OpenX vs. Google Ad Manager

Google did it again... came up with a competing product that might slurp up all competition.

What do people think about OpenX vs. Google Ad Manager when it comes to delivering ads to their sites? The interfaces are different (could be annoying for some users), but the big reason that I’m leaning towards OpenX is that I can download it and install it locally so it should be able to run faster. I’ve tested out the hosted option.... it’s easy to implement, but I noticed that page loads are slow (especially the first time around, i.e. before the page is cached), so I’m leaning towards the downloaded option... maybe we should get a MODx port going on...

Thoughts?

We have been using and hosting our own OpenX for the last year. It can be a little hard to get around in at times, but all in all it seems to be a good script. We don’t have much experience with Google, but it’s really hard to beat open source.

I know literally nothing about Google Ad Manager, but IMO Google has a history of throwing apps together, then failing to improve them much or even fix obvious bugs (e.g. Google Calendar, Competitive Ad Filter, Chrome). AFAIK, Google Calendar still has the obvious word-wrap bug that people have been complaining about since day one.

Heheh. Thanks for the input. Yeah, I’m leaning heavily towards OpenX -- I tried the hosted version, and that’s fine... but I’ll probably try it locally too, just to see if it’s cleaner.

Here is a good comparison of both systems - http://bit.ly/1KC9ln

Ultimately, i think there are other good alternatives and it really depends on your circumstance. I have used OpenX and am frustrated with its bugs.