Looking to expand your reach beyond Google Search? Demand Gen campaigns push your ads to ideal audiences across YouTube, Discover, and Gmail.
As someone deeply involved with Google Ads, I spend most of my time optimizing Search, Shopping, or Performance Max campaigns. It’s understandable, as the Google SERP is foundational to Google Ads. But there’s a significant opportunity within your Google Ads account that many overlook.
I firmly believe Demand Gen is the most undervalued campaign type in Google Ads, and this needs to change.
If you’ve been cautious about trying Demand Gen or have written it off due to past failures, consider this your nudge to incorporate it into your 2026 strategy. Demand Gen offers a transformative approach to using Google’s ecosystem for growth through paid advertising.
To understand Demand Gen, move away from a keyword-centric mindset. Think of it as running Meta (Facebook or Instagram) ads but leveraging Google’s platforms instead.
Where traditional Search campaigns react to a user’s query, Demand Gen focuses on the user themselves, distributing creative content—images or videos—based on user characteristics rather than their immediate actions or searches.
Demand Gen can place your ads on Google’s various “owned and operated” properties, including:
- YouTube (Shorts, In-stream, In-feed)
- Gmail
- Discover
- Google Maps (coming soon!)
I advise starting with all these channels activated but opting in or out of specific channels as desired.
While the Google Display Network is an option, it’s wise to prioritize Google-owned properties where intent signals are more robust.
In Demand Gen, targeting moves away from content and instead utilizes Google’s extensive audience targeting capabilities:
- Lookalikes: Build audiences mirroring your converters, similar to Meta.
- Remarketing: Re-engage past visitors or customers.
- In-Market, Life Events & Affinity segments: Reach people based on interests or behaviors.
- Detailed demographics: Target based on user demographics.
- Custom Segments: Focus on search terms or websites/apps users frequent.
However, combined segments aren’t compatible with Demand Gen; you can only exclude your data segments.
Demand Gen supports a versatile range of ads: standard image ads, carousel image ads, and video ads. If you’re in ecommerce, integrate your Google Merchant Center feed for product-based ads.
Unlike Video campaigns, which aim for impressions or views, Demand Gen targets clicks or conversions using these bid strategies:
- Maximize Clicks
- Maximize Conversions
- Maximize Conversion Value
- Target CPC
- Target CPA
- Target ROAS
You must choose a conversion category, whether it’s a purchase or another action like a YouTube subscription.
What’s more, Demand Gen uniquely permits the Target CPC strategy, allowing control over CPC in a space dominated by AI-driven bidding. This manual control is beneficial for tightly managed budgets.
Demand Gen surpasses standard Display campaigns in several ways:
1. Inventory Quality:
It primarily serves on authenticated Google-owned properties, ensuring higher engagement compared to random web placements typical in Display campaigns.
2. Spam Reduction:
Higher audience and inventory quality reduce the likelihood of spam leads, a crucial factor for lead generation.
3. The Cost Reality:
While CPCs in Demand Gen often exceed Display, the quality justifies the price. Plus, it remains cheaper than Search campaigns, with CPCs typically between $0.50 to $2.00.
Demand Gen isn’t a black box; it provides transparent reporting similar to Performance Max:
- Asset-level reporting: Analyze text, image, and video performance.
- Audience insights: Understand who engages with your ads.
- Channel segmentation: Control where ads appear (YouTube, Discover, Gmail) and tailor placements accordingly.
- Placement reporting: Inspect YouTube placements to refine targeting.
Feeling ready to launch a Demand Gen campaign? Here’s my advice for structuring a test:
For smaller businesses:
With a tight budget ($5-40/day), go simple.
Targeting: Use your “Google Engaged” remarketing audience and a Custom Segment of top-performing search terms.
Why: Capture high-intent users yet to convert with Demand Gen’s cost-effective inventory.
For ecommerce businesses:
Creative reigns supreme! Run one Demand Gen campaign with and one without your product feed.
Why: Test whether product ads or lifestyle visuals better drive engagement. Results will reveal optimal strategy.
For larger businesses:
If budget allows, Demand Gen should be a strategic staple, not just a test. Treat it as an “always-on” layer for targeting specific audiences.
Targeting: In-Market, Life Events, Detailed demographics, Affinities.
Why: This approach keeps your brand visible and top-of-mind among your target audience.
In conclusion, Demand Gen stands out by bridging high-intent Search with social storytelling, offering superior quality over Display and cost-efficiency compared to Search. Will Demand Gen make it into your strategy this year? If growth beyond the search bar is your goal, it absolutely should.
This article is a part of Search Engine Land’s ongoing series, Everything you need to know about Google Ads in less than 3 minutes. Each edition, curated by Jyll, highlights a different Google Ads feature to maximize your results swiftly.
Inspired by this post on Search Engine Land.
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