Demand Gen Campaigns
Google's AI-powered campaign type that serves visual and video ads across YouTube, YouTube Shorts, Discover, and Gmail to reach in-market audiences before they search.
Your Google campaign setup used to have a clean division: Search for active demand, Display for passive reach. In between sat a different kind of inventory - YouTube Shorts, Discover feeds, Gmail - where users are engaged but haven’t formed a search query yet. Demand Gen campaigns run against that inventory.
It replaced Discovery campaigns in 2024 and absorbed Video Action Campaigns in July 2025. Today it reaches up to 3 billion monthly active users across YouTube, YouTube Shorts, Discover, and Gmail.
How it shows up in the wild
LG Electronics ran Demand Gen to promote its DUALCOOL Air Conditioner in Q2 2023, using rich image and video assets to reach high-value audiences outside its existing paid social channels. The results: 91% lower CPA, 48% higher CTR, and 24% higher conversion rate versus paid social, per Google’s case study.
Cropp (Gen-Z apparel brand, LPP Group, Poland) ran Demand Gen with Target ROAS bidding connected to a Google Merchant Center product feed, building Lookalike segments from its customer base and optimizing creative to “Excellent” ad strength. A 50%+ ROAS uplift in online sales followed, per Google’s February 2026 Demand Gen Drop, cited alongside data showing advertisers applying 3+ best practices see 40%+ more conversions.
Why it matters
Demand Gen operates upstream of search intent. A person who searches “best air conditioner brand” already has intent. Demand Gen found them earlier, while they scrolled Discover or watched a YouTube Short.
My hunch is that D2C brands underinvest here because top-of-funnel ROAS is harder to tie to direct revenue than a last-click search conversion.
Related terms
Lookalike Audience - Demand Gen uses Lookalike segments to reach users who resemble your existing customers.
ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) - Target ROAS is the recommended bidding strategy when Demand Gen is connected to a Merchant Center product feed.
Search Intent - Demand Gen operates upstream of search; the demand it creates often surfaces later as a search query.
Dynamic Product Ads - Demand Gen’s Merchant Center feed integration enables product-level creative, the Google equivalent of Meta’s DPAs.
Frequently asked questions
How is Demand Gen different from Performance Max? Performance Max runs across all Google surfaces - Search, Shopping, Display - with no controls over placement. Demand Gen is scoped to YouTube, YouTube Shorts, Discover, and Gmail, and offers channel-level controls. Brands often run both: Performance Max captures search demand, Demand Gen creates it.
Does Demand Gen require a product feed? No. Demand Gen runs on video and image creative alone. Connecting a Google Merchant Center feed unlocks product carousels and Shoppable CTV placements - for ecommerce advertisers, the feed connection generally improves performance.
What replaced Discovery campaigns? Demand Gen. Google migrated all Discovery campaigns to Demand Gen in 2024; the campaign type is no longer available for creation and existing Discovery campaigns were automatically converted.