

#4 Unlike Google Ads, the SA360 comes with enhanced features, service level agreement and enterprise-level technical support.

What is the difference between Google Ads and DV360?

#1 Google Ads allow you to run and manage search ads as well as display and video ads.

Whereas, through DV360 you can only run and manage display and video ads. You can not run search ads.

#2 Google Ads allow you to run and manage ads only across Google properties (Google Search, Google Maps, Google Partner sites).

Whereas, Dv360 allows you to run and manage ads across multiple ad platforms and ad networks like Google Ads, Facebook, DV360 or Dianomi (ad network).  

#3 Google Ads is free to use. There is no fee for using the Google Ads platform. Whereas DV360 is a monthly subscription service. 

#4 Unlike Google Ads, the DV360 comes with enhanced features, service level agreement and enterprise-level technical support.

How do I access Google Marketing Platform?

Log in to the Google Marketing Platform using your Google username and password:

https://marketingplatform.google.com/intl/en_uk/about/

If your Google email address is not already linked to any other Google product then you will see a screen like the one below:

Otherwise, you will see a screen something like the one below:

How to use the Google Marketing Platform

If your Google email address is not linked to any other Google product then start adding your email address to various Google products of your clients one by one.

Start from Google Analytics then Google Ads, Google Tag Manager, Google Optimize………

Now navigate to the Google Marketing platform home page: https://marketingplatform.google.com/home

It should look like the one below:

You can directly navigate to any product listed under the ‘My products’ section by clicking on the blue box next to it:

Click on the ‘Google Marketing Platform products’ drop-down menu to see the list of the enterprise-level analytics and advertising products you can get access to:

Click on the ‘Integration Center’ link to add new product integrations or manage existing integrations:

Click on the ‘Administration’ link in order to see and manage the organizations and products you have got access to:

Google Marketing Platform (Administration)

Google recommends that you use the ‘Administration’ link as the starting point for managing various Google products, organizations and users.

Navigate to the home page of your Google Marketing platform and then click on the ‘Administration’ link:

You should now see the list of organizations (aka your clients) you have access to:

It is very likely that most of your clients have created an organization in their Google Marketing platform in order to manage all of their analytics products as well as users and integrations from one centralized location.

Note: Advertising products (like Google Ads) can not be currently linked to an organization.

Click on an organization’s name to see the organization details:

Organization details could be something like organization name, organization ID, list of linked accounts, change history, Access management etc:

To create a new organization in the Google Marketing platform, follow the steps below:

#1 Click on the ‘Create Organization’ link:

#2 Give your organization a name. It would be the same as your company name:

#3 Select the accounts you want to link to your organization and then click on the ‘Create’ button:

To see the list of all the products (analytics products + advertising products) you have access to, click on the ‘Products’ tab:

Google Marketing Platform (Integration Center)

Click on the ‘Integration Center’ link (on the home page of your Google Marketing Platform) to add new product integrations or manage existing integrations:

Click on the ‘Add Integration’ button to add a new product:

You should now see the options to enable different types of product integrations:

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