What are the Main Doubleclick Alternatives? A 2024 Guide

Kevel Team

Written by the people building the future of retail media

Why do brands normally use Google's ad server?

Google's DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP) ad server has wide adoption for a few reasons:

It's free for anyone with under 90 million monthly impressions. No other vendor offers such a deal.
It provides instant access to their Adx ad exchange, potentially increasing the CPMs publishers make from programmatic ads.
It's reliable - both from an infrastructure perspective and a business one (Google is not going under any time soon).

Where does DoubleClick fall short?

There are three main reasons:

It's not flexible.
It's not server-side.
It's Google.

Flexibility

There's a reason that Facebook, Pinterest, eBay, and many other brands with innovative ad platforms chose to build their own versus rely on Google's tools.

Namely - DFP, as an out-of-the-box solution, provides little customization ability and doesn't make it easy to:

Show native advertising units
Build a self-serve advertising portal

It's not server-side

Client-side JavaScript ad tags, like those used by Google, have many drawbacks:

Slow sites and apps
No revenue from ad block users
Hidden cookies
Not GDPR/CCPA compliant

It's Google

DFP is owned by Google. Given they are a tech behemoth with many product lines, working with DoubleClick may mean enabling a competitor through data sharing/revenue.

What are some DoubleClick alternatives?

What is your focus?	Need a customizable ad product?	Where are you showing ads?	How do you define yourself?	Your best bet is:
Direct-sold / internal ads (+ some programmatic)	Yes	Websites, apps, emails, DOOH, in-game	You want a fully-customized ad platform without the hassle of building it from scratch	Kevel
Mostly programmatic	No	Websites	You like DFP's tool but don't want to enable Google	Adform
Mostly programmatic	Yes	Websites, apps	An ad network, ad exchange, etc	EPOM
Mostly programmatic	No	Websites	You want a basic ad product, but don't want to build it or work with a vendor	Self-host with Revive
Mostly programmatic	No	Emails	Brand looking to monetize large email list	LiveIntent
Mostly programmatic	No	Websites	Low-traffic WordPress site	Ad Inserter WP Plug-in

The Best Doubleclick Alternatives

1. Kevel

Type: Ad serving Infrastructure APIs

Kevel is the market leader in server-side ad serving, enabled through APIs. Brands can launch custom ad servers quickly. Clients include Yelp, Bed Bath and Beyond, Ticketmaster, and more.

2. Adform

Type: Hosted third-party ad server for programmatic ads

Adform focuses on programmatic publishers with detailed revenue forecasting and analytics tools.

3. Revive Ad Server

Type: Free, open source ad server

Revive is a self-hosted platform. Additional work is needed to host the code.

4. EPOM

Type: Hosted 3rd-party solution for ad networks

EPOM caters to ad networks with white-labeling and turnkey RTB integrations.

5. Broadstreet

Type: Hosted third-party vendor for digital magazines

Focuses on direct-sold ads with an intuitive platform.

6. LiveIntent

Type: Hosted third-party ad server for emails

LiveIntent specializes in showing ads in emails.

7. Ad Inserter

Type: WordPress plug-in ad product

Ad Inserter is popular for low-traffic WordPress sites.

The long-tail third-party options

Standard Tools: AdGlare, Adhese, AdPlugg, AdSpeed, AdSpirit, AdvertServe, Avid, iBillboard, InClick, Lite, UpRival, Zedo
Self-Hosted: OIO, dJax, InOut
Email: Passendo, PowerInbox
WP Plug-In: Advanced Ads, AdRotate

Should I just build an ad server instead of using DFP?

Many brands have built their own ad system rather than relying on a third-party vendor. The in-house ad platforms of Facebook and Amazon took years and many engineers to build.

Fortunately, you can now build a custom ad server in just weeks

A new industry trend - ad serving APIs - is emerging. Brands like Yelp and WeTransfer have used our tools to build custom ad servers in just weeks.