License & Deployment Mix: 15 tools – 1 OSS, 15 SaaS. (OSS and SaaS counts can overlap when an open-source tool also offers a vendor-hosted edition.)
What Are Ad Platforms?
Ad platforms are systems that enable businesses to create, manage, and optimize paid advertising campaigns across digital channels – search engines, social media feeds, display networks, video platforms, and programmatic exchanges. Unlike organic marketing (SEO, content marketing), ad platforms involve paid placement where advertisers bid for impressions, clicks, or conversions.
This directory evaluates ad platforms across five categories: search advertising, social media advertising, programmatic/DSP platforms, self-serve native ad networks, and ad management/serving tools.
For email marketing platforms, see the Bulk Email & Marketing directory. For marketing automation, see the Marketing Automation directory. For SEO/SEM tools (organic + paid analytics), see the SEO / SEM Tools directory.
The information on these pages was researched by a combination of human review and large language models. To suggest an addition or correction, please contact us. Prepared by Rhodium Systems Inc., author of the ResorsIT platform — a unified IT operations management platform for IT teams and MSPs that integrates a curated suite of open-source, commercial, and SaaS applications into a single system with shared identity, single sign-on, access control, and a common audit trail. Use this catalogue only as a starting point for your own research, and review any tool carefully against your own requirements before relying on it. Catalogue data version 2026.197.
Comparison
Platform Overview
| Tool | Type | Pricing | Min Spend | Self-Hosted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Ads | Search/Display/Video | CPC/CPM/CPA | None | No |
| Microsoft Ads | Search/Display | CPC/CPM | None | No |
| Meta Ads | Social | CPC/CPM/CPA | $1/day | No |
| LinkedIn Ads | Social (B2B) | CPC/CPM | $10/day | No |
| TikTok Ads | Social (Video) | CPC/CPM | $20/day* | No |
| X Ads | Social | CPC/CPM | None | No |
| Pinterest Ads | Social (Visual) | CPC/CPM | None | No |
| The Trade Desk | Programmatic DSP | CPM | $25K+/mo* | No |
| DV360 | Programmatic DSP | CPM | Negotiated | No |
| Amazon DSP | Programmatic DSP | CPM | $15K+/mo* | No |
| Taboola | Native/Content | CPC | $10/day | No |
| Outbrain | Native/Content | CPC | $20/day* | No |
| Campaign Manager 360 | Ad Server/Tracking | License fee | Negotiated | No |
| Kevel | Ad Server API | SaaS/Self-hosted | From $600/mo | Partial |
| Revive Adserver | Ad Server | Free (OSS) | N/A | Yes |
* = minimum may vary by region and campaign type
Targeting Capabilities
| Tool | Keywords | Demographics | Interests | Retargeting | Lookalike | Contextual | 1P Data |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Ads | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Microsoft Ads | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Meta Ads | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Limited | Yes |
| LinkedIn Ads | No | Yes* | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| TikTok Ads | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| X Ads | Yes* | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Pinterest Ads | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| The Trade Desk | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| DV360 | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Amazon DSP | No | Yes | Yes* | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes* |
| Taboola | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Limited |
| Outbrain | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Limited |
* = LinkedIn targets by job title/company/industry (professional demographics); X keyword targeting is conversation-based; Amazon interest targeting uses purchase/browse behavior; Amazon 1P data is Amazon’s own shopper data.
Ad Formats
| Tool | Search Text | Display | Video | Native | Shopping | Carousel |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Ads | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Microsoft Ads | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Meta Ads | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes* | Yes |
| LinkedIn Ads | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| TikTok Ads | No | No | Yes | No | Yes* | Yes |
| X Ads | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Pinterest Ads | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| The Trade Desk | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| DV360 | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Amazon DSP | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Taboola | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Outbrain | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| CM360 | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Kevel | Custom | Custom | Custom | Custom | Custom | Custom |
| Revive | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
* = Meta Shopping via Advantage+ catalog; TikTok Shopping via TikTok Shop integration.
API & Integration
| Tool | API Type | Mgmt API | Reporting API | Conv. API | Webhooks | SDKs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Ads | REST/gRPC | Yes | Yes | Yes* | No | 7+ |
| Microsoft Ads | REST/SOAP | Yes | Yes | Yes* | No | 5+ |
| Meta Ads | Graph API | Yes | Yes | Yes | Webhooks | 5+ |
| LinkedIn Ads | REST | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | None |
| TikTok Ads | REST | Yes | Yes | Yes | Webhooks | Python |
| X Ads | REST | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | None |
| Pinterest Ads | REST | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Python |
| The Trade Desk | REST | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | None |
| DV360 | REST | Yes | Yes | Yes* | No | 5+ |
| Amazon DSP | REST | Yes | Yes | Yes* | No | None |
| Taboola | REST | Yes | Yes | Yes | Webhooks | None |
| Outbrain | REST | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | None |
| CM360 | REST | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | 5+ |
| Kevel | REST | Yes | Yes | N/A | Webhooks | 5+ |
| Revive | XML-RPC | Yes | Yes | N/A | No | PHP |
* = Google Enhanced Conversions, Microsoft UET, DV360 via Floodlight, Amazon Attribution.
SSO/OIDC Support
SSO is relevant for ad server admin panels (self-hosted tools). SaaS ad platforms use their own identity providers (Google Account, Microsoft Account, Meta Business, etc.).
| Tool | Admin OIDC | Admin SAML | Admin LDAP | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Ads | N/A | N/A | N/A | Google Account |
| Microsoft Ads | N/A | N/A | N/A | Microsoft Account |
| Meta Ads | N/A | N/A | N/A | Meta Business login |
| LinkedIn Ads | N/A | N/A | N/A | LinkedIn login |
| TikTok Ads | N/A | N/A | N/A | TikTok Business login |
| X Ads | N/A | N/A | N/A | X/Twitter login |
| Pinterest Ads | N/A | N/A | N/A | Pinterest Business login |
| The Trade Desk | N/A | SAML* | N/A | Enterprise SSO |
| DV360 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Google Account |
| Amazon DSP | N/A | N/A | N/A | Amazon Advertising login |
| Taboola | N/A | N/A | N/A | Taboola login |
| Outbrain | N/A | N/A | N/A | Outbrain login |
| CM360 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Google Account |
| Kevel | No | No | No | API-first; custom auth |
| Revive | No | No | No | Local auth; proxy SSO possible |
* = The Trade Desk supports SAML SSO for enterprise accounts.
Authentik integration: Only relevant for self-hosted ad servers (Kevel, Revive Adserver). Revive can be placed behind an Authentik reverse proxy for SSO. Kevel is API-first and would require custom integration.
Monitoring Integration
| Tool | API Metrics | Telegraf Plugin | Log Format | Grafana Dashboard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Ads | Yes (API) | Exec plugin | N/A (SaaS) | Custom |
| Microsoft Ads | Yes (API) | Exec plugin | N/A (SaaS) | Custom |
| Meta Ads | Yes (API) | Exec plugin | N/A (SaaS) | Custom |
| LinkedIn Ads | Yes (API) | Exec plugin | N/A (SaaS) | Custom |
| TikTok Ads | Yes (API) | Exec plugin | N/A (SaaS) | Custom |
| X Ads | Yes (API) | Exec plugin | N/A (SaaS) | Custom |
| Pinterest Ads | Yes (API) | Exec plugin | N/A (SaaS) | Custom |
| The Trade Desk | Yes (API) | Exec plugin | N/A (SaaS) | Custom |
| DV360 | Yes (API) | Exec plugin | N/A (SaaS) | Custom |
| Amazon DSP | Yes (API) | Exec plugin | N/A (SaaS) | Custom |
| Taboola | Yes (API) | Exec plugin | N/A (SaaS) | Custom |
| Outbrain | Yes (API) | Exec plugin | N/A (SaaS) | Custom |
| CM360 | Yes (API) | Exec plugin | N/A (SaaS) | Custom |
| Kevel | Yes (API) | Exec plugin | Structured | Custom |
| Revive | Yes (API) | Exec plugin | Apache/syslog | Custom |
monitoring integration pattern for SaaS ad platforms: A Telegraf exec plugin runs a script (Python or Go) on a cron schedule (e.g., every 15 minutes) that pulls spend, impressions, clicks, and conversions from the ad platform’s reporting API and outputs InfluxDB line protocol. Grafana dashboards then visualize trends and AlertManager fires on budget or performance anomalies.
Self-hosted ad servers (Kevel, Revive) additionally support standard infrastructure monitoring: Telegraf system metrics, Fluent Bit log collection, and health check endpoints.
Tools
15 tools.
Amazon DSP
Amazon DSP is Amazon’s demand-side platform for programmatic advertising, enabling advertisers to reach audiences across Amazon-owned properties (Amazon.com, IMDb, Twitch, Fire TV, Freevee) and third-party websites and apps through the Amaz…
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: none
Display & Video 360 (DV360)
Display & Video 360 (DV360) is Google’s enterprise demand-side platform (DSP), part of the Google Marketing Platform suite (alongside Campaign Manager 360, Search Ads 360, and Analytics 360).
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: none
Google Ads
Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords, rebranded 2018) is the world’s largest digital advertising platform, commanding approximately 28% of global digital ad revenue.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: none
Google Campaign Manager 360
Google Campaign Manager 360 (CM360, formerly DoubleClick Campaign Manager) is Google’s enterprise ad server and campaign tracking platform within the Google Marketing Platform suite.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: none
Kevel
Kevel (formerly Adzerk, rebranded 2020) is an ad server API platform that enables companies to build custom ad serving experiences – sponsored listings, internal promotions, native ads, and retail media networks.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: none
LinkedIn Ads
LinkedIn Ads (managed through LinkedIn Campaign Manager) is the primary advertising platform for B2B marketing, leveraging LinkedIn’s 1 billion+ professional member profiles for targeting by job title, company, industry, seniority, skills,…
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: none
Meta Ads
Meta Ads (managed through Meta Ads Manager, formerly Facebook Ads Manager) is the advertising platform for Meta’s family of apps – Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and the Meta Audience Network.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: none
Microsoft Ads
Microsoft Ads (formerly Bing Ads, rebranded 2019) is the advertising platform for Microsoft’s search and audience network, including Bing, Yahoo, AOL, DuckDuckGo (syndicated), MSN, Microsoft Edge, Outlook.com, and LinkedIn audience targetin…
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: none
Outbrain
Outbrain is a leading native advertising and content discovery platform, serving content recommendations across premium publisher websites including CNN, The Washington Post, Le Monde, Der Spiegel, El Pais, and MSN.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: none
Pinterest Ads
Pinterest Ads (managed through Pinterest Ads Manager) is the advertising platform for Pinterest, a visual discovery and planning platform with approximately 530 million monthly active users.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: none
Revive Adserver
Revive Adserver (formerly OpenX Source, and before that phpAdsNew) is the most widely deployed open- source ad server, enabling publishers to manage, serve, and track display advertising on their own websites.
License: GPL-2.0-only (OSS) · Kind: web · Deploy: docker, native · SSO: none
Taboola
Taboola is the world’s largest content discovery and native advertising platform, serving over 500 billion content recommendations per month across 9,000+ premium publisher websites including NBC News, USA Today, Business Insider, Bloomberg…
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: none
The Trade Desk
The Trade Desk is the largest independent demand-side platform (DSP), enabling advertisers to buy digital advertising programmatically across display, video, audio, connected TV (CTV), native, and digital out-of-home (DOOH) inventory.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: none
TikTok Ads
TikTok Ads (managed through TikTok Ads Manager) is the advertising platform for TikTok, the short-form video app with over 1.5 billion monthly active users globally.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: none
X Ads
X Ads (formerly Twitter Ads, rebranded 2023) is the advertising platform for X (formerly Twitter), a real-time social media and news platform with approximately 550-600 million monthly active users.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: none
