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Demand Gen
Google’s visual demand campaigns across YouTube, Discover, and Gmail. They create demand; they do not harvest a typed search the way Search does.
Detailed explanation
Demand Gen evolved from Discovery campaigns. The job is upper- and mid-funnel demand. Comparing last-click ROAS to Search is usually unfair.
Creative (short video, carousels) and audience signals are the fuel. If the only conversion is a deep-funnel purchase, learning struggles—consider micro-conversions or value rules.
It can overlap PMax. Split roles: Demand Gen for attention, Search and PMax for lower-funnel capture.
Frequently asked questions
- Does Demand Gen replace Search?
- No. Search captures intent that already exists. Demand Gen reaches people who have not searched yet.
- Which KPIs belong here?
- Completed views, engagement, assisted conversions, and MER—not last-click ROAS alone.
Related terms
Internal links for the topic cluster — read these concepts together.
- Performance MaxA Google Ads campaign type that bids across Search, Display, YouTube, Discover, Gmail, and Maps from one goal and one asset group. You give signals; the system places ads.
- PPCPPC (Pay-Per-Click) is a paid advertising model where you pay only when someone clicks your ad; it underpins Google Ads and many social ad platforms.
- FunnelA Funnel is a marketing model that visualizes the stages a potential customer moves through from first encountering a brand to making a purchase, and is used to analyze user drop-off at each stage.
- ReachReach is a core visibility metric that counts the number of unique users who saw a piece of content or an ad at least once within a given period.
- View-Through ConversionA conversion credited after an ad impression with no click, inside a set window. Display and video campaigns lean on this claim more than search does.
- Brand AwarenessWhether the target audience recognizes the brand and recalls it in the right category. It is memory work at the top of the funnel, not a last-click KPI.