Starting in March 2025, we're bringing channel controls to all available ad surfaces in Demand Gen. With channel controls, you’ll be able to choose where your ads appear across YouTube, Discover, Gmail and the Google Display Network.
Demand Gen already has access to the video-eligible subset of the Google Display Network via Google video partners. In April 2025, we are expanding Demand Gen to include image inventory across the Google Display Network to help you stay top-of-mind with more customers wherever they are browsing content – reaching over 90% of the global Internet population across more than 3 million sites and apps.
What’s changing?
Starting in March, Google video partners within Demand Gen will be renamed to Google Display Network to reflect the expanded inventory supported within Demand Gen, and the opt-in setting will move from the campaign level to the ad group level to offer more flexibility. We will migrate your Google video partner campaign level opt-in to a Google Display Network opt-in for all ad groups under that Demand Gen campaign. You can also opt out at any time before March by unselecting 'Google video partners' at the campaign level, or you can opt out when the new inventory controls are launched by unselecting 'Google Display Network' at the ad group level. See below for steps on setting different preferences for your video and image inventory.
Starting in April, all Demand Gen campaigns opted-in to the Google Display Network with image assets will automatically begin serving on the Google Display Network.
Important dates
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Starting in March 2025:
- Demand Gen will launch channel controls allowing you full control over where your ads appear across YouTube, Discover, Gmail and the Google Display Network.
- Google video partners within Demand Gen will be renamed to Google Display Network to reflect the expanded inventory supported within the Google Display Network, and the setting will move from the campaign to ad group level to offer more flexibility.
- In this process, we will migrate your Google video partner campaign level opt-in to a Google Display Network opt-in for all ad groups under that Demand Gen campaign. You can opt out of the Google Display Network at any time.
- Starting in April 2025:
- All Demand Gen ad groups opted in to the Google Display Network with video assets will continue to serve on the video inventory across the Google Display Network.
- All Demand Gen ad groups opted in to the Google Display Network with image ads will start showing on the Google Display Network.
This change streamlines campaign management and simplifies use of both image and video ads for broader reach and better results, while also offering greater flexibility.
Google internal data, US, Demand Gen Advertisers who adopt Standard Display campaigns, Date range: 01/09/2023 – 31/08/2024.
See where your ads served
Today, you can view performance for your video ads that serve on the Google Display Network via Google video partners by segmenting by network. Ads served on Google video partners are reported as 'Google Display Network'. This reporting will expand to include image ads starting in April 2025.
Required action
- No action is needed if your Google video partner campaigns within Demand Gen have image ads and you wish for them to serve on the Google Display Network.
- If you don’t want these image ads to serve on the Google Display Network, you can opt out at any time before March by unselecting 'Google video partners' at the campaign level, or you can opt out when the new inventory controls are launched by unselecting 'Google Display Network' at the ad group level. See below for steps on setting different preferences for your video and image inventory.
Use the following instructions to set your video and image inventory preferences:
Prevent both image and video ads from serving on the Google Display Network (at any time)
- Before March 2025: you can opt out at any time before March by unselecting 'Google video partners' in campaign settings,
- Starting March 2025: Unselecting 'Google Display Network' at the ad group level via the 'Channels' panel.
You can also separate image and video ads and select for each one where you want them to run.
Prevent image ads from serving on the Google Display Network (before March 2025)
- Duplicate your existing Demand Gen campaign.
- Separate ad formats:
- In one campaign, keep only video ads and ensure that 'Google video partners' is enabled in the campaign settings. This campaign will continue serving on the Google Display Network via Google video partners.
- In the other campaign, keep only image ads and ensure that 'Google video partners' is disabled. This campaign will not start serving traffic on the Google Display Network in April.
- Pause or delete the image ads from the video ads campaign.
- Pause or delete the video ads from the image ads campaign.
Prevent image ads from serving on the Google Display Network using channel controls (starting March 2025)
When channel controls are available, you’ll have the option to choose what channels your ads serve on at the ad group level.
- Separate your video and image ads into different ad groups, within the same campaign.
- In the ad group containing video ads, select 'Include Google Display Network'
- In the ad group containing image ads, ensure that 'Include Google Display Network' is not selected (default setting).
- Restrict the image ads ad group from running on the Google Display Network via the 'Channel controls' setting in ad group settings, via the 'Channels' panel.
(Posted in February 2025)