Demand Gen Replaced Discovery: Migration, Setup and Creative for 2026

Question 1

Did demand gen campaigns replace discovery campaigns in Google Ads?

Accepted Answer

The article states Demand Gen replaced Discovery campaigns after Google announced it at Marketing Live in May 2023, opened it to advertisers in beta through late 2023, and auto-upgraded every remaining Discovery campaign by March 2024. There is no Discovery campaign type left to create. Campaign IDs carried over, historical performance data stayed attached, and budgets, bid strategies and existing image assets came along without resetting Smart Bidding learning.

Question 2

What did I lose when Discovery became Demand Gen?

Accepted Answer

According to groas, you cannot choose your surfaces in Demand Gen. Discovery gave a narrow set of Discover, Gmail and YouTube home feed, while Demand Gen gives YouTube, Shorts, in-stream, Discover and Gmail as a bundle with no checkbox for Discover only or keeping budget out of Shorts. The article states you get channel-level reporting after the fact and account-level placement exclusions, and that Video Action Campaigns were folded into Demand Gen during 2025.

Question 3

How should I structure a Demand Gen campaign in 2026?

Accepted Answer

The article recommends one campaign, one conversion goal, one country, and one ad group per audience idea. It recommends starting with three ad groups: a first-party remarketing list, a lookalike seeded from actual purchasers at the narrow 2.5% setting, and one custom segment built from search terms and competitor URLs. Each ad group should have its own creative, with a fourth ad group added only when one of the first three earns more budget.

Question 4

What creative do I need for each Demand Gen ad group?

Accepted Answer

The article recommends per ad group at minimum one vertical video in 9:16 and under 15 seconds with the hook in the first two seconds, one landscape video in 16:9 for in-stream and the YouTube home feed, and three to five images in 1.91:1, 1:1 and 4:5. It also recommends five headlines and five descriptions written as feed copy and a landing page that matches the ad's promise specifically, not the homepage. According to groas, if Demand Gen conversion rate is half the Search rate, check the landing page before touching the bid strategy.

Question 5

What bidding and budget settings should I use for Demand Gen?

Accepted Answer

The article recommends starting on Maximize conversions with no target for the first two weeks, gathering at least 30 to 50 conversions, then switching to Target CPA at roughly the CPA it actually achieved. Setting a target 40% below reality collapses delivery, and the article states it will not launch one with a daily budget under ten times the target CPA. It also recommends excluding the existing customer list unless running retention, setting the campaign-level goal to the action that pays, and then giving it 14 days without touching it.

Question 6

Should I use Demand Gen or Performance Max?

Accepted Answer

According to groas, Demand Gen creates interest among people who were not looking for you, while Performance Max harvests intent that already exists, including Search and Shopping inventory that Demand Gen cannot touch. If the product solves a problem people know they have, the article recommends starting with PMax, and if launching a category nobody searches for yet, starting with Demand Gen and expecting branded search volume to be the earliest signal it is working. When running both, the article recommends using brand exclusions in PMax so it stops taking credit for demand the other campaign built.