What Is Demand Gen in Google Ads? Features, Benefits & Best Practices

by Damien Hurwitz
on November 13, 2026

A customer does not always search for a product before deciding to buy it. Sometimes they discover a brand while watching YouTube, browsing content on Discover, or checking their Gmail inbox.

That is where Google Demand Gen comes in.

Demand Gen is a Google Ads campaign type built to introduce products and services to potential customers through visual, discovery-focused advertising. Rather than waiting for someone to search for a specific keyword, businesses can use images, video, and product ads to reach people based on their interests, behavior, and previous interactions with a brand.

For advertisers already running Google Search or Meta campaigns, Demand Gen offers another way to connect with potential customers before they are ready to make a purchase.

Here is how Demand Gen works, what features it offers, and how businesses can get more from these campaigns in 2027.

What Is Demand Gen in Google Ads?

Demand Gen, short for Demand Generation, is a Google Ads campaign type that uses visual advertising and audience targeting to create interest and drive conversions.

Demand Gen campaigns can appear across:

  • YouTube, including Shorts
  • YouTube in-feed and in-stream placements
  • YouTube Home and Watch Next feeds
  • Google Discover
  • Gmail
  • Google Display Network
  • Google Maps, when eligible location assets are available

Unlike traditional Search campaigns, which primarily reach people actively searching for products or services, Demand Gen focuses on reaching potential customers while they are consuming content and discovering new interests.

Google describes Demand Gen as a way to capture engagement and drive action across its most visual advertising surfaces.

How Does Demand Gen Work?

Demand Gen uses Google’s AI to help determine which audiences see your ads, where they appear, and how campaigns are optimized.

When setting up a campaign, advertisers provide several inputs:

Campaign objective: Choose whether the goal is to generate leads, drive sales, increase website traffic, or achieve another measurable outcome.

Audience targeting: Select audience segments based on interests, demographics, purchase intent, previous website activity, or customer lists.

Creative assets: Upload images, videos, headlines, descriptions, and other advertising assets.

Bidding strategy: Choose how Google should optimize the campaign based on its primary objective.

Google then uses these inputs to deliver ads across eligible placements and optimize performance.

Key Features of Google Demand Gen

Demand Gen has developed considerably since its introduction. Several features give advertisers more flexibility over targeting, creative, and campaign reporting.

1. Multiple Ad Formats

Demand Gen supports several creative formats, allowing advertisers to adapt their message to different placements.

These include:

  • Image ads: Static visuals that introduce products, services, or offers.
  • Video ads: Horizontal, square, and vertical videos that can run across YouTube and other eligible inventory.
  • Carousel ads: Multiple image cards that allow viewers to browse products or features.
  • Product feed ads: Product information from Google Merchant Center can populate relevant ads.
  • Shoppable CTV: Product feed campaigns can also support shopping experiences on connected TV screens through YouTube.

These formats give businesses more options than traditional text-based Search advertising.

2. Audience Targeting and Lookalike Segments

Demand Gen offers several audience options to help advertisers reach people who may be interested in their products or services.

Available options include:

  • Custom segments: Reach users based on relevant keywords, websites, and apps.
  • In-market audiences: Connect with people researching or considering specific purchases.
  • Affinity audiences: Reach people based on their interests and habits.
  • Remarketing: Reconnect with previous website visitors, app users, and YouTube viewers.
  • Customer Match: Use existing customer information to reach relevant audiences.
  • Lookalike segments: Find new people who share characteristics with an existing customer or visitor audience.

Lookalike segments are particularly useful for businesses looking to reach potential customers beyond their existing audience. Advertisers can select narrower, balanced, or broader expansion options based on their goals.

3. Channel Controls and Reporting

One of the more useful updates to Demand Gen is the ability to control where ads appear.

Google introduced channel controls that allow advertisers to select specific placements or use all available Google channels. These settings are managed at the ad group level.

For example, a business with vertical video creative specifically made for YouTube Shorts can choose to prioritize that placement.

Advertisers can also review channel-level reporting to see how campaigns perform across YouTube, Discover, Gmail, Maps, and the Display Network.

Google recommends using all eligible channels for most advertisers because broader inventory gives its AI more opportunities to find conversions efficiently. Restricting placements makes sense when there is a specific creative, audience, or campaign requirement.

4. Automated Bidding

Demand Gen supports several bidding strategies depending on the campaign objective.

Common options include:

  • Maximize Conversions: Generate as many conversions as possible within the budget.
  • Target CPA: Generate conversions while working toward a specified acquisition cost.
  • Maximize Conversion Value: Prioritize the total value generated by conversions.
  • Target ROAS: Optimize conversion value around a desired return on ad spend.
  • Maximize Clicks: Generate as many clicks as possible within the budget.
  • Target CPC: Work toward a specified average cost per click.

The right strategy depends on what the business wants to accomplish. Google recommends using conversion-focused bidding when the goal is leads or sales rather than optimizing for clicks alone.

What Are the Benefits of Demand Gen?

Reach Customers Before They Search

One of Demand Gen’s biggest advantages is its ability to introduce brands to people who may not be actively looking for a product.

A skincare company, for example, can use YouTube video ads and Discover placements to introduce a new product to people interested in beauty and personal care.

This can help build familiarity before someone searches for the product or brand.

Expand Beyond Traditional Search Advertising

Google Search is valuable for capturing existing demand, but it has limitations when people are unfamiliar with a product or category.

Demand Gen gives advertisers another way to reach those potential customers through video and visual advertising.

It can also complement paid social campaigns by extending a brand’s reach beyond Facebook and Instagram.

Retarget Interested Audiences

Demand Gen can help businesses reconnect with people who have already interacted with their brand.

A retailer might show product-focused ads to previous website visitors, while a service company could reach people who watched its YouTube videos or visited its website without submitting a form.

This creates another opportunity to move potential customers closer to a purchase or inquiry.

Test Creative Across Multiple Placements

Because Demand Gen supports different image and video formats, businesses can compare creative approaches and learn which messages generate the strongest response.

Advertisers can also run creative experiments to compare different assets and campaign approaches.

Demand Gen vs. Performance Max vs. Search

These three Google Ads campaign types serve different purposes.

Campaign Type Primary Purpose Best Suited For
Search Capture active search intent High-intent searches, leads, and purchases
Performance Max Optimize performance across Google’s advertising inventory Sales, conversions, and ecommerce
Demand Gen Create demand through visual and discovery-based advertising Awareness, consideration, prospecting, and conversions

Search campaigns reach people based on what they are actively looking for.

Performance Max uses Google’s AI to optimize advertising across its broader inventory, including Search, YouTube, Display, Discover, and Gmail.

Demand Gen places more emphasis on visual creative and audience-based discovery. It also provides more direct audience controls and channel selection than Performance Max.

For many businesses, these campaigns can work together rather than compete for the same role.

Demand Gen Best Practices for 2027

1. Use a Variety of Creative Assets

Do not rely on a single image or video for an entire campaign.

Create different versions for the placements you want to reach. Horizontal video can work for traditional YouTube viewing, while vertical 9:16 creative is recommended for Shorts.

Google recommends preparing multiple image and video orientations to improve placement coverage. Its current specifications recommend 1080 × 1920 pixels for vertical video and 1920 × 1080 for horizontal video.

The message should also fit the format. A short product demonstration may work well in Shorts, while a longer video could explain a service in more detail.

2. Use First-Party Data

Your existing customer information can help Google identify audiences that are more likely to respond to your advertising.

Consider using customer lists, website visitors, previous purchasers, and people who have interacted with your YouTube channel.

Accurate conversion tracking is equally important.

In October 2026, Google introduced its Data Strength Uplift metric to help advertisers evaluate how their data setup contributes to Demand Gen performance. Google also reported that advertisers using Google Tag Gateway saw an average conversion uplift of more than 20% in an internal analysis. That figure is based on Google’s own data, not an independent industry benchmark.

3. Match Creative to the Audience

Think about what someone needs to see before taking action.

An audience that has never heard of your brand may respond better to an introductory video or product demonstration. Someone who has already visited your website may be more interested in a specific product, customer testimonial, or promotional offer.

Your creative should reflect that difference.

4. Test Different Audiences and Messaging

Avoid assuming you already know which audience or message will perform best.

Test different audience segments, offers, headlines, and creative formats. Use the results to identify patterns in engagement, conversions, and acquisition costs.

Keep testing focused enough that you can identify what contributed to a change in performance.

5. Give Campaigns Time to Optimize

Demand Gen uses automated bidding and delivery, so results may fluctuate as the system gathers data.

Avoid making several major changes after only a few days of performance.

Establish a baseline, monitor results, and make adjustments based on meaningful trends rather than short-term fluctuations.

6. Measure More Than Clicks

A campaign can generate plenty of clicks without producing meaningful business results.

Review metrics such as:

  • Impressions and reach
  • Click-through rate
  • Cost per click
  • Conversions
  • Conversion rate
  • Cost per acquisition
  • Return on ad spend

Also consider how Demand Gen may influence branded searches and later conversions. Someone could see a YouTube ad, leave without clicking, and return to Google later to search for the business.

Looking only at immediate clicks may miss part of the campaign’s contribution.

What’s New With Demand Gen in 2027?

Google has continued adding features to Demand Gen.

A few developments are particularly relevant to advertisers:

Google Display campaigns are moving into Demand Gen. Starting in June 2026, eligible advertisers could voluntarily migrate existing Display campaigns into Demand Gen. Google expects the broader transition to continue through 2027. This brings Display inventory into a more unified campaign environment.

More creative production options. In August 2026, Google made Multimodal Video Creation in Asset Studio generally available. Advertisers can move from storyboarding to creating horizontal and vertical video assets within one workflow.

More emphasis on data quality. Google’s October update introduced new reporting around the contribution of first-party data and measurement improvements to campaign results. This reinforces the importance of accurate tracking and customer information.

These changes show that Demand Gen is becoming a larger part of Google’s visual advertising ecosystem, with more emphasis on creative flexibility, measurement, and campaign controls.

Final Thoughts

Demand Gen gives businesses another way to reach potential customers through Google’s visual advertising channels.

Rather than relying entirely on people searching for a product or service, advertisers can use YouTube, Discover, Gmail, and other placements to introduce their brand, build interest, and encourage action.

The strongest campaigns combine relevant audience data, creative that fits each placement, accurate conversion tracking, and a clear campaign objective.

Demand Gen can also work alongside Google Search, Performance Max, and paid social campaigns. Each channel has a different role, and combining them can help businesses connect with customers at more points in the buying process.

Sandhill Digital helps businesses plan and manage paid media campaigns across Google, Meta, YouTube, and other digital channels. Through campaign strategy, creative testing, conversion tracking, and performance reporting, we help connect advertising activity with measurable business goals.

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