Summary
The advertiser should add vertical and square videos and include creator partnerships boost ads with video linking. Images in every orientation are only half the requirement, since Demand Gen serves video across Shorts, in-feed, in-stream, Discover and Gmail. Supplying all three video orientations plus creator-led partnership video gives the campaign full surface coverage.
Nitin Batra is a Google Video Ads certified professional who plans and runs Demand Gen and YouTube campaigns, including multi-orientation creative builds and creator partnership ad setups in Google Ads.
Last updated: August 23, 2026
To meet current Demand Gen creative variety best practices, add vertical and square videos alongside the existing horizontal video, and include creator partnerships boost ads with video linking so assets fit every surface.
- Upload three additional images and deactivate all third-party measurement.
- Transition to image-only assets while excluding all of YouTube Shorts inventory.
- Include five distinct text headlines while using image-to-video enhancement tools.
- Add vertical and square videos and include creator partnerships boost ads with video linking.
The correct answer is: Add vertical and square videos and include creator partnerships boost ads with video linking.
Key Takeaways
- – The advertiser must add vertical and square videos and include creator partnerships boost ads with video linking to meet Demand Gen creative variety best practices.
- – Demand Gen asset groups accept horizontal, vertical and square video, and Google matches the orientation to the surface, so a horizontal-only setup rarely serves well on Shorts or vertical in-feed.
- – Creative variety exists because Demand Gen runs across YouTube, Shorts, Discover and Gmail in one campaign, and more asset shapes mean more eligible placements and better auction coverage.
- – A common mistake is fixing coverage by adding more images instead of more video orientations, or excluding Shorts inventory, both of which cut reach rather than improve it.
How many videos and orientations should a Demand Gen campaign have?
Google’s creative guidance is to include video in all three orientations, horizontal, vertical and square, along with images in every orientation. Three or more videos per asset group gives the system room to test. The minimum to run a campaign is lower, but the recommendation exists because each surface has a different aspect ratio.
What are creator partnership ads in Demand Gen?
Partnership ads let you run a creator’s own YouTube video as your ad, with the creator’s channel name and handle attached. The creator grants access through YouTube’s paid promotion tools, and the video is linked into your Google Ads account. This gives you creator-native content inside the same Demand Gen campaign as your brand assets.
Does adding vertical video mean I need to remove my horizontal video?
No. Keep the horizontal video and add the vertical and square cuts. In-stream and Discover placements still favour horizontal, while Shorts and vertical in-feed need the 9:16 version. The point is coverage across all surfaces, not replacement.
Where can I check whether my Demand Gen creative variety is actually helping?
Open the campaign, go to the asset group and look at the Assets view with the performance rating column, then check the Combinations or Asset details report. You can also segment reporting to see how much delivery is going to Shorts style vertical placements. If vertical impressions are near zero, the vertical assets are missing or disapproved.