Summary
Demand Gen creates a more immersive discovery experience by combining both video and image ads within a single campaign. One campaign can carry short vertical video, square and portrait images and carousels, and Google serves the right format on YouTube, Shorts, Discover and Gmail. That mix is what turns a passive scroll into an immediate click.
Nitin Batra is a Google Video Ads certified professional who plans and manages Demand Gen and YouTube campaigns in Google Ads, including creative asset structure and audience signal setup.
Last updated: August 23, 2026
Demand Gen creates an immersive discovery experience by combining both video and image ads within a single campaign, so one campaign can serve short video, still image and carousel creative across YouTube, Shorts, Discover and Gmail.
- By requiring users to enter specific keywords before an ad can appear.
- By restricting ads to text-only formats to avoid distracting the user.
- By mirroring one video asset across all Google search results.
- By combining both video and image ads within a single campaign.
The correct answer is: By combining both video and image ads within a single campaign.
Key Takeaways
- – Demand Gen achieves an immersive discovery experience by combining both video and image ads within a single campaign.
- – One Demand Gen campaign can hold video assets, single images and carousel assets in the same ad group, and Google picks the format that suits the surface.
- – Demand Gen is built for visual, feed based discovery on YouTube, Shorts, Discover and Gmail, not for keyword driven search intent.
- – A common mistake is uploading only landscape video. Without vertical video and square images, the campaign loses Shorts and Discover inventory and delivery drops.
Why does Demand Gen allow video and image assets in the same campaign?
Because the surfaces it runs on are mixed. YouTube in-feed and Shorts favour video, while Discover and Gmail often perform better with strong still images and carousels. Keeping both in one campaign lets Google match the creative to the placement instead of forcing you to split budget across separate campaigns.
Which creative sizes should be uploaded to a Demand Gen campaign?
Upload vertical video at 9:16 for Shorts, plus horizontal video for standard in-feed placements. For images, provide 1.91:1 landscape, 1:1 square and 4:5 portrait so every surface has something to serve. Missing an aspect ratio usually shows up as limited reach in the asset coverage warnings.
Is Demand Gen the same as a keyword targeted campaign?
No. Demand Gen does not use keywords at all. Targeting is built on audience signals, custom segments, customer lists and lookalike segments, and optimisation is driven by the conversion goal and bidding strategy. Anyone expecting keyword controls is thinking of Search or Performance Max shopping behaviour instead.
How do you tell which creative format is driving results in Demand Gen?
Open the campaign, go to the Assets view and check the asset level reporting, then segment by format. You can also use the Ad performance and conversion columns to compare video versus image driven conversions. Refresh weak assets rather than pausing the whole ad, since Demand Gen needs enough creative variety to keep serving across all surfaces.