Google Ads Demand Gen Campaign
Google Ads Demand Gen Campaigns (previously called Discovery Ads) are designed to help businesses reach new audiences and generate interest using high-quality visual ads across platforms like:
- YouTube
- Discover Feed
- Gmail
What Is a Google Ads Demand Gen Campaign?
A Demand Gen Campaign is a visually rich, AI-powered campaign type in Google Ads that helps brands reach new audiences across Google’s most engaging surfaces.
Your ads appear on:
- YouTube Home Feed
- YouTube Shorts
- YouTube In-stream
- Google Discover Feed
- Gmail Promotions Tab
Instead of focusing on search intent, Demand Gen focuses on interest, behavior, and visual engagement — making it ideal for:
- Awareness
- Consideration
- Lead nurturing
- Product promotion
- Retargeting
- Driving traffic with high-quality visuals
Why Use Demand Gen Campaigns?
✔ High-Impact Visual Placements
Your ads appear where users spend time browsing (YouTube, Discover).
✔ Great for Awareness & Consideration
Perfect for building interest among new audiences.
✔ Strong AI Optimization
Google’s machine learning helps deliver ads to people likely to engage.
✔ Multiple Creative Formats
Videos, images, carousels — everything visual performs well here.
✔ Better for Social-style engagement
Designed to compete with Meta, TikTok, and Instagram-style placements.
✔ Retargeting + New Audience Exploration
Great for re-engaging old visitors AND finding new potential customers.
How Demand Gen Campaigns Work
Demand Gen focuses on:
- Interests
- Browsing behavior
- Engagement patterns
- Video viewing preferences
- Lookalike audiences
Google studies user behavior and shows your ads to:
- People likely to click
- People likely to watch your video
- People interested in your niche
- People open to discovery and exploring brands
This makes it ideal for:
- eCommerce
- Real estate
- Coaching & courses
- Saas/tech
- Beauty & fashion
- Fitness
- Local services looking for awareness
Demand Gen Ad Formats (Important)
Google offers several engaging formats:
1. Image Ads
High-quality banners.
2. Carousel Ads
Swipeable multiple images — similar to Facebook Carousel Ads.
3. YouTube Shorts Ads
Vertical, short-form video ads.
4. Video Ads
Longer videos for storytelling.
5. Click-focused image + headline ads
For landing page visits.
These formats help improve engagement and brand recall.
How to Set Up a Google Demand Gen Campaign
To set up a Demand Gen campaign:
- Sign in to Google Ads.
Go to Campaigns → click + New campaign. - Choose your goal.
Select Sales, Leads, Website traffic, or choose Create a campaign without a goal’s guidance. - Select “Demand Gen” as your campaign type.
- Choose your conversion actions.
Make sure website and lead tracking are correctly set up. - Set your bidding strategy.
Choose from:- Maximize conversions
- Target CPA
- Target ROAS
- Maximize clicks (for traffic)
- Maximize conversions
- Select your audiences.
You can use:- Your data segments
- Custom segments
- Google’s interest and in-market audiences
- Lookalike audiences
- Your data segments
- Add your ad assets.
Upload:- Images
- Videos (horizontal, square, vertical)
- Headlines and descriptions
- Optional carousel cards
- Images
- Enter your Final URL and call-to-action.
- Set your budget and schedule.
- Review your settings and click “Publish.”
Your Demand Gen campaign will start serving once it finishes the learning period.
Real-Life Example
Example: “GlowFit Fitness App – India”
Goal: Get more app sign-ups using visual ads.
Campaign Setup:
- Campaign Type: Demand Gen
- Goal: Website traffic + App installs
- Audience Signals:
- Fitness enthusiasts
- People searching “weight loss workout”
- Lookalike audience of existing app users
- Assets Included:
- Short video (YouTube Shorts-style)
- Carousel images showing workouts
- Square + horizontal banners
- Headlines like:
- “Lose Weight with 10-Min Home Workouts”
- “Start Your Fitness Journey Today”
- Landing Page: App download page
Result:
Your ads appear on:
- YouTube Shorts
- Discover feed
- YouTube Home feed
- Gmail promotions
You start getting:
- More sign-ups
- More app installs
- Higher awareness
At a cost lower than Facebook or Instagram in many cases.
Best Practices for High-Performing Demand Gen Campaigns
✔ Use at least 5–10 image creatives
✔ Add multiple YouTube videos
✔ Use clear CTA like “Learn More”, “Sign Up”, “Try Free”
✔ Use lookalike & custom audiences
✔ Test single-image vs carousel ads
✔ Keep videos short & vertical for Shorts
✔ Build remarketing audiences
Final Notes
A Google Ads Demand Gen Campaign is perfect for businesses that want to combine the power of visual storytelling with Google’s massive audience reach. These campaigns are built for discovery, interest-building, and attracting users earlier in their journey.
If your goal is:
- Awareness
- Engagement
- Leads
- Website traffic
- Brand discovery
Demand Gen campaigns can deliver excellent results with rich visuals and smart AI optimization.