Discover These 7 Ad Serving Platforms to Bring in Traffic in 2024

Ad serving platforms have evolved beyond the basic display features and functions. They are now powerful tools that help businesses deliver the right message to the right audience at the right time.

From targeting and tracking capabilities to advanced reporting and optimization, ad serving platforms have become full-blown marketing tools that small businesses can leverage for a wider audience.

But with so many ad servers vying for your attention, how do you choose the right one?

To save you the time and effort of manually researching each platform’s targeting options, I’ve done the work for you, selecting seven options that offer features a small business needs.

First-Party Ad Serving Platforms

These platforms are primarily owned and operated by the entities that also own the advertising space, making them first-party ad servers:

1. Google Ads Manager

Google Ads Manager is a powerful tool for managing your ad inventory, whether you’re a small business owner or a solopreneur. Launched in 2018, it helps you handle your ad space and track the performance of your ads.

Here’s how Google Ads Manager can help entrepreneurs to make the most out of their ads:

• Ad Inventory Management: Organize and control all your ads in one place.
• Ad Performance Tracking: Monitor your ads’ performance with detailed reports.
• Buying and Selling Ads: Easily manage the buying and selling of ads within the platform.
• Granular Targeting: Target specific devices, browsers, and geographic locations to reach the right audience.
• First-Price Auction: The highest bid wins the ad space, ensuring competitive pricing. Learn more about Google Ads costs to plan your budget.

Picture this – you own a small online store looking to advertise. With Google Ad Manager, you can set up ad campaigns targeting mobile users in your city for your summer sale.

Performance reports help you see which ads work best and adjust your strategy. Using third-party ad servers can expand your reach and optimize future ad campaigns.

This can streamline your advertising efforts, saving time and helping you reach your audience more effectively. Learn more in this Google Ads vs Facebook Ads complete breakdown.

And because it’s such a popular platform, there are plenty of Facebook marketing tools to help you out, too.

2. Meta Ads Manager

Meta Ads Manager is your go-to tool for running ads on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, or Audience Network.

It’s an all-in-one platform for creating ads, managing when and where they’ll run, and tracking their performance toward your marketing goals.

I love it when everything is neatly organized with one platform. It also helps smaller teams expand into multiple channels without hiring additional resources.

Meta Ads Manager lets you:

• Create New Ads: Easily set up brand new ads by selecting campaign parameters that fit your business goals.
• Audience Targeting: Define and adjust your audience for smarter ad targeting, whether broad or specific.
• Budget Management: Set overall budgets for your campaigns for each day or the entire campaign’s lifetime.
• Run Ads Across Platforms: Extend your ads across Facebook’s family of apps and services with automatic placements.
• Adjust Campaigns: You can edit your budget, audience, and placement options. You can also pause, duplicate, or relaunch campaigns at any time.
• Dynamic Creative: Automatically deliver personalized ads with dynamic creative, combining images, videos, and text for ideal audience targeting.
• A/B Testing: Test different ads for the best target audience, delivery optimization, and placements.
• Real-Time Insights: Use reporting tools to track if your ads meet goals and spot trends for future adjustments.

Imagine running a small boutique. With Meta Ads Manager, you can create an ad campaign targeting local shoppers on Instagram and Facebook.

Adjust your budget and audience as needed, and use dynamic creative to show different product images and videos.

Real-time insights let you see which ads perform best, helping you optimize future campaigns for better results.

3. TikTok Ads Manager

TikTok Ads Manager is a powerful tool for small business owners looking to reach a massive, engaged audience. With the rise of user-generated content and short-form videos, it’s a great way to tap into this growing trend.

With the ads manager, you can create and track ads on the platform, increasing the potential for viral content to boost brand visibility at a low cost.

Here’s how TikTok Ads Manager can help you:

• Create Ads: Set up in-feed video, image, or playable ads to engage your audience.
• Target Audience: Define and adjust your target audience for precise ad delivery.
• Budget Management: Set and manage budgets, choosing from various bidding strategies like CPC, CPM, oCPM, and CPV.
• Dynamic Creative: Automatically deliver personalized ads using dynamic creative to maximize engagement.
• Real-Time Insights: Monitor ad performance and make data-driven adjustments on the go.

TikTok Ads Manager is best for businesses that invest in video content, particularly short-form videos. Let’s say you run a dance studio and want to promote your new hip-hop classes.

With TikTok Ads Manager, you can showcase a short video of your choreography to target young adults interested in dance and music, aligning with the platform’s trends.

4. LinkedIn Campaign Manager

LinkedIn Campaign Manager is a powerful tool for businesses leveraging LinkedIn’s network. With over 700 million professionals, it offers a unique chance to reach decision-makers, professionals, and industry influencers, making it ideal for B2B businesses.

To set up an account, Log in with your LinkedIn account, select your campaign objective, and choose your ad format (sponsored content, text ads, or dynamic ads). You can also set targeting criteria based on demographics, job titles, and more specific criteria.

Benefits of LinkedIn Campaign Manager include:

• Targeted Audience: Define and adjust your audience for precise ad delivery.
• Budget Management: Set daily or lifetime budgets and choose between CPC or CPM bidding strategies.
• Performance Monitoring: Track key metrics like impressions, clicks, CTR, engagement, conversions, and ROI.

After launching your campaign, use the dashboard to monitor performance and make data-driven optimizations. The LinkedIn Audience Network can extend your reach beyond LinkedIn, and Audience Expansion can help find similar potential customers.

LinkedIn Campaign Manager streamlines your advertising efforts, effectively reaching and engaging a professional audience to drive your business goals.

Third-Party Ad Serving Platforms

These platforms operate independently and can serve ads across multiple websites and networks. This is ideal if your business has a presence on various platforms and wants to reach a wider audience.

5. Kevel

Kevel is a suite of APIs that enables programmers to design, build, and launch a fully customized, server-side ad server in weeks.

It provides functionality to run sponsored listings, internal promotions, and native ad slots, making it a versatile choice for businesses looking to enhance their digital advertising capabilities.

Benefits of using Kevel:

• Customization: Create a fully tailored ad server that fits your business needs.
• Versatile Ad Formats: Run various ad formats, including sponsored listings, native ad slots, and internal promotions.
• Trusted Brand: Kevel is trusted by major clients like Ticketmaster, Yelp, Strava, and Mozilla, ensuring reliability and performance.
• Rapid Deployment: Launch your customized ad server quickly, minimizing downtime and accelerating time-to-market.

These features drive more revenue through targeted ad placements while maintaining a seamless user experience.

Leveraging Kevel’s robust APIs ensures that your ad server is both powerful and adaptable since APIs allow easy integration with other tools and systems that your business may use.

6. AdButler

AdButler is a flexible, scalable, and reliable ad server designed to help you monetize your digital properties efficiently.

With over 25 years of experience, AdButler offers a comprehensive solution suite that supports your website, e-commerce store, or app.

With AdButler, you get:

• Fast Ad Delivery: AdButler’s unique server design and global network deliver ads within milliseconds, enhancing user experience and engagement.
• Versatile Ad Formats: Supports a wide range of ad formats, including display ads, native ads, video ads, and more.
• Advanced Targeting: Drive relevant and converting campaigns with precise targeting options such as geographic, platform, and keyword targeting.
• Customizable Platform: Fully customizable and white-labeled, AdButler allows you to create a branded interface that matches your business needs.
• Comprehensive Analytics: Automated reports provide detailed insights, helping you demonstrate ROI and optimize your campaigns in real time.
• First-Class Support: Dedicated specialists and account managers are available 24/7 to assist you.

AdButler stands out as a fast, reliable ad-serving solution. E-commerce stores benefit from their ability to deliver targeted ads quickly, boosting sales and customer engagement.

The platform effectively handles increased traffic, scaling with business growth. Its user-friendly interfaces and detailed analytics support data-driven decision-making.

7. OpenX

OpenX is a long-standing, reputable platform ideal for larger publishers serving a larger volume of monthly ads. While its costs are higher, OpenX offers great tools for targeting audiences and customizing campaign reports.

You also get access to 12 months of historical data. Notable clients include CBS Interactive, Electronic Arts, and Samsung.

Benefits of using OpenX:

• Addressability: OpenX’s targeting works across all channels, including CTV, and with any data set or identity type. This helps you reach your audience at scale.
• Transparency: OpenX has built a fair and transparent system between sellers and buyers since 2008, supporting client success.
• Responsibility: OpenX is the first Net-Zero verified ad tech company and the first to launch Impact PMPs powered by Givsly. This helps the brand reduce environmental impact and support social causes.
• Cloud-Based: OpenX operates entirely on the Google Cloud Platform, which enhances performance, scalability, speed, and global reach.

OpenX is best for large publishers who need to manage a high volume of ads and require detailed analytics to optimize their ad performance.

The platform’s robust targeting and reporting features allow businesses to fine-tune their campaigns for maximum effectiveness. Its cloud-based infrastructure ensures reliability and fast deployment of new features.

What About Self-Hosted Ad Serving Platforms?

Self-hosted ad serving platforms are perfect if you want full control over your ad management. If you have the tech skills and resources, running your own ad server allows you to customize everything to your specific needs.

It can also save you money in the long run since you’re not paying for external hosting. This approach is great for businesses needing ultra-tailored solutions and don’t want to rely on third-party services.

Designing Ads for Ad Serving Platforms

Once you’ve decided where to host your ads, it’s time to create them. Here are some programs that can help you design ads optimized for ad serving platforms:

• Canva: This is for non-designers who want to create visually appealing designs with ease.
• Adobe Creative Suite: For advanced graphic design and editing.
• Ad Creative: This platform enlists AI technology to create competitive and professional ads with minimal technical experience.

This Canva vs Photoshop review will help you to decide between each based on your skill level and ad design goals.

The Bottom Line: The Best Ad Serving Platforms for Entrepreneurs

Ads are the backbone of digital revenue generation for businesses. Managed well, they can unlock significant returns by driving traffic and conversions to your site or app.

Whether you’re a small business owner or an established company, consider investing in one of these ad serving platforms to expand your online presence and boost your bottom line.