Google Demand Gen campaigns represent a significant evolution in how e-commerce brands can use Google's network for top-of-funnel advertising. Replacing Discovery campaigns in early 2024, Demand Gen expanded both the available placements and the creative capabilities — while adding video support that Discovery lacked. For brands that have historically relied on Meta for awareness and interest generation, Demand Gen offers a compelling alternative natively within the Google ecosystem.
This guide covers what Demand Gen is, how it works, where ads appear, creative requirements, audience targeting strategies, and how to integrate Demand Gen into a full-funnel Google Ads strategy for e-commerce.
What Demand Gen Replaced and Why It Matters
Google Discovery campaigns — Demand Gen's predecessor — showed ads across YouTube's home feed, Gmail's Promotions and Social tabs, and the Google Discover feed (the personalised content feed on Android and Google app). Discovery was limited to static image ads and carousels.
Demand Gen expanded on Discovery by:
- Adding video ad formats across YouTube (in-stream and Shorts) and Gmail
- Supporting lookalike audience targeting, a capability previously only available on social platforms
- Providing better creative performance reporting with asset-level metrics
- Offering access to YouTube's full audience signals for targeting
The migration from Discovery to Demand Gen was mandatory — Google automatically upgraded all Discovery campaigns. However, the change came with significant structural differences that require proactive management, not just a passive upgrade.
How Demand Gen Works
Demand Gen campaigns use Google's AI to show visually rich ads across a curated set of Google-owned surfaces to users who are most likely to engage or convert. The campaign is goal-based: you set a target CPA, target ROAS, or maximize clicks/conversion objective, and Google's Smart Bidding handles bid optimization in real time.
Unlike Search or Shopping, which target users based on active search intent, Demand Gen reaches users based on their interests, behaviors, content consumption patterns, and demographic characteristics — similar to the "interest graph" targeting model used by Meta and TikTok.
Demand Gen Placements
Demand Gen ads appear across the following Google-owned surfaces:
YouTube
- YouTube In-Stream — skippable and non-skippable video ads before and during YouTube videos
- YouTube Shorts — video ads between Shorts (Google's short-form vertical video format)
- YouTube In-Feed — image or video ads appearing in YouTube's home feed and search results
Gmail
- Gmail Promotions tab — image or video ads in the Promotions tab of Gmail, expanding to full-screen on click
- Gmail Social tab — less prominent placement in Gmail's Social folder
Google Discover
- Google Discover feed — the personalised content feed on Android devices and the Google mobile app; high engagement environment with strong purchase intent signals
Creative Requirements for Demand Gen
Demand Gen's expanded creative formats require more asset preparation than Discovery campaigns, but the variety creates significantly more optimization potential.
Image Ads
Provide images in all three aspect ratios for maximum placement coverage:
- Landscape (1.91:1) — 1200×628px minimum; primary format for most placements
- Square (1:1) — 1200×1200px minimum; used across Gmail, Discover, and YouTube in-feed
- Portrait (4:5) — 960×1200px minimum; important for mobile Discover and Shorts adjacencies
Use real product and lifestyle photography rather than generic stock images. Demand Gen competes for attention in social-style feeds — scroll-stopping creative with clear product visibility outperforms polished but generic imagery.
Video Ads
Videos must be hosted on YouTube. Recommended formats:
- Horizontal (16:9) — for standard YouTube in-stream placements; 15–60 seconds depending on skippable vs non-skippable
- Vertical (9:16) — essential for YouTube Shorts; 6–60 seconds
- Square (1:1) — versatile format that works across multiple placements
Hook in the first 3 seconds is critical — even for non-skippable formats, early engagement signals tell Google's AI to continue serving the ad to similar audiences. Show the product clearly and visually within the first 5 seconds.
Headlines and Descriptions
Write 5 headlines (up to 40 characters each) and 5 descriptions (up to 90 characters each). Google tests combinations and serves the best-performing mix for each placement and user context. Follow the same approach as RSAs: diverse angles, clear value propositions, and headlines that work independently.
Audience Targeting in Demand Gen
Demand Gen's targeting capabilities are closer to Meta than to traditional Google search-based targeting. The key audiences available:
Customer Match Lists
Upload your existing customer email lists. Demand Gen uses these for direct retargeting and as the basis for lookalike audience expansion. Your customer list is your highest-quality targeting signal — build from it first.
Lookalike Audiences
New in Demand Gen (not available in Discovery), lookalike targeting finds users who share behavioral and interest characteristics with your seed audience — typically your customer list or website converters. You can choose expansion level: narrow (closest to your seed), balanced, or broad. Start with balanced and test expansion levels based on performance data.
Custom Segments
Target users based on Google search behavior, app usage, and websites visited. Create custom segments using search terms your target customer would use (e.g., "best organic dog food," "minimalist running shoes") or competitor domain URLs. These intent-based signals are particularly effective for e-commerce Demand Gen because they combine interest targeting with purchase-intent signals.
Life Events and Affinity
Target users going through relevant life moments (moving, wedding, new baby) or those with strong interest in categories adjacent to your product. Useful for products with clear occasion or lifestyle contexts — furniture brands, baby products, health supplements, and similar categories.
Integrating Demand Gen into a Full-Funnel Strategy
Demand Gen is most effective as a top-of-funnel investment that feeds downstream conversion campaigns. Here's how to integrate it:
Stage 1: Awareness via Demand Gen
Run Demand Gen with lookalike audiences and custom intent segments, optimizing for video views or site engagement (not immediate conversion). Goal: expose your brand and products to high-quality new audiences and drive initial site visits.
Stage 2: Retargeting via Demand Gen and Shopping
Users who engaged with your Demand Gen ads or visited your site become retargeting audiences for both Demand Gen (with product-specific carousel ads) and Shopping/PMax campaigns. At this stage, optimize for conversion events.
Stage 3: Conversion via Shopping / PMax / Search
High-intent users who have been exposed via Demand Gen and have searched your brand or category terms convert via Shopping, PMax, or Search campaigns. Demand Gen's contribution shows in view-through conversions and in the improved conversion rates of users who've had prior ad exposure.
Measuring Demand Gen Performance
Measuring top-of-funnel campaigns is inherently more complex than measuring bottom-of-funnel conversion campaigns. Key metrics:
- Lifted brand search volume — a rise in branded searches in markets where Demand Gen is active
- View-through conversions — conversions from users who saw your Demand Gen ad but didn't click; use a short attribution window (1–3 days) to avoid inflating this metric
- Engaged-view conversions — conversions from users who watched at least 10 seconds of your video ad
- New user conversion rate — the proportion of new-to-site users who convert; Demand Gen should improve this over time as it warms audiences before they reach your Shopping or Search ads
Frequently Asked Questions: Google Demand Gen Campaigns
How is Demand Gen different from Performance Max?
Performance Max is designed to drive conversions across all Google inventory, including Shopping — it's a bottom-of-funnel-first campaign type with conversion as the primary goal. Demand Gen is purpose-built for top-of-funnel interest and consideration, with social-style creative formats. Many accounts run both: PMax for lower-funnel conversion, Demand Gen for upper-funnel awareness and audience building.
What budget does Demand Gen need to be effective?
Demand Gen requires sufficient budget to reach meaningful audience scale. A minimum of €/£/$30–50 per day is a reasonable starting point for a single-market campaign, with higher budgets needed for multi-market or multi-audience Demand Gen strategies. Unlike Shopping, Demand Gen benefits from scale — impression frequency and audience coverage matter for building consideration.
Can Demand Gen campaigns target specific countries?
Yes. Demand Gen campaigns support country-level geographic targeting, as well as radius and city-level targeting. For e-commerce brands serving multiple markets (EU + UK + US), run separate Demand Gen campaigns per market region to maintain budget control and allow for market-specific creative.
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