In the alphabet soup of digital marketing acronyms, familiarize yourself with three particular letters: G-D-N. GDN stands for the Google Display Network, a collection of more than 2 million sites, apps, and videos to host your ads. Advertising on the Google Display Network puts your display ads in front of millions of eyes. What is the Google Display Network (GDN) and what can it accomplish for you? Here’s a bit more background on this awesome tool.
The Power of Display Ads
Display ads are online advertisements. They use text, images, and links to catch internet users’ attention and bring them to a sellers’ website. Like any form of advertising they introduce people to your brand or reinforce brand loyalty. As an internet ad form, however, they are useful for remarketing and tracking ad engagement. And they’re inexpensive too. Combined with the GDN, display ads have tremendous power and outreach unmatched by traditional advertising.
GDN: Putting the Ads in All the Right Places
Think of the GDN as a catch-all for any and every place your display ads are eligible to appear. This includes any place that can accommodate web banners, such as the New York Times and similar sites. Ads can also appear in popular apps or apps that are more specific to your brand and product. Finally, YouTube and other video platforms are a big part of an expanded display network working with partner sites to get placements.
Best Practices for GDN
Take advantage of GDN by building and testing responsive display ads (RDAs) that are ready to go. Google recommends the following best practices for creating ads:
- Pick the most effective text, images, and color schemes
- Don’t be bland! Try and test different ad types, content, and designs
- Create custom images; don’t just use stock photos and art
- Create display ads based on your text ads
Provide guidance on copy and landing pages too. Your ads are the raw assets. Google uses machine learning to combine them so they fit into whatever size is required, and target them at the right customers at the right times.
GDN Conclusions
What is the Google Display Network (GDN) and what’s the big deal? The big deal is that the GDN brings loads of benefits. Through GDN you get global coverage, reaching your target audience and finding new and engaged ones in big, little, and more niche sites. The GDN offers measurable performance of your ads, custom networks and keyword contextual targeting, and transparency and actionable insights to improve your campaigns’ results. To learn more about the GDN and what it can do for you, consult with a digital marketing agency like Logical Position. We’re a full-service digital marketing agency who can show you the ropes of digital marketing.
