Google is making big moves with its Demand Gen campaigns, thanks to the feedback of advertisers.
If you’re not familiar with Demand Gen campaigns, they originally launched in 2023. Shortly after, Google phased out Discovery Ads to transition them to this new campaign type.
Now, Demand Gen campaigns are getting a facelift as Google doubles down on this campaign type.
In this major announcement, Google is bringing expanded controls, enhanced creative capabilities, and new retail-focused features to advertisers.
Whether you’re already using Demand Gen or considering the switch, these updates provide more flexibility and powerful AI-driven tools to maximize campaign effectiveness.
Here’s everything you need to know.
More Control Over Where Your Ads Appear
One of the biggest changes is the introduction of expanded channel controls.
This allows advertisers to be more precise with where their Demand Gen ads appear.
Starting out in March 2025 as a full beta to everyone, advertisers can:
- Choose specific placements across YouTube, Discover, and Gmail
- Serve ads exclusively on YouTube Shorts for a vertical-first experience
- Leverage Google Display Network (GDN) to extend reach across 3 million+ sites and apps.
Once rolled out, advertisers will be able to take advantage of the full available inventory for Demand Gen campaigns, which means this campaign type has the ability to reach 90% of the global internet population.
As with any new change to placement targeting options, it’s always a smart idea to double check campaign settings as these roll out. It’s unclear if new placements will automatically be eligible for inventory of if advertisers need to manually add them at the campaign level.
We will update more once Google provides clarification.
Stronger Creative Enhancements for Higher Engagement
Compelling ad creatives are at the heart of strong performance, which usually means multiple asset forms at scale.
To help advertisers scale their creative output, Google is rolling out several enhancements.
- Vertical 9:16 image ads for YouTube Shorts: This update is coming late February 2025, allowing for a full-screen experience for users.
- Automated video shortening: This update is rolling out in the next few weeks, allowing you to create shorter versions of your videos to optimize content on differing placements.
- Improved ad creation workflow: Better video enhancement controls and external preview sharing for easier creative approvals.
These features allow marketers to refine their ads for different screen formats while maintaining the necessary creative flexibility.
Retail-Focused Features for More Seamless Shopping Experiences
Retailers who use Google Merchant Center can now take advantage of product feeds within Demand Gen campaigns, rolling out in the coming weeks.
This integration between Merchant Center and Demand Gen campaigns help enable:
- Deeper product discovery. Consumers can now see full product details directly within the ads, and can toggle between product detail pages.
- Local product availability. Showing real-time availability and product offers helps connect online shoppers to nearby store locations.
- Omnichannel bidding. Optimize your campaigns for both online sales and in-store visits.
Google is also launching a beta for advertisers to integrate product feeds with local offers, making it easier to drive foot traffic and online conversions simultaneously.
New Reporting to Compare Demand Gen vs. Paid Social
A long-requested feature for cross-platform advertisers is here: new reporting columns in Google Ads!
These new columns will help marketers compare and analyze Demand Gen campaign performance directly with paid social efforts.
The new columns include:
- View-through conversions to help align with social ad measurement.
- Isolated Demand Gen impact reporting to differentiate from other Google campaigns.
The new reporting columns have already started to roll out globally, so be sure to keep an eye out if you’re already running Demand Gen campaigns.
The goal with new reporting measurement is to help provide better clarity on where budget allocations should go if you’re running cross-platform campaigns.
The Final Transition from Video Action Campaigns
While it’s not a new announcement that Google is phasing out Video Action campaigns, they did provide an updated timeline and how to transition those campaign types to Demand Gen campaigns.
- March 2025: Google will launch an upgrade tool to transfer settings and historical learnings from Video Action campaigns to Demand Gen.
- April 2025: Advertisers will no longer be able to create new Video Action campaigns.
- July 2025: Google will begin automatically upgrading any remaining Video Action campaigns.
Advertisers who migrate early will retain full control over their settings and can take advantage of new Demand Gen features immediately.
What This Means for Advertisers
Google is doubling down on Demand Gen, giving advertisers more tools to optimize performance across YouTube, Display, and beyond.
These updates make Demand Gen more competitive with paid social platforms by offering precise placement controls, AI-powered creative enhancements, and robust shopping integrations.
It will be interesting to see how advertisers adapt to these changes and if platform budgets shift, especially amidst all the controversy around numerous paid social platforms.
If you haven’t experimented with Demand Gen yet, now might be the perfect time—especially before Video Action Campaigns disappear for good. The sooner you adapt, the more control you’ll have over your campaigns and performance outcomes in 2025.
You can read the full announcement from Google here.
