Boost Performance with New Demand Gen Strategies
In the ever-evolving digital world, visual content is king, helping consumers find inspiration and ideas across various platforms. Brands need to be present where and when it counts to stay relevant. Take YouTube, for example; it's not just another social media platform. It actually helps forge deeper connections with viewers. Did you know that Gen Z rates YouTube as their top choice for quality time spent online?1 Plus, a whopping 61% of Gen Z feels more connected to creators on YouTube than on other platforms.2 This connection pays off, too. According to a Nielsen study, YouTube offers a 2.3x higher long-term return on ad spend (ROAS) compared to paid social media.3
In 2023, we rolled out Demand Gen campaigns to help businesses deepen engagement with potential customers and boost online sales and leads. These campaigns are designed to create and convert demand on YouTube and Google's most engaging, visual surfaces, even when consumers aren't actively searching for your brand. Demand Gen comes equipped with AI-powered features and flexible controls, helping you connect with the right customers at any stage of their buying journey.
We're excited to announce new enhancements for your Demand Gen campaigns, including more control over where your ads show up, new creative options, and richer product and in-store details in your ads. We'll also give you an update on the timeline for upgrading your Video Action Campaigns to Demand Gen.
Control where your ads appear
We've learned from you that having control over where your ads appear is super important for optimizing AI-powered campaigns. Following the success of our initial experiments, we're expanding channel controls to all Demand Gen ad surfaces worldwide starting in March. This beta rollout means you can now pick exactly where your ads will show up across YouTube, Discover, and Gmail, including the option to target YouTube Shorts specifically.
We're also adding Google Display inventory to Demand Gen, helping you reach over 90% of the global internet population across more than 3 million sites and apps. This way, you can stay top-of-mind with more customers, no matter where they're browsing.
You can precisely choose where your ads appear across YouTube and Google with channel controls in Demand Gen.
To get the most out of your reach, we suggest using the full inventory in Demand Gen to smoothly optimize across different channels. Check out more on the benefits of cross-channel optimization here.
Multiply your creative impact
Great campaigns need great creatives, and that means having a variety of assets that fit different formats and resonate with your audience. To help you create more effective ads, we're introducing new ways to tailor your content for various screens and formats:
- Demand Gen supports various video and image formats, helping you tell unique brand stories on YouTube. Starting late February, you can also run 9:16 vertical image ads on Shorts for a more immersive, full-screen experience.
- Last November, we introduced video enhancements in Demand Gen, allowing you to flip your original video and create new versions in different aspect ratios. In the coming weeks, we'll roll out a feature to help you create shorter versions of your videos at scale.
Create shorter versions of your videos at scale with new video enhancements.
We've also improved the ad creation process in Demand Gen. Now, you can choose specific video enhancements to apply to your ads, increasing the variety of your video assets. If you prefer, you can opt out and manually edit your videos right in the flow. Plus, you can now share ad previews with your creative team outside of Google Ads, making feedback and approval easier.
Drive sales with a more seamless purchase journey
We've got new features coming for retailers to help boost sales throughout the purchase journey and create a smoother online-to-offline shopping experience:
- For advertisers with a Google Merchant Center account, we're rolling out a new experience in Demand Gen with product feeds in a few weeks. This will allow customers to instantly access full product details directly from your ads, making it easy to move from one product page to another.
Get full product details directly from your ads with improved experiences in Demand Gen with product feeds.
- With local offers in Demand Gen with product feeds, you can display real-time local product availability, connecting online shoppers with your physical stores and driving them to nearby locations. Optimize your omnichannel strategy by focusing on both online sales and in-store visits with omnichannel bidding.
Show real-time local product availability in your ads with local offers.
Compare performance across platforms
------------------------------------
We're introducing new reporting columns in Google Ads to help you better understand how Demand Gen campaigns stack up against your paid social efforts and inform your budget decisions. These columns, which are rolling out globally this month, will include view-through conversions to match how social advertising platforms measure performance. They'll also help you see the impact of Demand Gen separate from other Google campaigns, giving you a clearer picture across channels.
Check out important upgrade milestones for Video Action Campaigns
Last year, we announced the upgrade of Video Action Campaigns to give advertisers access to the same and even more new features through Demand Gen. Many advertisers have already seen better results after making the switch. According to a Nielsen analysis, Demand Gen delivers an average of 58% higher ROAS than Video Action Campaigns.4 That's why we're moving forward to make upgrading easier.
If you're currently using Video Action Campaigns, here are some key milestones and FAQs to keep in mind:
- Starting in April, after the launch of channel controls, you won't be able to create new Video Action Campaigns in Google Ads and Display & Video 360 platforms. We recommend starting your upgrade to Demand Gen before the automatic upgrade kicks in starting in July to keep full control over your campaigns.
- Use the upgrade tool (available in March) to transfer your historical settings and learnings from Video Action Campaigns to your new Demand Gen campaigns. This helps you upgrade while keeping your existing strategy and performance consistent. Your new Demand Gen campaigns will only serve on YouTube and Google video partners (if you've opted in) until you change the settings. While channel controls in Demand Gen will be in beta in March, you can still choose to serve only on YouTube, just like with Video Action Campaigns.
- To quickly access new and expanded features in Demand Gen, like a wide range of inventory and lookalike segments, we suggest creating new Demand Gen campaigns or using the copy-and-paste tool to upgrade now. Check our FAQ page for more guidance.
- Starting in July, we'll automatically upgrade any remaining Video Action Campaigns in Google Ads. This process might take a few months, and not all accounts will be upgraded at the same time.
- Your historical learnings from Video Action Campaigns will be applied to your new Demand Gen campaigns to help maintain consistent performance. Your inventory settings will stay the same, ensuring your ads continue to serve only on YouTube and Google video partners (if you've opted in) until you adjust the settings.
Marks and Spencer (M&S), a global clothing and homeware retailer, saw great success with Demand Gen. Working with Incubeta, M&S tested Demand Gen and exceeded their forecasted ROAS by 186%, with a 66% lower cost-per-action (CPA). The campaign also performed better than their paid social campaigns.
To learn more about upgrading Video Action Campaigns to Demand Gen, visit our FAQ page. For tips on driving performance with Demand Gen, check out our best practices guide.
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Comments (34)
0/200
![LawrenceScott]()
LawrenceScott
August 27, 2025 at 3:01:30 AM EDT
This article really opened my eyes to how visual content dominates today! YouTube’s role in demand gen is wild—brands need to step up or get left behind. 😎 Curious how smaller companies can compete with big players on this though.
0
![LarryMitchell]()
LarryMitchell
August 23, 2025 at 5:01:16 AM EDT
This article really opened my eyes to how visual content dominates today! YouTube’s role in demand gen is wild—brands better step up or get left behind. 😎
0
![JoseLewis]()
JoseLewis
August 2, 2025 at 11:07:14 AM EDT
This article's take on visual content is spot-on! YouTube’s role in demand gen is huge—brands ignoring it are sleeping on a goldmine. 🚀
0
![TimothyWilliams]()
TimothyWilliams
July 29, 2025 at 8:25:16 AM EDT
This article really opened my eyes to how visual content dominates today! YouTube’s role in demand gen is wild—brands better step up or get left behind. 😎 Curious how smaller businesses can compete with big players using these strategies.
0
![RyanGonzalez]()
RyanGonzalez
April 25, 2025 at 4:47:17 PM EDT
This tool really helps boost my brand's visibility on YouTube. The strategies are fresh and engaging, but sometimes it feels a bit overwhelming with all the options. Still, a great tool to have in your marketing arsenal! 📈
0
![WillieJones]()
WillieJones
April 22, 2025 at 7:29:26 PM EDT
このツールはYouTubeでのブランドの可視性を高めるのに本当に役立ちます。戦略は新鮮で魅力的ですが、選択肢が多すぎて時々圧倒される感じがします。でも、マーケティングのアーセナルに持っておくべき素晴らしいツールです！🌟
0
In the ever-evolving digital world, visual content is king, helping consumers find inspiration and ideas across various platforms. Brands need to be present where and when it counts to stay relevant. Take YouTube, for example; it's not just another social media platform. It actually helps forge deeper connections with viewers. Did you know that Gen Z rates YouTube as their top choice for quality time spent online?1 Plus, a whopping 61% of Gen Z feels more connected to creators on YouTube than on other platforms.2 This connection pays off, too. According to a Nielsen study, YouTube offers a 2.3x higher long-term return on ad spend (ROAS) compared to paid social media.3
In 2023, we rolled out Demand Gen campaigns to help businesses deepen engagement with potential customers and boost online sales and leads. These campaigns are designed to create and convert demand on YouTube and Google's most engaging, visual surfaces, even when consumers aren't actively searching for your brand. Demand Gen comes equipped with AI-powered features and flexible controls, helping you connect with the right customers at any stage of their buying journey.
We're excited to announce new enhancements for your Demand Gen campaigns, including more control over where your ads show up, new creative options, and richer product and in-store details in your ads. We'll also give you an update on the timeline for upgrading your Video Action Campaigns to Demand Gen.
Control where your ads appear
We've learned from you that having control over where your ads appear is super important for optimizing AI-powered campaigns. Following the success of our initial experiments, we're expanding channel controls to all Demand Gen ad surfaces worldwide starting in March. This beta rollout means you can now pick exactly where your ads will show up across YouTube, Discover, and Gmail, including the option to target YouTube Shorts specifically.
We're also adding Google Display inventory to Demand Gen, helping you reach over 90% of the global internet population across more than 3 million sites and apps. This way, you can stay top-of-mind with more customers, no matter where they're browsing.
Multiply your creative impact
Great campaigns need great creatives, and that means having a variety of assets that fit different formats and resonate with your audience. To help you create more effective ads, we're introducing new ways to tailor your content for various screens and formats:
- Demand Gen supports various video and image formats, helping you tell unique brand stories on YouTube. Starting late February, you can also run 9:16 vertical image ads on Shorts for a more immersive, full-screen experience.
- Last November, we introduced video enhancements in Demand Gen, allowing you to flip your original video and create new versions in different aspect ratios. In the coming weeks, we'll roll out a feature to help you create shorter versions of your videos at scale.
We've also improved the ad creation process in Demand Gen. Now, you can choose specific video enhancements to apply to your ads, increasing the variety of your video assets. If you prefer, you can opt out and manually edit your videos right in the flow. Plus, you can now share ad previews with your creative team outside of Google Ads, making feedback and approval easier.
Drive sales with a more seamless purchase journey
We've got new features coming for retailers to help boost sales throughout the purchase journey and create a smoother online-to-offline shopping experience:
- For advertisers with a Google Merchant Center account, we're rolling out a new experience in Demand Gen with product feeds in a few weeks. This will allow customers to instantly access full product details directly from your ads, making it easy to move from one product page to another.
- With local offers in Demand Gen with product feeds, you can display real-time local product availability, connecting online shoppers with your physical stores and driving them to nearby locations. Optimize your omnichannel strategy by focusing on both online sales and in-store visits with omnichannel bidding.
We're introducing new reporting columns in Google Ads to help you better understand how Demand Gen campaigns stack up against your paid social efforts and inform your budget decisions. These columns, which are rolling out globally this month, will include view-through conversions to match how social advertising platforms measure performance. They'll also help you see the impact of Demand Gen separate from other Google campaigns, giving you a clearer picture across channels.
Check out important upgrade milestones for Video Action Campaigns
Last year, we announced the upgrade of Video Action Campaigns to give advertisers access to the same and even more new features through Demand Gen. Many advertisers have already seen better results after making the switch. According to a Nielsen analysis, Demand Gen delivers an average of 58% higher ROAS than Video Action Campaigns.4 That's why we're moving forward to make upgrading easier.
If you're currently using Video Action Campaigns, here are some key milestones and FAQs to keep in mind:
- Starting in April, after the launch of channel controls, you won't be able to create new Video Action Campaigns in Google Ads and Display & Video 360 platforms. We recommend starting your upgrade to Demand Gen before the automatic upgrade kicks in starting in July to keep full control over your campaigns.
- Use the upgrade tool (available in March) to transfer your historical settings and learnings from Video Action Campaigns to your new Demand Gen campaigns. This helps you upgrade while keeping your existing strategy and performance consistent. Your new Demand Gen campaigns will only serve on YouTube and Google video partners (if you've opted in) until you change the settings. While channel controls in Demand Gen will be in beta in March, you can still choose to serve only on YouTube, just like with Video Action Campaigns.
- To quickly access new and expanded features in Demand Gen, like a wide range of inventory and lookalike segments, we suggest creating new Demand Gen campaigns or using the copy-and-paste tool to upgrade now. Check our FAQ page for more guidance.
- Starting in July, we'll automatically upgrade any remaining Video Action Campaigns in Google Ads. This process might take a few months, and not all accounts will be upgraded at the same time.
- Your historical learnings from Video Action Campaigns will be applied to your new Demand Gen campaigns to help maintain consistent performance. Your inventory settings will stay the same, ensuring your ads continue to serve only on YouTube and Google video partners (if you've opted in) until you adjust the settings.
Marks and Spencer (M&S), a global clothing and homeware retailer, saw great success with Demand Gen. Working with Incubeta, M&S tested Demand Gen and exceeded their forecasted ROAS by 186%, with a 66% lower cost-per-action (CPA). The campaign also performed better than their paid social campaigns.
Trump Prioritizes AI Growth Over Regulation in Race to Outpace China
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Google Cloud Powers Breakthroughs in Scientific Research and Discovery
The digital revolution is transforming scientific methodologies through unprecedented computational capabilities. Cutting-edge technologies now augment both theoretical frameworks and laboratory experiments, propelling breakthroughs across discipline
August 27, 2025 at 3:01:30 AM EDT
This article really opened my eyes to how visual content dominates today! YouTube’s role in demand gen is wild—brands need to step up or get left behind. 😎 Curious how smaller companies can compete with big players on this though.
0
August 23, 2025 at 5:01:16 AM EDT
This article really opened my eyes to how visual content dominates today! YouTube’s role in demand gen is wild—brands better step up or get left behind. 😎
0
August 2, 2025 at 11:07:14 AM EDT
This article's take on visual content is spot-on! YouTube’s role in demand gen is huge—brands ignoring it are sleeping on a goldmine. 🚀
0
July 29, 2025 at 8:25:16 AM EDT
This article really opened my eyes to how visual content dominates today! YouTube’s role in demand gen is wild—brands better step up or get left behind. 😎 Curious how smaller businesses can compete with big players using these strategies.
0
April 25, 2025 at 4:47:17 PM EDT
This tool really helps boost my brand's visibility on YouTube. The strategies are fresh and engaging, but sometimes it feels a bit overwhelming with all the options. Still, a great tool to have in your marketing arsenal! 📈
0
April 22, 2025 at 7:29:26 PM EDT
このツールはYouTubeでのブランドの可視性を高めるのに本当に役立ちます。戦略は新鮮で魅力的ですが、選択肢が多すぎて時々圧倒される感じがします。でも、マーケティングのアーセナルに持っておくべき素晴らしいツールです！🌟
0
