Why Demand Gen is the most basic type of Google Ads campaign

As a Google Ads professional, you probably spend most of your time optimizing Search, Shopping or High Performance campaigns. That makes sense – the Google SERP is the basis for Google ads. But there is a huge opportunity sitting within your Google Ads account that too many advertisers are ignoring.

I’m going to go ahead and declare it: Demand Gen is the most limited campaign type in Google ads, and that needs to stop.

If you’ve been hesitant to try Demand Gen, or if you’ve tried it once and it “didn’t work,” let this be your cue to add it to your strategy in 2026. Demand Gen offers a fundamental change in how we can use the Google ecosystem to drive growth through paid advertising.

The best way to wrap your head around Demand Gen is to stop thinking about keywords. Instead, think of it as using Meta ads (Facebook or Instagram), but using Google’s inventory.

In search, you answer the user’s question. In Demand Gen, you respond to the user. You push art – images and/or videos – to users based on who they are, not what they’re typing or what they’re doing at the time.

Where do Demand Gen ads appear on Google?

Your ads on Demand Gen can be placed on all of Google’s “owned and operated” properties, including:

• YouTube (Short, Stream, Feed)
• Gmail
• Find out for yourself
• Google Maps (coming soon!)

I recommend starting with all active channels open, but you can switch in and out of certain channels if you like.

The Google Display Network is also an option for Demand Gen, but you should focus your investment on Google-owned properties where the signals of intent are strong.

How to target your ads to Demand Gen?

Because Demand Gen is a “push” style campaign, there is no targeted content. You don’t choose specific YouTube channels or websites to appear on, you don’t choose specific keywords or topics.

Instead, you have the full range of Google audience targeting options at your disposal:

• Lookalikes: Similar to Meta, you can create an audience that looks like your converts.
• Remarketing: Re-engaging with previous website visitors, content viewers or customers.
• In-Market, Life Events and Relevance Segments: Reaching people based on their interests, what they do, or what they want
• Detailed demographics: Reaching people based on who they are
• Custom Segments: Targeting people based on search terms they’ve previously used, or the types of websites/apps they use

Note that aggregated segments are not compatible with Demand Gen, and you can only outside your data segments from the Demand Gen campaign.

What kind of creative assets can you use in Demand Gen?

Demand Gen has many jobs. You can run regular image ads, carousel image ads, and video ads. If you’re in ecommerce, you can attach your Google Merchant Center feed to a campaign to play product-based ads, too, making the ad unit directly shoppable.

What application strategies are relevant to Demand Gen?

Demand Gen is an action-oriented campaign. Unlike a Video campaign, where you bid for impressions, reach or views, in Demand Gen, you bid for clicks or conversions. Specifically, you can use the following bid strategies for Demand Gen:

• Increase Clicks
• Increase Conversions
• Increase Conversion Value
• Target CPC
• Targeted CPA
• Target ROAS

You must select one conversion category for the campaign. It can be your “regular” conversion, such as filling out or purchasing a form, or it can be a unique “conversion”, such as a YouTube subscription or engagement.

And yes, you read that right. Demand Gen is the only campaign of its kind that offers a new Target CPC bid strategy. At a time when Google is pushing everyone into fully AI-powered bidding, Demand Gen still allows you to control your cost per click. For advertisers who want to tightly control costs while targeting high audiences, this is a big win.

Why Demand Gen often outperforms Display

If you’ve been burned by the Display Network in the past – low-quality traffic, accidental clicks, or spam leads – you might feel embarrassed to walk away from Search again.

However, I recommend using Demand Gen over standard Display campaigns for a few key reasons.

1. Quality of Goods

With Demand Gen, you primarily serve ads on Google’s listings (YouTube, Gmail, Discover, Maps). With standard display, your ads are distributed to millions of random websites and apps across the internet.

On Google properties, the user is usually authenticated (logged in), and the placement of ads is linked to the use of content. On the open web? You’re usually fighting for attention under a recipe blog or getting fat finger clicks from a mobile game app.

2. Spam reduction

Because the quality of the audience is high and the inventory is controlled, your chances of getting spam leads are very low with Demand Gen. For next-generation marketers, this distinction is important. Cheap clicks on display are useless if they turn into bot submissions.

3. Actual Costs

CPCs on Demand Gen are usually slightly higher than Display. But you get what you pay for. The quality of traffic is usually very good.

That said, compared to Search, Demand Gen is still an advantage. You should expect the CPCs to be much lower than your search campaigns, usually around $0.50 to $2.00.

Are Demand Gen campaigns a black box?

Demand Gen campaigns are often compared to PMax, but they are very different. Performance Max can work on Search & Shopping inventory, while Demand Gen cannot. And while Performance Max campaigns don’t let you control your targeting or placement, Demand Gen campaigns do!

Both campaigns, however, now provide full transparency and reporting. In Demand Gen, you can see and control:

• Asset-level reporting: See exactly which text, image and video assets are performing well
• Audience insights: Choose who to target, and understand who is actually clicking and converting
• Channel segmentation: You can segment your data to see where your ads are being shown (YouTube vs. Discover vs. Gmail) and how performance varies by placement, opting out of other locations if you choose
• Placement reporting: See YouTube videos and channels where your ads have been shown, and add exceptions if needed

How to get started with Demand Gen

Ready to launch your first Demand Gen campaign? Here’s how I recommend planning the test based on your business model.

For small businesses

If you are just starting out and have a small budget ($5-40/day), you don’t need to make it too difficult.

Targeting: Focus on your “Google Ehileged” remarketing audience and Custom Segment for your top performing search terms.

Why: This captures high-intent users who haven’t converted, using a cheap list of Demand Gen vs. Search.

For ecommerce businesses

Creative is king! Try doing one Demand Gen campaign with your product feed attached, and one outside (using only lifestyle photos/video).

Why: Sometimes brand feeds drive direct sales, but sometimes lifestyle art creates better brand engagement. You won’t know which one drives the results you need until you test them both.

For big business

If you have the budget, Demand Gen shouldn’t just be a test – it should be basic. Treat Demand Gen as your “always on” layer for audience targeting and consideration.

Targeting: In-Market, Life Events, Detailed Demographics and/or Affiliates that make the most sense for your target audience.

Why: It ensures that you are at the forefront and among the exact users you are trying to reach, keeping your brand top of mind even when users are not looking for it.

Verdict: 2026 is the year of Demand Gen

Demand Gen bridges the gap between the high intent of Search and visible Social storytelling. It offers better quality than Display and cheaper clicks than Search.

So, will Demand Gen be part of your strategy this year? If you want to grow without a search bar, then so be it.

This article is part of our ongoing Search Engine Land series, Everything you need to know about Google Ads in under 3 minutes. In each episode, Jyll highlights a different aspect of Google Ads, and what you need to know to get the best results from it – all in a quick 3-minute read.