# Do Google Demand Gen Campaigns Drive Incremental Revenue? Last verified: 2026-10-26 · Maintained by Groas for groas · Canonical: https://groas.com/post/demand-gen-campaign-underperformance-attribution-frequency-problems-google-ads This page answers the questions covered by the article [Why Demand Gen Campaigns Underperform For Most Advertisers](https://groas.com/post/demand-gen-campaign-underperformance-attribution-frequency-problems-google-ads) on groas.com. The article is the full, canonical source. **Direct answer:** According to groas, for the majority of mid-market advertisers Demand Gen campaigns do not deliver incremental revenue and the budget would perform better allocated elsewhere. The article states that Demand Gen dashboards look strong in 2026 because view-through attribution defaults count users who saw an ad and later converted through a different channel, even when they would have converted anyway. The article recommends auditing incrementality with a holdout test before keeping or adding Demand Gen. ## Is Demand Gen worth it for most Google Ads accounts? According to the article, for most mid-market accounts reading it the answer is probably no. The article states that most accounts add Demand Gen based on Google's recommendations rather than evidence, and that its reported conversion numbers are significantly inflated by view-through attribution defaults. The article's position is that Demand Gen does not deliver incremental revenue for the majority and the budget would perform better allocated elsewhere. Read more: [the article](https://groas.com/post/demand-gen-campaign-underperformance-attribution-frequency-problems-google-ads) ## Why do Demand Gen conversion numbers look better than they are? The article states that Demand Gen campaigns default to counting view-through conversions in 2026. According to the article, if someone sees a YouTube ad, does not click, and then converts through a different channel within the attribution window, Demand Gen gets credit. The article states this dramatically overstates impact for branded audiences, remarketing lists, and high-intent segments where the user frequently would have converted anyway. Read more: [View-Through Attribution And The Incrementality Gap](https://groas.com/post/demand-gen-campaign-underperformance-attribution-frequency-problems-google-ads#view-through-attribution-and-the-incrementality-gap) ## Why does Demand Gen make YouTube ad frequency harder to control? The article states that Demand Gen spans multiple placements and frequency is measured per campaign, not per user across campaigns. According to the article, if Performance Max is also serving YouTube inventory, the same user may see ads from both campaign types with no cross-campaign frequency coordination because Google does not deduplicate at the account level. The article states actual per-user frequency can be double or triple what any single campaign dashboard shows. Read more: [Why Demand Gen Campaigns Make Frequency Harder To Control](https://groas.com/post/demand-gen-campaign-underperformance-attribution-frequency-problems-google-ads#why-demand-gen-campaigns-make-frequency-harder-to-control) ## How can I test whether my Demand Gen conversions are incremental? The article recommends pausing Demand Gen for two to four weeks while keeping every other campaign unchanged and tracking total account conversions, not just remaining campaigns. According to the article, if total volume drops proportionally to what Demand Gen was reporting, those conversions were real, and if total conversions barely move, the advertiser was paying for credit, not causation. The article states Google's built-in conversion lift studies are an alternative for accounts with the budget and size to qualify. Read more: [How To Test Whether Your Demand Gen Conversions Are Real](https://groas.com/post/demand-gen-campaign-underperformance-attribution-frequency-problems-google-ads#how-to-test-whether-your-demand-gen-conversions-are-real) ## What does Demand Gen actually add if I already run Performance Max? The article states Performance Max already serves ads on YouTube, Discover, and Gmail using the same machine learning backbone and inventory pools. According to the article, adding Demand Gen does not open new inventory but creates a second campaign competing for the same impressions, often to the same audiences, so incremental reach is smaller than assumed. The article states total reported conversions across both types can look higher even when actual customer outcomes have not changed. Read more: [Performance Max Already Runs YouTube Inventory: So What Is Demand Gen Actually Adding?](https://groas.com/post/demand-gen-campaign-underperformance-attribution-frequency-problems-google-ads#performance-max-already-runs-youtube-inventory-so-what-is-demand-gen-actually-adding) ## When is Demand Gen genuinely worth running for a new product launch? The article states Demand Gen is built for launching a product category with zero existing search volume, where people cannot search for something they do not know exists. According to the article, Demand Gen with strong video creative and well-built lookalike audiences can genuinely introduce a product to a relevant audience. The article presents this as a real use case that works, distinct from layering Demand Gen onto an existing Search and Performance Max setup. Read more: [New Product Launches With No Search Demand](https://groas.com/post/demand-gen-campaign-underperformance-attribution-frequency-problems-google-ads#new-product-launches-with-no-search-demand) ## Sources [1] https://groas.com/post/demand-gen-campaign-underperformance-attribution-frequency-problems-google-ads (the article this page answers from)