Channel controls in Demand Gen campaigns

What are channel controls?

Channel controls are currently in beta. Compatibility with all features may be limited across channels. We are actively building and rolling out new features over the coming months. If you don't see channel controls in your Demand Gen campaigns, it may not be available to you yet.

Channel controls in Demand Gen campaigns allow you to choose where your ads appear across Google's visual-first surfaces, including YouTube, Gmail, Discover, as well as the Google Display Network. For example, you’ll be able to tailor your Demand Gen campaigns to serve specifically on YouTube Shorts. 

Benefits of channel controls

• Tailor your ad experiences: Choose the Demand Gen channel where your ads show so you can curate the ad experiences to align with your marketing strategy. For example, if you have a vertical creator video, you can choose to serve on YouTube Shorts only to create an optimal mobile ad experience.

• Extend your social strategy: Grow your performance by tapping into the power of YouTube, including YouTube Shorts. Expand your impact beyond paid social platforms and tailor your creative strategy for specific surfaces on YouTube. 

• Get more transparency & enhance campaign efficiency: See detailed performance breakdown by channels, make informed decisions around campaign optimization, and drive efficiency.

To maximize reach across channels, we encourage all advertisers to take advantage of the full inventory in Demand Gen. Learn more about the benefits of cross-channel optimization.

How to use channel controls in Demand Gen

Demand Gen Channel controls are set at the ad group level, allowing you to customize where your ads serve within each ad group. You can choose to select your channels manually, or choose All Google channels to set them automatically. Google Ads is designed to achieve the best possible results by using all channels and available ad inventory. This automated approach ensures efficient budget allocation and cost control, making the automatic channel selection All Google channels the recommendation for most advertisers.

Not all channels are compatible with each ad type or audience.

Automatic channel selection - All Google channels

1. In your Demand Gen campaign, go to Ad group settings.
2. In the “Channels” panel, click All Google channels.
   • All Google Channels give your campaign the flexibility to automatically expand to new channels as Google adds them, driving campaign performance.
3. (Optional) Include the Google Display Network. This enables you to reach over 90% of the global internet population across more than 3 million sites and apps.

Manual channel selection - Let me choose

1. In your Demand Gen campaign, go to Ad group settings.
2. In the “Channels” panel, click Let me choose.
3. Choose the channels you wish for your ads to serve on, selecting from:
   • YouTube
     • YouTube in-stream
     • YouTube in-feed
     • YouTube Shorts
   • Discover 
   • Gmail
   • Google Display Network

The estimated campaign results in the right panel will show you if your selected channel, audience, and other campaign settings will reach enough of your intended audience.

See where your ads served

Channel-level reporting is available by channel at the campaign, ad group, and ad level. To view reporting, use the network segmentation:

• Discover
• Gmail
• YouTube
• Google Display Network

For Demand Gen campaigns, you may also segment your YouTube traffic reports by ad format, including:

• Skippable in-stream
• In-feed
• Shorts

Learn more about Demand Gen campaign metrics and reporting 

Best practices for channel optimization

Maximize performance with AI-powered reach across all Google channels

Demand Gen campaigns, when optimized across YouTube, Discover, Gmail, and the Google Display Network, use Google's AI to connect with potential customers as they explore their interests. Google Ads will strategically distribute your budget and uncover new customers for your business.  

Focus on overall campaign efficiency, not individual channel costs

Consider the overall efficiency of your Demand Gen campaign and its ability to drive qualified leads and conversions, instead of focusing on cost-per-conversion or performance metrics for each individual channel. Google's AI optimizes for the lowest overall cost across all channels, ensuring your budget is used effectively.

An individual channel may appear more cost-effective in isolation, but it may not provide enough overall conversions to meet your campaign goals. By using all Google channels, Google Ads has flexibility to identify the best opportunities and maximize your conversions within your budget.

YouTube in-feed may have a lower cost per conversion than YouTube Shorts, but choosing All Google channels maximizes your overall conversions at the lowest possible cost.