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When to Use Demand Gen, Performance Max, or Display Ads?

Previously known as Video Action Campaigns (VAC), these YouTube ads were designed to drive actions such as clicks, purchases, and website traffic—primarily through YouTube and Google video partners. With the introduction of Demand Gen, these capabilities are expanding to include placements on Gmail and Google Discover, going beyond the traditional YouTube video ad format.

However, if you’re running multiple Google ads, YouTube, and YouTube TV-centered campaign types, you might notice some overlap in functionality and placements. This guide breaks down the distinct features to differentiate Demand Gen vs. Performance Max vs. Display Ads, helping you determine which one best aligns with your goals in 2025.

Demand Gen vs. Performance Max

As Demand Gen expands the YouTube ads inventory to include placements on Discover and Gmail, it’s easy to see why advertisers might confuse it with Performance Max (PMax) campaigns. Let’s break down the differences to help you distinguish between the two.

What is Demand Gen in Google?

Demand Gen is a Google campaign type designed to drive sales and create demand by reaching audiences at various stages of their customer journey. Replacing Video Action Campaigns (VAC), Demand Gen is an upgrade for YouTube app and YouTube TV advertisers, offering the familiar VAC functionalities while expanding placements and adding more advanced targeting options.

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Further Reading

Advertiser’s Guide to Upgrading Video Action Campaigns to Demand Gen

Demand Gen campaigns take the strengths of Video Action Campaigns to the next level, offering advanced tools and features designed to expand your reach and boost performance. Discover how this upgrade can help boost your YouTube and Google ad performance.

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What is a Performance Max (PMax) campaign?

Performance Max (PMax) campaigns prioritize delivering conversions and maximizing results based on the advertiser’s specific goals. Powered by Google’s advanced AI, PMax optimizes performance across various channels, including YouTube, Display, Search, Discover, Gmail, Maps, and other Google advertising networks, to achieve full-funnel efficiency.

What is the difference between Google Performance Max and Demand Gen?

Here’s an illustration of the key differences between Demand Gen vs. Performance Max to give a better view.

When should you use Performance Max?

Performance Max (PMax) is designed to maximize conversion value by allowing Google’s AI to optimize ad placements across its ecosystem. While this automation may reduce granular control, the trade-off is higher efficiency for lower-funnel goals like conversions or clicks.

Notably, updates from Google Marketing Live 2024 introduced placement reporting and exclusions for YouTube, enhancing brand safety and giving advertisers more transparency over their campaigns. If your primary goal is conversions, PMax is an excellent option for driving results.

When to use Demand Gen?

As an upgrade from Video Action Campaigns (VAC), Demand Gen maintains its ability to prompt actions like website visits or sign-ups but now offers expanded functionality.

• Primarily powered by video ads, Demand Gen has evolved into a broader campaign type that includes image ads and carousel formats, extending placements to Gmail and Discover.
• Though previously centered on the YouTube app and YouTube TV, Demand Gen now supports multiple ad formats while maintaining precise control over targeting, ad placements, and formats.
• You’ll also retain robust brand safety and suitability controls, including content theme exclusions, inventory type selection, and placement filters, ensuring your ads align with your desired contexts and themes.

Demand Gen vs. Display Ads

Another common comparison arises between Demand Gen and Display Ads, as both primarily utilize visual formats like images and videos. Let’s explore the key differences of Demand Gen vs. Display Ads to help clarify when to use each for your 2025 ad strategy.

What is Display Ads in Google?

As the name suggests, Display Ads utilize various methods to display your ads across different placements within the Google Display Network. They have a “native” appearance, blending seamlessly with the design elements of the website or app, making them feel less intrusive and more naturally integrated with user behavior and the platform’s environment.

What is the difference between Demand Gen ads and Display ads?

How do you determine the strategies for using Demand Gen campaigns or Display ads? Each Google ads type serves a different purpose and employs different tactics, as seen below:

How Demand Gen and Display Ads Can Complement Each Other

While Demand Gen and Display Ads serve distinct purposes, they can work together effectively:

• Google Display Ads provide initial exposure, reaching a broad audience to generate awareness.
• Demand Gen campaigns nurture this exposure by targeting specific audiences with tailored ads, focusing on engagement and lead generation.

Further, if your campaign sees higher engagement with video ads, you can better enhance your strategy by implementing Video View Campaigns, which optimize placements within the YouTube app and YouTube TV. During peak seasons, such as holidays, combining these strategies can lead to up to 5.3 million video views, maximizing YouTube ads visibility and engagement when it matters most.

By leveraging the strengths of different Google ad campaign types, you can create a balanced, multi-funnel approach that drives brand visibility and effectively nurtures potential customers.

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Further Reading

Conquering Bigger Screens with YouTube TV and Google TV

YouTube TV and Google TV provide an excellent opportunity to extend your campaign’s reach and amplify brand awareness. Advertisers can connect with broader and more diverse audiences by tapping into premium TV ad inventory, including major networks and specialized channels.

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How to Choose Between Demand Gen, Performance Max, and Display Ads

Your 2025 strategy should not be constrained by just a one-year-long campaign. Throughout the seasons, we provide you with different strategies as the different holidays arrive and different trends change advertising and consumer behavior. 

Each of Google’s campaign types—Demand Gen, Performance Max, and Display Ads—serves unique purposes, making them ideal for different priorities. Here’s a breakdown to help you decide which types of Google ads align best with your goals:

How Does Your 2025 Google and YouTube Ad Strategy Look Like This 2025?

Still pondering how you want to build your 2025 Google and YouTube ads strategy? We invite you to chat with us for a personalized walkthrough. Let us know what ad creatives you have, how you want to leverage them, and what your goals are so we can help you attain them.

With Strike Social’s proprietary tool, Campaign Lab, we’ve powered millions of successful campaigns, delivering measurable results and cost efficiency for our clients. Our unique Software with a Service (SwaS) approach combines advanced machine-learning technology with expert support to ensure your campaigns perform at their peak.

Contact us today and discover how we can help you maximize your 2025 Google and YouTube ads strategy.

The post Demand Gen vs. Performance Max vs. Display Ads: What Works Best in 2025? appeared first on Strike Social.

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This post was updated in February 2025 to provide you with the latest information.

What You Know (and Don’t Know) about Google Performance Max Campaigns

Google’s Performance Max Campaigns have emerged as a comprehensive solution, spanning across diverse channels such as Search, Shopping, YouTube, Display, and Discover. While the allure of this extensive reach may be tempting, it’s essential to consider the potential pitfalls, particularly in terms of ad placement. Advertising online comes with uncertainties, and with Google Performance Max Campaigns, determining where your ads appear and the context in which they are displayed becomes even more challenging. 

The value proposition of Performance Max campaigns is prompting media buyers to deliberate. Is it time to explore this option, or should you maintain their focus on the YouTube ads inventory? Join us as we explore these questions and more in this blog.

Getting Started with Performance Max Ads

Google’s Performance Max Campaigns, or PMax, made their debut in November 2021 with the aim of delivering targeted ads to the right audience at the right time and place across multiple channels. This strategic approach allows brands to maximize Google’s cross-channel promotion capabilities within a single ad campaign.

Performance Max Ad Objectives

Performance Max campaigns provide a variety of objectives to suit different advertising objectives. Here’s a breakdown of the available options and how they can enhance your efforts:

Available Inventory and Ad Placements

Performance Max campaigns leverage Google’s extensive advertising network, allowing ads to reach a broad audience. After loading creative assets into the campaign, Google’s algorithm determines ad placement across various channels and inventory, including YouTube, Display, Search, Discover, Gmail, and Maps. Here’s an overview of where and how your ads will appear on Google’s networks:

Google AI Automation

Performance Max Campaigns utilize Google’s AI for automated bidding and optimization, resulting in enhanced campaign performance efficiency.

PMax employs AI-powered automated bidding strategies such as Maximize Conversions and Target CPA to dynamically adjust bids for each ad impression. This ensures that your ads are displayed at competitive prices, potentially maximizing conversions.

Furthermore, Google’s AI continuously analyzes campaign data and user behavior in real-time. This enables automatic adjustments to various factors including targeting, ad placements, formats, and creatives, ensuring optimal campaign performance.

What Lies Beneath the Surface of Performance Max

Performance Max campaigns is presented as a highly streamlined and automated solution for advertising on the Google network. However, despite the wealth of information available, there remains a noticeable gap between what advertisers perceive about Performance Max ads and the undisclosed aspects hidden until the launch of your campaigns.

Restrictions in Audience Targeting

Performance Max campaigns only permit audience targeting based on location and languages. Therefore, if you aim for a more sophisticated audience targeting setup, you might find it challenging to accomplish with Performance Max campaigns. Here’s why it’s important to remain vigilant:

Limited visibility: Unlike other campaign types, PMax doesn’t offer detailed breakdowns of where your ads are actually being served or who exactly is seeing them. This lack of transparency raises questions about:

• Reaching the right audience: Are your ads truly reaching relevant users who are likely to convert? Are they appearing alongside content that aligns with your brand image?
• Placement concerns: Examples like TrueView ads appearing on low-quality in-stream placements highlight potential misalignment with Google’s quality standards.

Here’s a quick insight into the restricted audience targeting capabilities in PMax:

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Further Reading

YouTube Contextual vs. Audience Targeting: Choosing the Right Approach

YouTube offers two key strategies for video ad targeting: contextual targeting and audience-based targeting. Understanding how each method works is essential for optimizing ad reach and effectiveness.

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Brand Safety Risks in PMax Ad Placements

Similar to audience targeting, PMax placements lack complete transparency. Here’s why understanding placement matters:

Brand safety concerns: Studies like one by Adalytics, which found 80,000 sites within Google Search Partner Network (SPN) violating Google’s terms and conditions, raised alarms about the potential for brand safety issues when advertising via Google Performance Max campaigns.

Compliance considerations: A study by Adalytics exploring YouTube placements within PMax campaigns suggests brands may inadvertently violate COPPA regulations due to improper ad targeting on YouTube KIds’ channels.

Case: COPPA Violations With Ads Running On YouTube Kids’ Channels
Adalytics’ research suggests YouTube, a potential placement location within PMax campaigns, may have displayed ads and collected information of minors, in violation of COPPA regulations. This highlights the importance of understanding where your ads are showing and the potential consequences of limited transparency in PMax.

Limited Control in Your Ad Campaigns

While automation saves time, it also restricts your ability to fine-tune campaigns:

Granular targeting limitations: Compared to other campaign types, PMax offers less granular control over targeting parameters. This can be problematic for campaigns requiring specific audience segmentation or exclusion strategies.

Limited ad customization: PMax automatically generates various ad formats based on the assets you provide. While convenient, this approach can hinder your ability to tailor ad messaging to specific audiences or placements.

Challenges in budget optimization: With automated bidding driven by AI, PMax removes direct control over CPC bids, restricting your ability to effectively manage and optimize your budget based on your decisions.

Remember, PMax is a powerful tool, but it’s essential to approach it with awareness and caution. By understanding the limitations and potential challenges, you can make informed decisions about whether it aligns with your brand’s objectives or if alternative strategies may be more suitable.

Questions from Media Buyers

Finding the Perfect Partner for Your YouTube Ad Campaigns

Strike Social, an established social media advertising company with over 10 years of experience, ensures precise placement of video ads on Google and YouTube. Through careful channel selection and rigorous screening processes, we guarantee that your ads reach the intended audience consistently. Here’s how we deliver on our promise to clients:

Complete control of your campaigns

Our proprietary process involves a detailed analysis of the channels where we intend to run your video ads. Each channel undergoes thorough scrutiny to ensure alignment with both Google’s standards and Strike Social’s brand safety and suitability criteria. This approach allows you to trust us to activate and optimize your ad campaigns while maintaining full awareness of where your ads will appear.

Kids’ Channel exclusions

With our exclusive tool, CampaignLab, excluding YouTube Kids’ Channels from video ad placements is straightforward. By toggling a checkbox, these channels are automatically excluded from your ad placements. This proactive measure prevents potential issues such as inadvertent clicks by children, minimizing wasted ad costs and clicks.

Strike Social’s brand safety controls

In addition to our internal processes, we leverage a range of brand safety tools available in the Google Ads platform to further fortify your campaigns. This toolset includes:

• Negative keyword targeting
• Topic exclusions
• Trending negative keywords
• Category exclusions
• Video & channel placements

By implementing these safeguards, we ensure that your campaigns align with your brand values and objectives while minimizing the risk of undesirable placements.

At Strike Social, we leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance our operations, but we don’t solely rely on it. Our approach involves combining AI technology with human expertise to optimize campaign performance and safety. By integrating technology with industry knowledge, we strive to deliver outstanding results for your advertising campaigns.

We prioritize brand safety and cost efficiency by offering granular targeting options for your YouTube ads. While Google Performance Max campaigns offer similar capabilities, we believe our approach offers unique advantages. While PMax may provide certain benefits, it cannot replicate the comprehensive solutions and expertise we provide at Strike Social.

Determine the Ideal Google Ads Inventory Type for Your Brand

The choice to leverage Google Performance Max campaigns rests with you, as you retain full control over your advertising endeavors. Our goal is to equip you with comprehensive knowledge about the functionality of these ad campaigns, ensuring that you make informed decisions rather than blindly launching your campaigns into the Google Ads inventory.

Experience firsthand the distinct advantages offered by Strike Social and how we empower you with enhanced campaign control and transparent ad placement visibility. Schedule a call with one of our experts today to take the next step towards optimizing your advertising strategies. 

The post Going Beyond the Surface of Google’s Performance Max Ads appeared first on Strike Social.