Programmatic buying with a clear line to results.

DV360 stands for Display & Video 360, Google's demand-side platform for buying digital advertising programmatically. It is part of the Google Marketing Platform and lets advertisers buy display, video, audio and connected TV inventory across many ad exchanges and publishers, as well as YouTube, from one place. It offers detailed control over targeting, deals, frequency and brand safety, and connects with other Google tools for measurement. It is generally used by larger advertisers and agencies running sizeable programmatic budgets.

Google Ads is a self-serve platform focused on Google's own properties and network, including search, YouTube and the Google Display Network. DV360 is a programmatic buying platform that reaches a much wider range of exchanges and publishers, supports private deals and connected TV and offers more detailed controls for reach, frequency and inventory quality. It suits brands that want precise control over where and how often their ads run. Many advertisers use both, with Google Ads covering search and DV360 handling programmatic display and video.

A DV360 agency plans, buys and optimises programmatic media on your behalf. At Vertical that covers audits, media planning, inventory and deal strategy, audience and data setup, creative specifications, brand safety, frequency management, measurement and ongoing optimisation. Because we also run search, social and native advertising, we place DV360 inside a single media plan and connect its results to the rest of your marketing. You get experienced planners and buyers focused on commercial outcomes rather than impression counts.

DV360 tends to suit brands with meaningful media budgets, a need to reach audiences at scale across display, video and connected TV and an interest in controlling inventory quality closely. Smaller budgets are often better served by Google Ads, Meta or other self-serve platforms, where the minimum effective spend is lower. We look at your goals, budget and existing channels before recommending DV360, and we will tell you plainly if another route would give you better value.

Yes. DV360 can buy connected TV inventory, which reaches people watching on smart TVs and streaming devices, alongside YouTube and other online video. That lets you plan television-style advertising with digital targeting and measurement. We manage reach and frequency across connected TV, mobile and desktop, so people see your message enough times to remember it without being overexposed. We also build measurement around site visits, searches and sales so the impact of the big screen is visible.

We agree suitability standards with you before launch, then apply them through content exclusions, site and app lists, deal selection and third-party verification where appropriate. Viewability and invalid traffic are monitored throughout, and placements that fall short are removed. Private marketplace and programmatic guaranteed deals with trusted publishers add another layer of control. The aim is for every impression to run somewhere you would be comfortable being seen, while still reaching enough of the right people.

We connect conversion tracking through the Google Marketing Platform and your analytics, then report on the measures that match each campaign's role. Prospecting and video campaigns are judged on reach, attention and their effect on site visits and searches, while retargeting is judged on leads and sales. Where upper funnel impact needs proving, we use lift studies to compare exposed and unexposed audiences. Reporting is built on agreed definitions, so programmatic results can be compared fairly with your other channels.

It helps a great deal, but it is not essential to start. Customer lists, site visitors and CRM segments let us build better prospecting audiences, exclude existing customers where appropriate and retarget people with more relevant messages. We handle data carefully, with consent and privacy requirements respected throughout. Where first-party data is limited, contextual targeting and Google audiences give campaigns a strong starting point, and we build up your own data over time through tracking and site activity.

Start with a conversation about your goals, audiences, budgets and the channels you already run. If you already use DV360, we usually begin with an audit of campaigns, inventory, frequency, brand safety and measurement, then share a prioritised plan. If programmatic is new for you, we scope a focused plan with clear measures of success. Either way, we will tell you plainly where we think the opportunity is and how we would approach it together.