Video Action Campaigns (VAC) are being upgraded to Demand Gen campaigns to align with Google Ads. This change will allow advertisers to reach and convert users on Google's visually rich, entertainment-centric surfaces like YouTube, Discover, and Gmail.
The goal of this upgrade is to maintain the performance levels of VAC while providing expanded reach and access to new functionalities.
- By April 2025, you’ll no longer be able to create new Video Action Campaigns in Google Ads or Search Ads 360.
- Starting July 2025, existing Video Action Campaigns will be automatically upgraded to Demand Gen campaigns.
Benefits for Search Ads 360 users
Demand Gen campaigns offer an evolution of VAC, retaining many familiar settings while introducing significant enhancements:
- Expanded reach: Your ads can now appear on Discover and Gmail, in addition to YouTube. Channel controls also allow for the selection of specific surfaces.
- More Ad formats: Combine image and video assets within a single campaign.
- New features and settings:
- Lookalike segments: Discover new audiences that share similarities with your existing customer lists or website/app visitors.
- Bidding: The Maximize Clicks bid strategy is now available.
- Campaign structure: Language and location settings can be configured at the ad group level for more flexible budget management.
- Reporting: Access detailed insights with format segmentation reporting (In-Feed, Skippable In-Stream, and Shorts).
- Conversion goals: Demand Gen campaigns now offer the option to select Floodlight goals, a feature previously unavailable for VAC.
Note: View-through conversions (VTC) are currently unsupported by Floodlight. Migrating VAC to Demand Gen and selecting Floodlight tracking will result in the loss of VTC reporting. Youtube Enhanced-view conversions (EVC) will continue to be supported.
How to prepare for the transition
You can proactively manage the upgrade in a few ways:
- Manually transition budgets: To optimize your budget allocation during the upgrade, gradually decrease spending on your VACs and increase investment in your corresponding Demand Gen campaigns, whether new or existing.
- Use the copy and paste tool in Google Ads: To transition your VACs, you can replicate their setup into new Demand Gen campaigns using the Copy and Paste Migration tool directly in Google Ads. Note that you will need to manually add a business name and logo to these new campaigns. Learn more about the Copy and Paste VAC > DG tool in the Google Ads Help Center.
Note: If you’re currently running lift studies in Google Ads, avoid using the copy/paste or migration tool until your study concludes.
When you upgrade your campaigns from Video Action Campaigns to Demand Gen, what was already spent is not recognized by the new campaign.