Google has announced updates to ‘Demand Gen’ campaigns, providing further insights and control. The updates include:
Increased channel control
- Being rolled out globally from March, Google Ads users will be able to select exactly where their Demand Gen campaigns appear whether that’s specific to YouTube (in-stream, in-feed, shorts), Discover, and Gmail. Google Display Network is also being added to the Demand Gen channel control.
New asset formats
- Shorts ads will soon fill the screen, with a 9:16 vertical image format being introduced. As well as a new feature to assist with formatting shorter videos.
Improved purchase journey
- A retailer specific update, Demand Gen will include product feeds via Google Merchant Centre accounts. Providing users direct, instant access to the products they see in the ads.
New reporting columns
- Additional reporting columns will provide wider insights into the relationship between Demand Gen campaigns and paid social, to provide performance and budget visibility. There will also be more focus on Demand Gen specific reporting.
We spoke to Senior Digital Advertising Consultant at Hutter Consult AG, Georgi Zayakov, about his thoughts on the recent ‘Demand Gen’ updates:
Expert opinion
Georgi Zayakov, Senior Digital Advertising Consultant at Hutter Consult AG
"I am particularly intrigued by the newly introduced Channel controls feature for Demand Gen campaigns. More control is often better for advertisers, and it will ease them to test different strategies, such as Discover-Only, Gmail-Only, or Shorts-Only campaigns. Choosing only one of those inventories would be associated with lower cost and shorter time for asset creation too. However, the update raises two important questions: Why channel controls can be used for Demand Gen, but not for Performance Max campaigns? Both campaign types are becoming even more similar with the inclusion of Display inventories into Demand Gen. The second question: Would this inclusion mean that traditional Google Display campaigns will become soon obsolete? I can imagine that in 2 years GDN will be sunset in favour of Demand Gen, similar to Video for Action campaigns."
