Google DV360 (Display & Video 360): What It Is, How It Works, and Key Features

Display & Video 360 is a demand-side platform (DSP) within the Google Marketing Platform ecosystem. It enables advertisers to plan, buy, optimize, and measure digital campaigns from a single interface.

Scroll down to learn what DV360 is, how it works, and where it delivers the most value, sharing practical insights from real campaign experience.

What Is DV360 (Google Display & Video 360)?

Display & Video 360 (DV360) is a demand-side platform (DSP) within Google Marketing Platform. It allows advertisers to plan, run, and optimize programmatic campaigns across different inventory sources, manage audiences, and measure performance.

Google DV360 supports both auction-based and direct programmatic buying. The main deal types include:

• Open Auction. An open bidding environment where eligible advertisers compete for available ad impressions.
• Private Marketplace (PMP). An invitation-only auction where selected buyers bid on inventory, usually with a minimum price set by the publisher.
• Preferred Deal. A non-guaranteed agreement that gives advertisers priority access to inventory at a negotiated fixed price.
• Programmatic Guaranteed. A direct agreement with a fixed price and an agreed volume of inventory reserved in advance.

The platform connects advertisers with Google inventory, third-party exchanges, and publishers. Available placements, ad formats, and deal types vary by country, account settings, exchange integrations, and agreements with inventory sellers.

Is DV360 a DSP?

Yes. DV360 is Google’s demand-side platform for programmatic media buying. It bids on available impressions based on audience, budget, and campaign settings. This is a key part of how programmatic advertising works: supply-side platforms (SSPs) help publishers sell their inventory, while DV360 handles buying. 

The Google DSP evolved from DoubleClick Bid Manager (DBM), a name you may still see in older tutorials.

How Does DV360 Work?

The DV360 platform handles media buying in real time. Once you set your audience, budget, and bidding strategy, it evaluates available ad impressions and bids on those that match your campaign settings.

If you win the auction, your ad gets served. From there, you can track performance, adjust budgets, manage publisher deals, and fine-tune placements, all within the DV360 interface.

DV360 Hierarchy and Access Levels

The DV360 hierarchy is Partner → Advertiser → Campaign → Insertion Order → Line Item. 

Creatives are managed at the advertiser level and assigned to line items.

Insertion orders handle budgets and pacing; line items control targeting, bids, and creative assignments. YouTube line items may also have ad groups.

DV360 access levels include admin, standard, planning, reporting, and read-only roles. Permissions apply to assigned partners or advertisers.

Display & Video 360: Key Features and Capabilities

The main modules of this tool include the following:

Campaigns

DV360 lets media teams plan campaigns across multiple channels. Before launch, they can forecast reach and frequency based on audience and budget settings. Automated bidding then helps adjust bids according to campaign objectives.

The DV360 planning tool forecasts reach and frequency before launch. YouTube reach planning and outcome-based buying settings help teams match media scenarios with performance indicators.

A DV360 campaign can include separate insertion orders for different markets or channels, each with its own budget and pacing settings.

Audiences and Targeting

DV360 audiences bring together first-party customer data, Google audience segments, and eligible third-party data. The Audiences module lets you create lists, analyze audience behavior, and combine segments for different campaigns.

DV360 targeting offers several ways to reach people based on their interests and purchase intent:

• Affinity audiences. Display & Video 360 affinity audiences help reach people with established interests, from travel to fitness.
• Custom affinity audiences. Define more specific interests using relevant keywords, websites, and apps.
• Custom intent audiences. The platform’s custom intent targeting helps reach people researching products or services similar to yours.
• Remarketing. Use Floodlight data or Customer Match lists to reconnect with eligible website visitors and existing customers.

You can also combine audience segments or exclude existing customers when prospecting.

Contextual targeting also helps reach people based on the content they’re viewing. Available targeting options vary by channel, especially on YouTube and connected TV.

Creatives

DV360 supports display, video, audio, and native ads, including interactive rich media. Advertisers can manage creatives alongside their campaigns and adapt messages for different audiences.

The platform offers several tools for creative production:

• Ad Canvas. Build and edit supported native ads, with live previews of text, images, and layouts.
• Format Gallery. Explore available ad formats, view examples, and find templates for Google Web Designer.
• Data-driven creative. Use audience data and predefined rules to deliver different messages, images, or offers. DV360 dynamic creative options make it easier to manage multiple ad variations.

For video campaigns, YouTube ad sequences let you tell a story across several ads shown in a specific order.

DV360 macros also help with tracking, automatically inserting values such as click URLs into supported third-party ad tags.

Inventory and Deal Types

The DV360 platform has high-quality inventory from trusted publishers and SSPs (supply-side publishers), as well as Google inventory. With the new capabilities of the Inventory module, media teams can view the diverse media market across formats, devices, and screens, and then easily negotiate and manage campaigns through a range of deal types.

Alongside inventory access, DV360 provides the following capabilities and resources:

• Fraud prevention and brand safety — built-in tools to protect campaigns and ensure brand safety targeting
• Advanced TV — access to premium TV inventory across streaming environments and traditional networks
• Unified media buying — the ability to purchase display, video, and audio inventory from multiple partners, including SSPs and ad exchanges, within a single interface
• YouTube inventory — access to eligible YouTube ad formats and reservation-based buying options
• Guaranteed and programmatic deals — automated buying of direct deals with real-time audience data, combining reservation-based buying with programmatic efficiency

Types of deals in DV360 include open auctions, private auctions, Preferred Deals, and Programmatic Guaranteed.

With DV360 Programmatic Guaranteed, advertisers can reserve publisher inventory under agreed terms. DV360 CTV campaigns reach viewers on eligible streaming services, while OTT and digital out-of-home placements offer additional opportunities.
Insights Module and Reporting

The Insights Module brings campaign data together for detailed analysis. Google’s Active View technology measures whether ad impressions meet viewability standards. It also provides details such as video player size and page position.

DV360 reporting tracks reach, viewability, conversions, and invalid traffic. DV360 tracking uses Floodlight tags to measure conversions and build remarketing audiences.

Google’s Display & Video 360 connector can transfer eligible campaign data into BigQuery for deeper analysis. This requires the appropriate data access and setup.

DV360 also integrates with Campaign Manager 360, allowing advertisers to analyze creative performance alongside results from other channels.

DV360 Ad Formats and Specs

DV360 ad formats include display, video, native, audio, CTV, and digital out-of-home. Creative specs vary by publisher and placement.

For digital audio, the platform supports MP3 and OGG files. Clips of 15 or 30 seconds work across much of the available inventory.

Display Ads and Banners

Common DV360 display specs include 300 × 250, 728 × 90, 160 × 600, and 320 × 50 pixels. Banner assets can be JPG, PNG, GIF, or HTML5. Image files may be up to 10 MB, although publishers often have tighter limits.

Video and YouTube Ads

DV360 supports skippable, non-skippable, bumper, and ad-sequencing formats. YouTube ad specs vary by placement. TrueView video-view options remain available, while Demand Gen has replaced YouTube Video Action line items for conversion-focused campaigns.

Advertisers can also measure their YouTube campaigns’ impact with a YouTube Brand Lift survey, tracking changes in ad recall, brand awareness, and consideration.

Native Ads

DV360 native ads combine headlines, images, logos, and descriptions in publisher layouts. Native site formats require a 1.91:1 image of at least 1200 × 627 pixels and a square logo of at least 100 × 100 pixels.

DV360 vs Google Ads

DV360 vs Google Ads comes down to programmatic reach, buying methods, and campaign controls.

Feature	DV360	Google Ads
Main use	Cross-channel programmatic media buying	Self-service Google advertising campaigns
Inventory	Multiple exchanges, publishers, YouTube, CTV, and deals	Google’s eligible networks and placements
Buying methods	Auctions, private deals, Preferred Deals, Programmatic Guaranteed	Mainly campaign-based buying through Google’s ad products
Audience data	First-party, Google, and eligible third-party options	Google audiences and first-party data integrations
Campaign control	Detailed deal, inventory, placement, and frequency settings	Streamlined setup and automation

DV360 vs The Trade Desk and Other DSPs

Both platforms support programmatic advertising across display, video, audio, and connected TV. The main differences in a DV360 vs Trade Desk comparison come down to inventory access, audience data, and integrations.

• DV360. Offers direct access to YouTube inventory and integrates with Google tools such as Campaign Manager 360 and Analytics 360. This makes it useful for advertisers managing YouTube campaigns alongside other programmatic channels.
• The Trade Desk. Focuses on the open internet, with extensive connected TV inventory, retail data partnerships, and identity solutions such as Unified ID 2.0 (UID2).

Other DV360 competitors include Amazon DSP, which offers access to Amazon’s advertising inventory and shopping-related audience data.

The right platform depends on where your audience spends time, which data sources you use, and how you measure campaign performance. Some advertisers use multiple DSPs to reach different audiences and publishers.

Advantages of Display & Video 360

The DV360 benefits grow with cross-market and cross-format complexity.

• Centralized campaign management. Manage campaigns, budgets, bids, audiences, creatives, inventory, and reporting in one place. This makes it easier for teams running campaigns across multiple projects or markets to stay organized.
• Reach and frequency control. DV360 lets advertisers forecast reach before launching a campaign and set frequency caps at the campaign, insertion order, or line-item level. The platform can track ad exposure across different inventory types, although accuracy depends on available identifiers, devices, and data from publishers or exchanges.
• Flexible buying options. Open auctions offer scale and flexibility, while private auctions and guaranteed deals give advertisers more control over publishers, pricing, and inventory volume.
• Optimization for business outcomes. DV360 can automatically optimize campaigns for conversions, conversion value, and other KPIs. When standard bidding strategies aren’t enough, Custom Bidding lets advertisers define how impressions are valued using Floodlight data, GA4 events, and other available signals.
• Access to multiple advertising channels. Manage display, video, native, and audio campaigns alongside connected TV (CTV) and digital out-of-home (DOOH) placements from one account. Available inventory and features vary by market, buying method, and advertising environment.

DV360 Optimization Tips

Here are a few DV360 tips to improve campaign performance, from tracking conversions and managing frequency caps to adjusting budget pacing and excluding underperforming placements:

• Review publisher and app-level performance. Exclude placements with weak engagement or unsuitable content.
• Separate prospecting and retargeting where different bidding rules or frequency caps make sense.
• Compare creative versions by audience and environment. A CTV video and a mobile banner need different success metrics.
• Monitor invalid traffic, viewability, and conversion quality alongside delivery volume.
• Give automated strategies enough conversion data to learn before making frequent changes.

How to Start Working with DV360

Start with DV360 training on Google Skillshop and Google’s Help Center. For a better understanding of the workflow, you can follow a DV360 tutorial with a sample campaign.

Focus on three areas:

• Campaign structure. Learn how insertion orders, line items, and creatives work together.
• Targeting and bidding. Understand how to select audiences, set budgets, and manage inventory.
• Reporting and optimization. Track results, identify weak placements, and improve campaign performance.

Explore Google Display & Video 360 for advertisers to see how MixDigital manages campaign setup, media buying, and optimization.

When Does Display & Video 360 Make Sense for a Business?

DV360 is worth considering for brands and agencies that:

• Invest consistently in digital media advertising.
• Run campaigns across multiple formats, markets, or publishers.
• Have first-party data and conversion tracking in place.
• Need access to private marketplaces (PMPs), premium inventory, or Programmatic Guaranteed deals.
• Want to manage reach, frequency caps, brand safety, and brand suitability from one platform.
• Optimize campaigns for conversion value and other business outcomes beyond clicks.

What Changed in DV360 in 2026?

Google introduced several DV360 updates in 2026, affecting YouTube campaigns, audience targeting, reporting, creative rotation, and bidding. Here’s what advertisers need to know.

1. Demand Gen Replaced YouTube Video Action Line Items

As of February 28, 2026, Google paused and archived all YouTube Video Action line items.

Advertisers need to move their budgets and relevant campaign settings to Demand Gen line items to keep conversion-focused campaigns running. Demand Gen also offers additional inventory across YouTube, Discover, Gmail, and the Google Display Network.

2. Lookalike Audiences Replaced Audience Expansion

Starting June 15, 2026, Google began replacing Audience expansion with Lookalike audiences for YouTube Video Reach and Video View campaigns.

Existing audience expansion settings don’t transfer automatically. Advertisers need to create and apply Lookalike audiences manually to maintain broader reach. The new options also offer more control over audience similarity and scale.

3. Reporting Is Moving to Instant Reporting

In June 2026, Google began a phased migration of Floodlight and Inventory Availability reports from legacy offline reporting to Instant Reporting.

The transition requires no action from advertisers, but Google recommends getting familiar with the newer reporting tools. Instant Reporting provides faster access to campaign data, making it easier to review results and identify optimization opportunities.

4. Creative Rotation Now Follows Bidding Strategies

Google announced changes to creative rotation for display and video line items, with the transition scheduled for August 12, 2026.

Creative selection now aligns with the line item’s bidding strategy. With Maximize Conversions, for example, the system favors ads expected to generate more conversions. Maximize Clicks prioritizes creatives likely to attract clicks. Under fixed bidding and certain other strategies, creatives rotate evenly.

This reduces the need to manage creative rotation manually.

5. Brand Suitability Controls Are Changing

Google also announced plans to retire several legacy brand suitability settings in August 2026, including most digital content labels, sensitive category exclusions, and older category exclusions. The “Content not yet rated” label remains an exception.

Inventory Modes and Content Themes are replacing these controls.

Advertisers should review their existing exclusions and move them to the new settings where applicable. Otherwise, campaigns could appear alongside content that previously fell under their exclusions.

6. Demand Gen Bidding Is More Closely Aligned With Targets

Starting August 17, 2026, Google updated target-based bidding in Demand Gen to improve consistency with target CPA, ROAS, and CPC settings, including when budgets change.

This makes campaign performance more predictable during scaling, but advertisers need to review their targets.

Say your campaign has a target CPA of $10 but currently delivers conversions at $5. Under the updated bidding behavior, the actual CPA may move closer to $10. To maintain the lower CPA, you should consider adjusting your target accordingly.

Conclusion

Display & Video 360 gives advertisers one place to manage programmatic media buying, reach audiences across channels, and optimize campaigns using their own data.

Its strengths lie in flexible buying options, detailed inventory controls, and advanced bidding capabilities. With the 2026 updates, advertisers should also revisit their audience settings, creative rotation, brand suitability controls, and bidding targets to keep campaigns running as intended.