In 2025, I predicted that Google would phase out standard Display campaigns to favor Demand Gen setups. This month, Google officially confirmed that outcome, folding the Google Display Network (GDN) entirely into the Demand Gen campaign infrastructure.
The transition process has opened, allowing media teams to move existing Display architecture over to the new system before an automated migration takes place. This change follows a familiar consolidation pattern, similar to how local and smart shopping setups were folded into Performance Max.
For brands evaluating their online ad spend, the change means you can no longer pick individual websites for your ads and must let Google’s algorithm choose placements for you. Advertisers should prepare now for the migration.
Why Google Is Migrating Display Ads to Demand Gen
Google is combining separate advertising tracks into a single machine learning operation. Historically, advertisers used separate campaign types to achieve different outcomes, running Search for intent, YouTube for video, and Display for reach. Google is dismantling this fragmented structure. By pulling the Google Display Network (which encompasses more than 2 million websites, videos, and applications) into Demand Gen, the platform creates a unified environment for visual advertising.
Demand Gen allows creative assets to scale across Discover, Gmail, YouTube, YouTube Shorts, and Google Maps simultaneously. Instead of requiring media buyers to manually configure separate placements for native feeds and third-party banners, the algorithm uses unified inputs to distribute creative variations where it projects a probability of user engagement.
Google is pushing this update because they claim it delivers better results for clients. Google data indicates that when advertisers include the Google Display Network within Demand Gen campaigns, they experience a 9.5% average increase in return on investment. During testing phases, the food delivery application GoFood combined these networks and recorded a 24% decline in cost-per-acquisition alongside a 19% increase in total conversion volume.
But these figures represent idealized platform case studies. Your performance gains depend on the quality of your existing data and asset libraries.
How Algorithmic Placement Changes Your Ad Delivery
You will lose direct control over where your ads appear as a result of this change. In legacy Display campaigns, you could pick specific websites to target or keep tight blocklists of places you wanted to avoid. Demand Gen abandons this approach. Instead, Google focuses on finding users based on their search habits and interests, regardless of what website they are viewing. Because the algorithm chases conversions instead of specific web pages, your banner ads will be spread across a much wider, less predictable mix of websites and apps.
You will also have your ability to see and manage performance limited. If you want to keep your banner ads separate from video feeds, Google does include toggle switches inside Demand Gen to isolate the Google Display Network. However, you are still forced to manage everything inside the Demand Gen dashboard. While this interface still allows you to track exactly which websites or YouTube channels hosted your ads and see the conversions they generated, you can no longer target specific placements like you did in legacy Display campaigns, though you do retain the ability to add placement exclusions.
The change also penalizes advertisers who rely on simple, static imagery. Traditional banner ads are low-resolution graphics built for the margins of a web page. Demand Gen runs ads inside main feeds like YouTube Shorts and Discover, which require high-definition video, vertical shapes, and square graphics. If you do not have the resources to constantly supply these specific asset formats, Google’s automated system will simply pull back your ad delivery, leaving you with fewer impressions across the web.
For more insight, here is an FAQ from Google.
What Advertisers Should Do Next
The formal migration timeline extends through 2027, meaning marketing teams have ample time to test and adapt without immediate disruption to live accounts. You need to follow these steps to transition your accounts safely based on Google’s guidance:
Extract Campaign Exclusions
Media managers should immediately download your historic placement exclusion lists, account-level blocklists, and mobile application exclusions from existing Display setups. Preserving these parameters manually ensures that brand safety guardrails can be applied quickly during the new setup process, thus preventing the algorithm from spending budget on low-quality inventory.
Establish Isolated Baseline Tests
Advertisers should avoid using the automated upgrade button right away. Instead, build a separate Demand Gen campaign alongside active Display tactics. Use the built-in channel controls to limit the new campaign to the Google Display Network. This will allow for a direct comparison of cost-per-acquisition and conversion rates between the old and new systems.
Rebuild the Creative Asset Library
Marketing teams should audit your visual assets to ensure compliance with the multi-surface nature of Demand Gen. This requires producing high-resolution imagery across multiple aspect ratios and introducing short-form video variations to avoid being penalized by the system’s distribution algorithms.
Deploy the Native Migration Tool
Once you have established performance benchmarks via manual testing, you can use the migration tool inside Google Ads to transition remaining eligible campaigns. This tool preserves historical data trends to minimize the disruption caused by initial algorithmic calibration.
Manage the Learning Phase Window
Following the migration of any campaign, the underlying bidding model enters a period of intense data collection. Media teams should avoid making budget alterations, target changes, or creative adjustments for the first two to three weeks to allow performance metrics to find an equilibrium.
The line between simple awareness banners and interactive video feeds is completely disappearing. The migration of the Google Display Network into Demand Gen confirms that automated, multi-format campaigns are now the standard operating format for digital media buyers.
Contact True Interactive to successfully deploy the ever-changing Google ad tools. We have deep experience with Google and can help you.
Image source: BoliviaInteligente on Unsplash
