Google MCM - What you need to know

Google announced earlier this spring that their Scaled Partner Management tool, also known as SPM, is being put in the grave for good. The replacement tool called Multiple Customer Management, also known as MCM, is being implemented as we speak and will fully replace the former tool.

Google MCM is an Ad Manager 360 tool that allows publishers to access Google Ad Exchange through selected Google-approved MCM partners. Time is running short so make sure that that your current ad monetization partners are MCM approved, or you will start losing Ad Exchange demand from October 1st onwards. In this post, we will break down what MCM is all about and how to run the transition successfully.

SPM WHAT?

The Scaled Partner Management tool, SPM, has formerly been the only entrance ticket for smaller and mid-sized publishers to access Google Ad Exchange. Through SPM qualified partners, smaller publishers have had the opportunity to get their share of the sought-after Google Ad Exchange demand. The SPM partners would manage the publishers’ ad inventory and monetize it for them. However, this gave publishers little transparency to see how the inventory was managed since their inventory was monetized through the SPM partners’ Google Ad Manager account, and the publisher had no need to hold an Ad Manager account of their own. SPM was being developed during a time when Ad Exchange and Ad Manager were two separate products. Ad manager has evolved tremendously since then while very few updates have been added to SPM.

Google will continue to support SPM only until September 30, 2021. This means that by October 1st, all ad serving through SPM will come to an end, and if no migration to MCM has taken place before this, the ad serving through google will be shut off completely. This could have a huge impact on your ad revenue if you rely on Google Ad Exchange ad revenue.

WHAT IS MCM THEN?

The Multiple Customer Management, MCM, is Google’s replacement for the SPM tool. Similar to SPM, MCM enables smaller publishers to access the Google Ad exchange demand through selected MCM partners. Sounds very similar to the old tool, so why did Google decide to roll out the updated version then? The, at least publicly announced, reason for this change is to encourage more transparency between Google and smaller publishers using Google Ad Exchange. According to Google, the new tool will bring effectiveness, transparency, and improved performance, bold statements that are yet to be proven. MCM will offer all the same benefits as SPM, but MCM allows for more publisher control of how the inventory is being managed by the partner. Publishers using MCM can decide on the level of control the MCM-partner has through two delegation types: Manage Inventory and Manage Account.

MCM DELEGATION LEVELS

As mentioned, MCM allows for increased transparency between publishers,  their partners, and Google. A new feature that distinguishes the MCM from the SPM is the delegation levels that determine how much power a third-party partner can have over the publisher’s inventory and monetization. MCM divides the power into two delegation levels. Manage Inventory and Manage Account.

Manage Inventory

Manage Inventory does not give the MCM partner access to any third-party data or account information, but only gives the partner allowance to manage and monetize a dedicated part of the inventory. MCM allows for up to 15 partners to help with monetization. With the Manage Inventory delegation type, the publisher can use the MCM partner’s Google Ad Manager Tags.

Manage Account

Manage Account gives the partner full access to the account information and the whole inventory is being monetized by the selected partner solely, not allowing for any other MCM partners to opt-in. A fixed revenue share percentage is set and applies to all properties and websites registered for that account. With the Manage Account delegation, the publisher uses their own Google Ad Manager Tags, instead of the partners’.

Should you go for Manage Inventory or Manage account?

Should you go for Manage Inventory or Manage account?

We at Kiosked believe that the client and publisher should always remain in full control of their private information and monetization, so we highly recommend that you always go for the Manage Inventory delegation. This way the publisher can collaborate with up to 15 MCM partners and is not relying on one single partner to deliver all the results. Also, this way the publisher remains in full control over their website monetization and can retrieve a better understanding of where their ad revenue streams are coming from.

SHOULD YOU TRANSITION FROM SPM TO MCM?

Google does not give you many options in this case if you are a small or mid-sized publisher and therefore can’t meet the direct partner criteria, but still want to have access to the Google Ad Exchange demand. However, MCM is a good thing for publishers, as this gives them further insight into what is really going on behind the scenes and gives publishers much more freedom to test which MCM partners are working better and which could be replaced. Google also states that MCM comes with a handful of other benefits compared to SPM, such as access to open bidding, support of programmatic direct- and guaranteed deals as well as the support of preferred deals. So the answer is yes, you should definitely transition to MCM, and you should do so before October 1st, 2021, as all ad serving through SPM will be shut off by September 30th, 2021.

SPM TO MCM

Whether or not you have worked with an SPM partner before or you are completely new to Ad Exchange, you need a Google Ad Manager account of your own. Note that not all SPM partners automatically transition into MCM partners. The evaluation process to access Multiple Customer Management is handled by Google, and only selected partners will become MCM partners. Kiosked is a long-term trusted partner to Google and has been accepted into the program. As an official MCM partner, we will be able to provide our clients stronger ad revenue along with more effectiveness, and transparency. All Kiosked clients will be contacted by our marketplace team and receive detailed instructions on how to do the transition smoothly so that no ad revenue is being affected due to the transition.

If you have any questions regarding MCM or the transition, please feel free to drop a line at sales@kiosked.com and we are happy to help you out.

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