MCM stands for Multiple Customer Management. This is what it means for you. 

What Is Google SPM?

You may be wondering why the title of this blog is about Google MCM, yet we’ve started with a different question. There is a reason for this. You see, Google MCM replaces Google’s SPM service, and as veterans in the publishing industry may be more familiar with SPM over MCM, it helps to know the difference. 

For the newer publishers, here is a quick recap.

The Google SPM (Scaled Partner Management) service was a program that Google introduced to allow small to medium publishers access to their Google Ad Exchange network. How this program worked was simple:

A large publisher with GAM (Google Ad Manager) 360 (known as the Parent publisher) gives a smaller publisher (referred to as the Child publisher) access to their Google ADX demand. 

The Child publisher then uses their Parent’s account to expose and leverage their inventories to hundreds of thousands of new advertisers.

Apart from getting access to one of the best ad exchanges in the advertising world, you will find that Child publishers can also use the given ADX account for various monetization options, such as ad yield management, optimization, and more. This option offers small publishers an easy and affordable way to get more quality inventory and increase ad revenue.

Sounds great, right? So why was this service replaced?

Google SPM Depreciation

While Google SPM sounds great at a top level (and it was), it had several issues that Google wanted to solve:

• The program had a massive lack of transparency as Parent publishers had complete access to their Child publishers’ inventories, and on top of that, they also managed them on their end.
• The SPM program was introduced when Google Ad Exchange and GAM were housed as different products, making adding new products increasingly tricky.
• Child publishers had access to fewer yield management features than the numerous features offered by the new MCM model.
• Circling back to transparency, permission management options between Parent and Child publishers were limited.

While the features offered were good for smaller publishers, the authorization and transparency issues became ever more pronounced, leading to Google deciding it was time for a change. And so birthed the Google MCM program. 

What is Google MCM?

Similar to Google SPM, the Google MCM Program (Multiple Customer Management) lets publishers access Google Ad Exchange through a 3rd party Google Partner. It is the formal replacement for Google SPM and it is a tool for publishers to increase their ad revenue by gaining deeper insight into their Ad Exchange performance. 

As laid out by Google here, publishers looking to join the MCM program must qualify for specific terms and conditions. Some of these conditions include reliable protection against ad fraud (click spam, invalid traffic, etc.) and minimal account suspensions or policy violations.

While it may seem much, these very restrictions ensure child publishers looking for programmatic partners are offered a limited choice. They can rest assured knowing that they will be in the hands of the best in the ad-tech industry regardless of whom they choose. Publishers who want access to MCM can do so through a qualified Google MCM program partner like FrontSTORY. Contact us here to get started.

Much like Google SPM, there are two key roles in Google MCM. The role of being a Parent publisher and the part of being a Child publisher. 

Parent publisher refers to that 3rd party advertising technology company or channel partner who has direct access to Google Ad Exchange. The Child publisher refers to an entity that gets access to Ad Exchange through the Parent Publisher, like a small-to-medium publisher. 

So, how do you get started with the Google MCM Program?  

If you’re a publisher that is interested in getting started with the Google MCM program, you must meet the following conditions:

• Google must verify your website 
• No copyright infringement violations 
• Your website should not promote sensitive content such as adult-natured content, violence and gambling  
• Your site must have a valid ads.txt file

These conditions won’t pose a problem for most publishers. However, it is in your best interest to check off the boxes and validate your ads.txt file before applying for the Google MCM program.

The rule of thumb is that if you’re not involved in problematic industries like gambling or adult content and are fully aware of copyright laws, you won’t have any issues qualifying for the MCM program. This now brings us to the delegation types. 

What are delegation types, you may be asking? Please read on. 

MCM Delegation Types

There are two MCM delegation types or modes of the usage here: To manage the account and inventory. Remember those transparency issues we mentioned at the beginning of this blog? Here’s the solution. 

MCM Manage Account Delegation

The MCM Manage Account delegation type will grant parent publishers edit access to manage inventory directly in the child publisher account. Important to note, though, is that the child publisher still retains permissions and access to all settings.

MCM Manage Inventory Delegation

However, the MCM Manage Inventory delegation type will grant parent publishers access to ad requests that the child publisher has sent to the parent account. You’ll find that here the level of access is notably limited in comparison to the Manage Account Delegation type.

Now that you have an understanding of Google MCM, here are the reasons why you should be using the program. 

Why Use the Google MCM Program?

• Obtain access to premium Google demand (via Google Ad Exchange/AdX) regardless of your publishing size
• Receive access to demand from other premium exchanges via Google Open Bidding
• Full access to Programmatic Direct deals (Preferred Deals and Programmatic Guaranteed)
• Preferred access to 3rd party ad management and optimization

This functionality helps publishers increase ad revenue and save time by outsourcing all or part of their ad operations. 

At MonetizeGo, we’ve had lots of time to test these new features, and we’re happy to state that MCM is a significant improvement over SPM.

Contact us today to get started on your migration.