Summary
Reach Planner is the Google Ads tool specifically designed to forecast reach and allocate budget across multiple YouTube ad formats. It sits under Tools and settings in the Planning section, and returns reach, impressions, frequency and CPM estimates for the format mix you build. Performance Planner and Insights Finder serve different purposes, and average frequency is a metric, not a tool.
Nitin Batra is a Google Video Ads certified professional who builds YouTube media plans in Reach Planner and manages video campaign delivery in Google Ads.
Last updated: August 23, 2026
To forecast reach and allocate budget across multiple YouTube ad formats before a campaign launches, use Reach Planner, the Google Ads planning tool built on YouTube reach curves and Google’s own audience data.
- Reach Planner
- Average frequency
- Insights Finder
- Performance Planner
The correct answer is: Reach Planner
Key Takeaways
- – Reach Planner is the Google Ads tool designed to forecast reach and allocate budget across multiple YouTube ad formats.
- – It sits under Tools and settings, Planning, in Google Ads, and outputs reach, unique users, impressions, frequency and CPM for the plan you build.
- – Forecasts are based on Google’s reach curves and actual YouTube viewership data, refreshed regularly and validated against third party measurement.
- – Reach Planner is a pre-campaign planning tool, not a reporting tool, so it will not tell you what a live campaign delivered. Average frequency is a metric inside the plan, not a tool, and Performance Planner forecasts conversions and clicks for Search, Shopping, Display and video action campaigns rather than upper funnel YouTube reach.
Where exactly do I find Reach Planner in the Google Ads interface?
Open your Google Ads account, click Tools and settings in the top navigation, then look under the Planning column. Reach Planner appears there along with Keyword Planner and Performance Planner. Access depends on account eligibility, so if you do not see it, check with your Google account representative or Google Ads support.
What inputs does Reach Planner need before it can produce a forecast?
At minimum you set the location, the campaign date range, the budget and the audience you want to reach, including demographics and any affinity or in-market segments. You can also choose devices, ad formats and a target frequency. The more precisely you match the plan to what you will actually launch, the closer the forecast will be to delivery.
Why is Performance Planner not the right answer here?
Performance Planner forecasts performance outcomes such as conversions, clicks and cost at different spend levels, mainly for Search, Shopping, Display, Demand Gen and video action campaigns. It is built for optimising spend against conversion goals, not for building a reach and frequency plan across YouTube video formats. When the question is about on-target reach across formats, Reach Planner is the tool.
How accurate are Reach Planner forecasts once the campaign goes live?
Reach Planner is built on Google’s own YouTube viewership data and is validated against third party measurement, so the estimates are usually close for standard markets and audiences. Accuracy drops when the plan uses very narrow targeting, short flight dates or budgets too small for the audience size. Treat the output as a planning range, then confirm actual delivery with unique reach and frequency columns in Google Ads reporting.