Summary
Brand Lift studies is the correct answer. It surveys an exposed group and a randomised control group on YouTube and reports the difference as lift across metrics including purchase intent, which is exactly what an eCommerce brand needs to prove that its video spend is shifting customer sentiment rather than just delivering impressions.
Nitin Batra is a Google Video Ads certified professional who plans and measures YouTube campaigns, including Brand Lift study setup and interpretation for eCommerce and retail advertisers.
Last updated: August 23, 2026
To measure how YouTube ads shift customer sentiment around purchase intent, an eCommerce brand should run Brand Lift studies, which survey exposed and control users to report lifts in awareness, ad recall, consideration and purchase intent.
- Asset Studio
- Insights Finder
- Brand Lift studies
- Brand Pulse Report
The correct answer is: Brand Lift studies
Key Takeaways
- – Brand Lift studies is the correct tool for measuring how YouTube ads influence customer sentiment on purchase intent.
- – The study works by comparing survey responses from an exposed group against a randomised control group, and the gap between them is reported as lift.
- – Brand Lift measures attitudinal metrics such as ad recall, awareness, consideration, favourability and purchase intent, which performance reports on clicks and conversions cannot capture.
- – A study will not report results unless it reaches statistical significance, so low budget or narrow targeting campaigns often return no measurable lift.
How does a Brand Lift study actually calculate lift?
Google randomly holds back a control group that does not see your ad while the exposed group does. Both groups get the same single question survey on YouTube. The percentage difference in positive responses between the two groups is the absolute lift, and Google also reports relative lift and cost per lifted user. Because the split is randomised, the difference can be attributed to the ad exposure.
Where do I set up a Brand Lift study in Google Ads?
Go to Tools in the left navigation, open Measurement and select Brand lift. From there you create a new study, add the campaigns you want measured, select the metrics such as ad recall or purchase intent, and write your survey question with the answer options including your brand and competitors. Google then shows the minimum budget needed for the study to produce reliable results.
Is Brand Lift the same as a Search lift or Conversion lift study?
No. Brand Lift uses survey responses to measure attitude change like awareness and purchase intent. Search lift measures the increase in organic searches for your brand or products after ad exposure. Conversion lift measures incremental conversions against a holdback group. All three are incrementality measurements, but only Brand Lift asks people what they think.
What are the common reasons a Brand Lift study returns no results?
The usual reasons are insufficient budget, too small an audience, too short a flight duration, or too many metrics selected for the available survey volume. Running the study across fragmented campaigns with low frequency also spreads responses too thin. Keep the study focused on one or two metrics, give it enough spend to clear Google’s stated minimum, and let it run long enough to gather survey responses from both groups.