Google is turning its demand-side platform for advertisers, Display & Video 360 (DV360), into an AI-powered media buyer backed by Gemini, the tech company’s flagship family of AI models.
While Gemini tools have been baked into DV360 since at least last spring, they were primarily used to aid marketers in audience discovery, surface reporting insights, and offer tweaks to help optimize campaigns here and there. Now, Gemini will become the true operating layer of the DSP, moving upstream and taking on a larger role in media planning, the company explained at its NewFronts presentation in Manhattan on Monday.
“Marketers can upload their media plan and automatically translate it into a comprehensive campaign setup,” said Bill Reardon, general manager of the enterprise platform at Google Ads, on a call with the press.
In its presentation on Monday, the company also hyped up additional AI-powered updates for ad buyers: AI will be deployed within DV360 to help manage real-time fluctuations in live sports inventory across connected TV; and soon, marketers will be able to use Ads Advisor, an agent embedded in the Google Ads Console, to build custom reporting dashboards.
Beyond supercharging the buyer experience with automation, Google also indicated that it is investing more deeply in cross-channel measurement—specifically in connected TV attribution. The company is debuting Confidential Publisher Match, a new identity model that can link marketers’ first-party data with signals from streamers like Roku in a privacy-safe trusted execution environment.
“This shift empowers you with a cross-device conversion memory, connecting a CTV impression directly to a purchase,” Reardon said.
The push could help Google level up its measurement capabilities on non-owned inventory environments in CTV, specifically, an area where it’s historically been weaker than rivals like The Trade Desk.
To further buoy its CTV measurement push, Google is turning to retail media data.
The company is working with Kroger to integrate the retail giant’s first-party shopper data into YouTube and Google’s other partner inventory. The company will also roll out SKU-level reporting in DV360, “so brands can see the precise impact of their YouTube and display ads on Kroger sales,” Reardon explained.
“This really changes how brands think about YouTube and its direct impact on sales,” Christine Foster, Kroger’s group vp of commercial strategy and operations, said in a statement. “Now, advertisers can reach Kroger shoppers on the most-watched video platform in the world—and measure how their spend drives sales at the SKU level. The reach is massive, the ability to unify once-siloed efforts is profound, and the opportunity to connect with shoppers across the full customer journey has never been better.”
