What Is Demand Gen Campaign?
Demand Gen is Google Ads' upper-funnel visual campaign type running across YouTube (Shorts and in-stream), Discover feeds, and Gmail. It replaced Discovery campaigns in 2024 with expanded YouTube inventory and better creative tools.
Typical use
A DTC brand runs Demand Gen with 6 short-form videos and 12 product images, targeting Lookalikes of past purchasers plus interest audiences. Delivery goes 60% YouTube Shorts, 30% Discover, 10% Gmail. Goal: cheap reach + video views to seed retargeting, not last-click conversions.
Benchmarks
- Typical CPM: $2–$8 in most markets.
- Best judged on assisted conversions and MER lift, not last-click ROAS.
- Requires 5+ image + 3+ video assets to serve properly.
Why it matters
Demand Gen is Google's answer to Meta's cold-prospecting cheap-reach layer. Judged on last-click it looks weak; judged on MER lift and creative reach it fills a gap PMax doesn't.
Common mistakes
- 1.Judging Demand Gen on last-click ROAS. Wrong scoreboard.
- 2.Uploading only 1–2 assets. Won't serve properly.
- 3.Running Demand Gen with a hard tCPA target. It's an upper-funnel format.
Put Demand Gen Campaign to work
Related services
FAQs about Demand Gen Campaign
How is Demand Gen different from PMax?
PMax is cross-inventory with Search + Shopping baked in. Demand Gen is upper-funnel visual only (YouTube + Discover + Gmail) — no Search intent capture.
Should I run Demand Gen and PMax together?
Yes, if budget supports both. Demand Gen seeds; PMax closes. Watch for cannibalisation on YouTube inventory.
Related terms
Google's cross-inventory campaign driven by asset feeds and audience signals.
Google's banner and native inventory across 2M+ partner sites.
Cost to serve 1,000 impressions — the auction's price signal.
Revenue attributed to ads ÷ ad spend — the fastest efficiency read.
Total revenue ÷ total ad spend — the blended, attribution-free ROAS.