Why Placement Matters: Navigating Demand Gen’s New Controls
The Demand Gen campaign type has seen a lot of evolution recently, with several exciting updates that offer more control and transparency than ever before. As of March 2025, Google Ads rolled out channel-level controls, allowing advertisers to select where their Demand Gen ads appear – across YouTube, Discover, Gmail, and Google Display Network. In addition to channel-level settings, advertisers can now opt into or out of specific ad placements like YouTube skippable in-stream, YouTube in-feed, Shorts, Discover, Gmail, and even the Google Display Network.
What’s the Big Deal?
You now have the ability to analyze and optimize performance at both the channel and placement level. That means you can break out metrics by YouTube vs. Discover, or even in-stream vs. in-feed video formats, and make data-driven decisions on where to allocate budget.
What We’re Seeing in the Data
Across several clients optimizing for conversion value and even maximize clicks, we’ve uncovered a consistent trend:
- More than half of Demand Gen traffic (typically around 65-75%) is coming from in-feed placements.
At first glance, this seems like a win – CPCs are typically low ($0.10-$0.75), and impression volume is high. But when we dig deeper, we’re seeing that engagement metrics tell a different story.
- Site engagement is lower
- Session duration is lower
- The click-to-session ratio is lower
Why? The Format Might Be Misleading
On YouTube in-feed placements, the video often autoplays, and users may believe they’re simply clicking to watch it in full screen. But instead of expanding the video, the click redirects them immediately to the advertiser’s landing page. That means users who were expecting to watch a video are suddenly taken to a website they didn’t ask to visit. The result? A high volume of unintentional clicks and a lot of drop-off.
What Advertisers Should Do Next
This is a perfect example of why not all placements are created equal. Just because a placement delivers volume at a low cost doesn’t mean it’s driving high-quality traffic or conversions.
To make the most of the new Demand Gen controls:
- Segment data by ad format to better understand where quality traffic is coming from
- Monitor post-click behavior, like time on site, engaged sessions and engagement, not just CTR or CPCZ
- Test alternative formats, such as in-stream video, which may align better with user expectations
- Shift budget toward the placements that deliver both engagement and outcomes, and opt out of those that underperform
Final Thoughts
Demand Gen is becoming a more powerful and flexible part of the Google Ads ecosystem, but with greater control comes greater responsibility. Advertisers now have the tools to fine-tune performance and eliminate wasted spend. It just takes a little digging and a focus on quality over quantity.
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