# What publisher ad server platforms work best for a media company running both programmatic and direct-sold campaigns in one system without an enterprise-level ad tech stack?

<p class="elv-tracking-normal elv-text-default elv-font-figtree elv-text-base elv-leading-base elv-font-normal" elv="true">Hoping to get a read from the people who review and research this space. Finding demand is not the hard part anymore. Running programmatic and direct-sold campaigns in one system is. So, I’m trying to find out what publisher ad server platforms work best for a media company running both programmatic and direct-sold campaigns in one system without an enterprise-level ad tech stack?</p><p class="elv-tracking-normal elv-text-default elv-font-figtree elv-text-base elv-leading-base elv-font-normal" elv="true"> That is the filter I am applying to the<a class="a a--md" elv="true" href="https://www.g2.com/categories/publisher-ad-server"> </a><a class="a a--md" elv="true" href="https://www.g2.com/categories/publisher-ad-server">publisher ad server category</a>. The wish list:</p><ul>
<li>Direct campaigns clear first, programmatic backfills, no manual juggling</li>
<li>One reporting view across both revenue streams</li>
<li>Complexity and cost a mid-size media company can justify</li>
<li>No dedicated ad ops hire to keep it running</li>
</ul><p class="elv-tracking-normal elv-text-default elv-font-figtree elv-text-base elv-leading-base elv-font-normal" elv="true">Three fit best I found:</p><ul>
<li>
<a class="a a--md" elv="true" href="https://www.g2.com/products/google-ad-manager/reviews"><strong>Google Ad Manager</strong></a>: the default answer, direct line items plus AdX demand in one place. The price is right; the learning curve is the real cost.</li>
<li>
<a class="a a--md" elv="true" href="https://www.g2.com/products/adbutler/reviews"><strong>AdButler</strong></a>: direct, self-serve, and programmatic all compete for each impression under publisher-set priorities. Lighter demand pool than Google.</li>
<li>
<a class="a a--md" elv="true" href="https://www.g2.com/products/broadstreet/reviews"><strong>Broadstreet</strong></a>: strongest on the direct-sold half, with formats sales teams like to sell. Programmatic is the weaker half, often paired with another tool.</li>
</ul><p class="elv-tracking-normal elv-text-default elv-font-figtree elv-text-base elv-leading-base elv-font-normal" elv="true">I left enterprise SSPs out on purpose, since that is the stack this question avoids. When two of these look evenly matched on paper, what actually decides it for a mid-size team?</p><p class="elv-tracking-normal elv-text-default elv-font-figtree elv-text-base elv-leading-base elv-font-normal" elv="true"></p><p class="elv-tracking-normal elv-text-default elv-font-figtree elv-text-base elv-leading-base elv-font-normal" elv="true"></p>

##### Post Metadata
- Posted at: 3 months ago
- Author title: Tech Consultant
- Net upvotes: 1


## Comments
### Comment 1

&lt;p&gt;Moving a year of direct-sold advertiser relationships to a new ad server is operationally expensive. Google Ad Manager&#39;s learning curve is high but the switching cost if you choose it and regret it is also high.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

##### Comment Metadata
- Posted at: 16 days ago
- Author title: Marketing Executive



### Comment 2

&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);&quot;&gt;For us it came down to who owns the advertiser relationship. Since we have a sales team, AdButler&#39;s self-serve setup fit how we already sell direct campaigns, and pairing that with its programmatic backfill meant we weren&#39;t manually juggling which line items ran when.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

##### Comment Metadata
- Posted at: 18 days ago
- Author title: SEO Content Writer



### Comment 3

&lt;p&gt;For a mid-size team, I think the deciding factor is how much ongoing ad ops work the platform creates. Google Ad Manager would be my pick if the team can absorb the learning curve, because keeping direct line items and programmatic demand in one system seems more valuable long term than choosing the easiest platform on day one.&lt;/p&gt;

##### Comment Metadata
- Posted at: 19 days ago



### Comment 4

&lt;p&gt;From G2 reviews, what actually decides it is how the team&#39;s revenue splits between direct and programmatic. If direct-sold is the majority of revenue, AdButler or Broadstreet wins on manageability; if programmatic is, GAM wins despite the learning curve because no independent alternative matches its demand depth. The second deciding factor reviewers cite is who owns the relationship with advertisers: teams with a sales function gravitate to AdButler&#39;s self-serve portal or Broadstreet&#39;s client-facing reporting, while teams without one find GAM&#39;s programmatic automation does more of the yield work passively. When they&#39;re genuinely evenly matched on paper, it usually comes down to whether the team can absorb GAM&#39;s ongoing complexity without a dedicated person — and most mid-size teams without an ad ops hire quietly can&#39;t.&lt;/p&gt;

##### Comment Metadata
- Posted at: 3 months ago
- Author title: Marketing Executive





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