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Sr. Director - Media
DV360 | DV360
If you're managing ads at enterprise scale, you've likely heard...
By Aditya Mohite
Jun 23, 2026 | 5 Minutes | 
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If you're managing ads at enterprise scale, you've likely heard about DV360 in vendor talks or RFP discussions. But what exactly is DV360, and how does it work? This guide explains the platform's structure, core modules, and how Indian brands are using it to grow campaigns fast.
DV360 is Google's enterprise platform for buying digital ads. Unlike Google Ads, which is simple and focuses on Google's own sites, DV360 gives you access to hundreds of ad exchanges, direct deals with publishers, and powerful audience tools. It's what enterprise brands use when they need more control, better inventory choices, and refined targeting.
DV360 is Google's enterprise tool for buying ads at scale within the Google Marketing Platform. It lets you manage display, video, audio, CTV, and YouTube ads through one interface. According to Google, it gives advertisers access to 100 plus ad exchanges plus programmatic guaranteed deals.
Unlike Google Ads, which is self-serve and buys from Google's own network, DV360 is made for big-scale buying. You get access to ad inventory not available through Google Ads and can bring in your own audience data from your systems.
What makes DV360 powerful is that you do everything in one place. You plan ads, manage audiences, upload creatives, make deals for inventory, and review results all together. This saves time and lets media teams, creative teams, and analysts work without getting in each other's way.
DV360 has two parts: a five-level budget structure and five core modules. Learning both is key to scaling your ad campaigns.
The structure controls budget, access, and reports:
Each level controls different budgets, which matters when you manage spend across multiple brands or regions. Learning this setup stops budget waste and keeps reports clean.
DV360 has five tools that work together:
Campaigns Module: Your main hub. You build campaigns, insertion orders, and line items here. You set budget caps, frequency limits, and brand safety rules.
Audiences Module: Create audience groups from your own data, partner data, and Google's data. Mix audiences together for precise targeting.
Creatives Module: Store your ad creatives and link them to line items. Works with rich media, interactive, video, and standard display ads.
Inventory Module: Browse ads you can buy, set up private deals with publishers, and make fixed-price deals. See details about where your ads will run.
Insights Module: Check your ad results, build reports, and send data to BigQuery or Looker Studio for more analysis.
All five modules work together. Audiences feed into Line Items. Creatives run through Inventory. Campaign data goes to Insights.
Both come from Google, but they work very differently.
Inventory: Google Ads buys from Google's network, while DV360 buys from 100 plus outside exchanges and direct publisher deals.
Data: Google Ads uses Google's data, while DV360 lets you use your own audience data from your CRM or other sources.
Targeting: Google Ads has basic demographic and interest tools, while DV360 gives you precise control over many audience types.
Access: Google Ads is self-serve with no minimum spend, while DV360 needs a deal and a minimum spend promise.
Setup: Google Ads is fast and simple, while DV360 takes more work but gives you much more control.
Google Ads works for anyone, while DV360 works for big companies needing inventory choice and control. Many brands use both at the same time.
Top Indian companies use DV360 to combine vendors and get better results. Two real examples show this:
Samsung India used DV360 to run ads across CTV and digital, reaching 300 million people in one effort. By buying all ads in one place and limiting how many times each person sees ads, they cut wasted views and got better returns.
Maruti Suzuki used fixed-price deals with frequency limits to beat open market buying. They got better prices while controlling how often each user saw ads, cutting costs and raising sales.
Both show the same thing: Indian brands use DV360 to use fewer vendors, get better prices, and cut waste through frequency limits. Fewer vendors means fewer spreadsheets and faster reports, which help big brands manage complex campaigns.
DV360 is not self-serve. Here's how most brands get it:
Step 1: Choose Your Path: Direct deal with Google, or work with a certified partner like DWAO.
Step 2: Minimum Spend: DV360 accounts have minimum spend requirements that differ by size and location. For Indian brands, they start high.
Step 3: Set Up Account: Once you sign, you get Partner and Advertiser accounts, billing setup, and training on the five modules.
Step 4: Launch Ads: Build your first Campaign and Line Items. Many brands work with a partner at this step to set up accounts right.
Why Work With a Partner? Partners like DWAO offer good prices, set up accounts well, connect to GA4 and BigQuery, build audiences, and help over time. Most Indian brands get DV360 this way since it's faster and cheaper than calling Google direct.
For pricing info, see how DV360 pricing works. You can also read our complete DV360 features guide for more on what DV360 does and how to use it.
DV360 is a demand-side platform (DSP) where buyers purchase ads. You use it to buy ads, while publishers use SSPs to sell them.
No. DV360 requires a deal with Google or a partner, plus a minimum spend promise. There is no free plan or trial.
Google Ads is self-serve, uses Google's ads only, and has no minimum. DV360 is enterprise-only, uses 100 plus outside exchanges, and needs a deal. Google Ads is simpler. DV360 gives more control.
DV360 pricing is based on what you spend. Your total cost depends on your budget, how complex your ads are, and any expert help you buy. Ask a partner for a price based on what you'll spend.
Yes, you can deal straight with Google. But most Indian brands use partners because they offer good prices, local help, and know how to set up accounts right.
From deal to first ad is usually 4 to 8 weeks, including account setup, audience work, ad building, and tests. Partners often speed this up a lot.
You can use your own customer data, data from partners, and data from third parties. You can also use Google's built-in audience types like in-market and interests. You can import data via APIs, CSV files, or your data platform.
Yes. DV360 works with Google Analytics 360 and GA4 so you can send sale data into DV360 for audience building and ad tuning. You can also send DV360 data to BigQuery and Looker Studio for deeper looks at how ads perform.