Can you connect your AdSense and AdX accounts together in Google Ad Manager? In this guide, we answer that question, and share things to consider.
Google Ad Manager provides a number of benefits to the publisher. It enables them to run waterfall setups with integrated reporting. It also enables them to set up header bidding. Publishers often have doubts about whether or not they can connect AdSense and AdX together in Ad Manager—or know which among them is the better option.
Here is how Google differentiates b/w Adsense and AdX.
Google AdSense vs Google AdX
| Feature | Google Ad Exchange (AdX) | Google AdSense |
| Access Requirements | Requires 5M+ pageviews/month or access via a certified partner. Invite-only for direct access | Easy sign-up process. No traffic threshold |
| Revenue Potential | 20–50% higher CPMs in tier 1 geos with floor pricing, preferred deals, and dynamic bidding | Lower CPMs, fixed rev-share (68%), best suited for tier 3 geos |
| Ad Control | Full control: floor pricing, inventory segmentation, creative review, advertiser/category blocking | Limited control: automated placements, no floor pricing, no deal structuring |
| Ease of Use | Requires ad tech resources or a certified partner to operate efficiently | Beginner-friendly as it requires minimal setup. Suitable for solo operators |
| Anonymity | Publishers can set inventory as branded, semi-transparent, or anonymous, or combine options | No support for anonymous or semi-transparent inventory |
| Preferred Deals | Supports Preferred Deals with fixed CPMs and Private Auctions with floor pricing | Preferred Deals not available |
| Filtering & Blocking | Advanced: all AdSense controls plus ad tech blocking, cookie/data usage filters, user-based demand filters | Basic: GCAN, URL, general/sensitive category, and creative review |
| Reporting | Flexible custom reporting with publisher-defined parameters or templates | Standard preset reporting based on “Sites”, “Ad Units”, “Ad Sizes”, etc |
To sum up, AdX connects you with premium demand partners, varied programmatic demand from multiple DSPs, and advertisers. It also gives you access to advanced reporting dimensions along with the ability to set floor prices in RTB. These features are not available in AdSense.
So, Can You Connect AdSense and AdX to Google Ad Manager?
Google clearly mentions that if two line items trafficked with AdX and Google AdSense are run at the same priority, Ad Manager randomly selects one for ad serving. So yes, you can connect AdSense and AdX in Google Ad Manager, simultaneously.
In fact, you can even backfill Ad Manager ad units with AdSense using the following steps:
- Sign in to Google Ad Manager
- Click Inventory Network settings
- Select the Maximize revenue of unsold and remnant inventory with AdSense checkbox
- Click Save
That said, it’s important to understand that while AdSense and AdX can be run together in Ad Manager, they do not tap into the same demand source.
AdSense primarily relies on Google Display Network and Google-certified ad networks, which are connected to Google Ads. However, AdX not only includes demand sources from AdSense but also includes third-party demand sources, DSPs, and ad networks.
Due to this variation in the demand sources, impressions are valued differently on the two platforms.
How Do They Work Together?
AdSense and AdX work together via dynamic allocation. It is a feature that allows AdSense and AdX to compete in real-time along with other line items for your inventory. This ensures that you get the highest-possible value for each impression.
This functionality maximizes Ad Exchange, AdSense, Open Bidding, and remnant line item revenue while maintaining guaranteed line item delivery performance.
Here, the guaranteed line items include standard and sponsored line items. On the other hand, non-guaranteed line items include AdSense, AdX, Remnant, and House line items.
To help maximize yield, Google uses a feature called Dynamic Allocation that pits different demand sources against each other in real time.
What is Dynamic Allocation?
Dynamic Allocation is intended to display the ad with the highest CPM and optimize income for publishers who use Google products. As a result, when enabled, Dynamic Allocation operates throughout a publisher’s whole network. A publisher prepares their inventory for competition by combining Protections, URLs, and standardized pricing regulations.
How does Dynamic Allocation work?
If a guaranteed line item becomes eligible for an impression, it will be competing with remnant line items or open auction. For this, the GAM calculates an opportunity cost or temporary CPM that the guaranteed line item uses in the auction.
The open auction or remnant line item gets served if they pay more than the opportunity cost. However, if the guaranteed line items are behind schedule, the GAM temporarily raises its CPM to increase its chances of winning more impressions.
Hence, dynamic allocation maximizes your programmatic revenue without causing under-delivery of guaranteed line items
What are the Benefits of running both AdSense and AdX together?
Maximized revenue is the main benefit that a publisher receives from this arrangement. Occurring on an impression basis, this arrangement prioritizes guaranteed line items while maximizing revenue from programmatic sources.
Benefits include:
1. Increased Competition
You increase competition for your ad inventory by allowing AdX and AdSense to compete for other line items in GAM. This, in turn, increases the eCPM per impression, maximizing your overall revenue.
2. Prioritization and Control
Guaranteed line items in GAM have the highest priority, with AdSense and AdX competing with them dynamically. However, you can change the priority value of the line items based on your monetization goals. For example, the default priority number for an Ad Exchange line item is 12, but with configurable priorities, you can alter it to 4.
Which One Should I Choose and Why?
This depends on the use case you ideally want to be fulfilled:
- Case 1. You Want to Run Responsive Ads
You can’t use responsive ad units through GAM because of how GPT (Google Publisher Tag) sets up ad unit sizes. Responsive ad units can render really strange slot sizes, but they do increase bid pressure by allowing multiple sizes to fill the slot, without you having to specify anything. In GAM, you have to specify the sizes yourself. AdSense is the better option if you want responsive sizes to run. (There is support for downward compatibility in Ad Manager but sizes have to be mentioned.)
- Case 2. You Want to Set Floor Prices
Price floors let buyers know they won’t be able to buy an impression lower than a certain price. These floors can be set up in different ways depending on your strategy. You can set them up based on geo, device types, and even individual ad units. This is how it works.
This is what the auction looks like without the floors:
Bidder A offers $2. Bidder B offers $1. Your net income from the auction is then $1.01 (second price + 1 cent).
When you set a floor, you have the liberty to tell AdX: I only want bids above $1.5. Then, all bids below this threshold will fall through and all cases where you are eligible to get at least $1.5 will be activated. (Publishers generally run passbacks in these other cases below the threshold.)
Price flooring is exclusively available only via Ad Exchange, so this can’t be achieved only through AdSense in place. - Case 3. You Want to Run Server-side Header Bidding
The Server-side Header Bidding feature of Google, called Open Bidding, cannot be accessed via AdSense. EBDA allows you to invite other third-party exchanges and demand partners to compete for your inventory in a single auction using server-to-server bidding, thus reducing page latency.
- Case 4. You Just Want Easy Management
AdSense is designed to be very simple to handle and comes with almost no frills. Also, by default, if you do not have access to an AdX account, you will end up paying a certain amount to the AdX reseller via whom you get that access which could little revenue impact overall.
Hopefully, by now, you understand whether Adsense or AdX suits your use case better and is in line with the goals you are trying to achieve. Here is how you can go about connecting these to the Ad Manager.
How to connect Ad Manager to AdSense
- Sign in to Ad Manager
- Click on Link Accounts
- Go to Adsense tab
- Click New AdSense Link
- Once in the AdSense section, fill in all the fields:
How to connect Ad Manager to AdX
- Sign in to Ad Manager
- Click on Link Accounts
- Go to Ad Exchange tab
- Click New Ad Exchange link
- Once in the Ad Exchange section, fill all the fields.
Key Takeaways
Can AdX and AdSense run together in GAM: Yes, they can. Moreover, when both are given the same priority value, GAM would randomly select one for ad serving.
AdSense and AdX differ in demand sources. AdSense relies on Google Display Network and Google-certified ad networks. On the other hand, AdX includes AdSense as well as Google-certified demand partners like Pubmatic, premium ad exchanges, and DSPs. This difference in demand procurement is the reason why the two platforms value impressions differently.
How Dynamic Allocation Works: AdSense and AdX compete with other line items within GAM in real-time. GAM uses temporary CPMs to determine whether a guaranteed or non-guaranteed line item should win. If competing bids exceed this CPM, they win the impression. If the guaranteed line item is behind schedule, GAM increases its temporary CPM to maintain delivery.
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FAQs
Ad demand sources are the touchpoints within the adtech ecosystem to procure ad creatives. In simple words, these are the advertisers who are willing to display ads on your website/app. Essentially, there are three types of ad demand sources: ad networks, ad exchanges, and direct deals. Demand sources vary in type and function.
AdSense is a Google-owned platform that facilitates website monetization by showing ads to visitors. It is one of the most accessible, free, and easy-to-set-up platforms, making it ideal for beginners. By using AdSense, you can display relevant and engaging ads to your site visitors and even customize the look and feel of ads.
