PPC glossary

Demand Gen

Demand Gen is a Google Ads campaign type that shows image and video ads across YouTube (including Shorts), Discover, Gmail, Maps and the Google Display Network to people who may be interested in a brand but are not yet searching for it. It replaced Discovery campaigns and, from 2025, Video action campaigns.

Reviewed by Gareth Hoyle, Managing Director
Last reviewed 31 October 2026

What did Demand Gen replace?

Discovery campaigns came first. Demand Gen opened in beta on 15 August 2023 and to all advertisers in October 2023, and Google automatically upgraded all remaining Discovery campaigns between January and March 2024.

Video action campaigns followed. Google announced the change on 4 September 2024, stopped new Video action campaigns being created in April 2025 and began automatic upgrades in July 2025, with the last campaigns due to be upgraded by April 2026. In January 2025 Google also added Display Network inventory to Demand Gen.

How does it work?

One campaign can mix single image, video and carousel ads of 2 to 10 cards, and can pull products from a Merchant Center feed. Targeting is built on audiences rather than keywords, including Lookalike segments modelled on past purchasers, site visitors or YouTube viewers. Bidding can aim for clicks, conversions or conversion value, and channel controls let advertisers limit where ads run, for example to YouTube Shorts only.

How is it different from Search and Performance Max?

Search ads answer demand that already exists. Demand Gen is meant to create it, which is why it does not run on Google Search results. Performance Max can run everywhere, Search included, with Google choosing the mix; Demand Gen gives more say over audiences, creative and placements. Because people rarely click and buy straight away, Google reports view-through conversions for Demand Gen, and a holdout or incrementality test is the clearest read on what it adds.

Example

A skincare brand launching a new serum runs a Demand Gen campaign with vertical videos for Shorts, product images from its Merchant Center feed and a Lookalike segment based on past purchasers. It judges the campaign on new customers and the growth in searches for the product name, not on last click sales alone.