Running ads on your website or app isn’t just about getting the highest bids. It’s also about protecting your brand, keeping things relevant for your users, and making sure advertisers aren’t stepping on each other’s toes. That’s where Protections in Google Ad Manager (GAM) come in.
If you’re not already using them, here’s why understanding these protections will help you maximize your ad revenue while ensuring your brand integrity.
Managing Your Ads Using Protections
Protections in GAM give you control over which ads can show up on your inventory. Think of it as a smart filter that helps you block unwanted ads, manage advertiser competition, and even decide which parts of your site or app should be off-limits for the open auction.
The best part? With the Unified Protections feature, you can manage all of this from a single place across all your inventory.
The Three Types of Protections You Can Use
Google Ad Manager offers three main protection categories, each serving a distinct purpose in ad management.
1. Ad Content Protections
These help you control the actual content of the ads being shown. If there are certain types of ads you don’t want your users to see, this is where you set those rules.
With ad content protections, you can:
- Block ads from specific categories, advertisers, or buyers.
- Opt into certain ad technologies or ad experiences.
- Prevent ads from specific advertisers or brands.
- Block ads from sensitive categories like politics or religion.
- Restrict ads based on advertiser URLs.
2. Competition Protections
This one’s all about keeping direct competitors from showing up next to each other. You don’t want two competing brands fighting for the same user’s attention in the same space, right?
Unlike ad content protections, which block entire categories, competition protections allow you to:
- Prevent direct competitors from appearing in the same ad experience.
- Ensure a single brand has exclusive visibility in a particular ad slot.
- Maintain advertiser satisfaction by avoiding competition for user attention.
3. Inventory Exclusions
Here, you’re choosing what parts of your inventory should (or shouldn’t) be available for programmatic bidding in the Open Auction.
You can:
- Exclude specific inventory types or targeting values.
- Block certain ad placements from the auction while keeping others open.
- Ensure that only the desired inventory is available for programmatic bidding.
Tips for Using Protections Wisely
- Protections are additive, meaning multiple rules can apply to the same ad request.
- You can apply protections to all inventory or target specific ad units and placements.
- Blocking certain advertisers or categories can impact revenue, so it is advisable to use these features strategically.
- Regularly review blocked ad technologies to ensure you are not missing valuable demand.
The smart move forward
Google Ad Manager’s protections are powerful tools that help you balance ad revenue with brand safety and user experience. Whether you’re looking to filter out certain ads, avoid competitor clashes, or fine-tune what inventory goes to auction, protections put you in the driver’s seat.
By leveraging these tools wisely, you can create a better ad experience for users while maximizing your ad revenue.
