Omnicom adds Atlas tags to DoubleClick-served ads

Recent moves by Google (link is external) and Facebook have left some industry observers declaring this the dawn of a “walled garden” era of ad tech (link is external) — one in which brands and agencies need to use a platform’s ad tech when purchasing that platform’s media.

But the agency holding company Omnicom Group has found a novel use for Atlas: Checking Google’s math. It has begun adding Atlas tracking pixels to measure ads served by DoubleClick, Google’s ad serving competitor, to compare each product’s results against one another, according to executives familiar with the agency’s ad tech plans.

It marks the first major test for the nascent Atlas and the people-based measurement system it has been espousing as a replacement for cookie targeting. This could be the start of more competition for DoubleClick, according to several ad tech executives.

Adding Atlas tags to DoubleClick-served ads will get Omnicom two distinct reports on its ad campaigns: one from Atlas, which measures campaign performance against Facebook login data, and another from DoubleClick, which employs cookies for measurement.

Despite signing a deal last September to become the first agency to use Atlas — the ad server Facebook bought in February 2013 and re-released last fall — Omnicom has yet to convince many clients to start using Atlas for ad serving. That means they have yet to tap into Atlas’s unique targeting capabilities, which includes Facebook’s trove of users data. This is a way to utilize Atlas without abandoning DoubleClick.

Facebook has pushed Atlas with what it calls “people-based (link is external)” marketing, which it claims will not only be more accurate for desktop campaigns than cookies but will provide the long-sought-after solution to mobile’s cookie problem (link is external).

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