The news: Google introduced new features for Demand Gen campaigns and said it will publish monthly, newsletter-style updates to keep marketers on track with the latest Demand Gen updates.

Among the new features:

• New options for Conversion Lift, allowing the feature to operate with lower conversion volumes and spending levels. The update enables advertisers to test specific campaigns and manager accounts to determine the value of running multiple campaign types simultaneously.
• Updates to omnichannel smart bidding to optimize online and offline sales using online conversion bidding strategies, along with local offers to highlight in-store options for nearby consumers.
• Overviews for reporting in Google Ads to provide context for how campaigns perform next to paid social efforts, special occasion assets, local YouTube offers, and default attributions for other platforms.

Looking to performance: With Demand Gen offering detailed performance insights, the updates align with advertisers’ increasing preference for tools tied to quantifiable results amid economic uncertainty.

And with marketers broadly adopting AI tools, the new features help streamline campaign management and measurement—reducing the manual lift necessary to drive performance across channels.

Yes, but: Some concerns with Demand Gen still linger. Advertisers have previously referred to the resource as a black box that performs worse than Google’s Performance Max tool because of a lack of visibility into ad placements and inability to efficiently exclude low-performing sites. While new features will enhance Demand Gen’s current capabilities, more updates will be essential to maintain and grow advertiser confidence.

Our take: Google is moving to chip away at advertisers’ black-box concerns by adding more visibility, measurement, and testing options into Demand Gen, signaling its push toward greater transparency and control for campaign performance.

• In result, Demand Gen could evolve from a secondary option to a true rival for Performance Max. Expanded capabilities will help reposition the product as a core campaign asset rather than an experimental add-on, especially for advertisers who have been hesitant to commit budgets to it.
• Brands can now experiment with more complex, multi-channel setups inside Google Ads, while Google can position Demand Gen as a central hub for data-driven creative and targeting strategies. The shift could make Demand Gen a lower-risk environment for advertisers looking to trial AI-assisted tactics while raising the bar for transparency across the digital ad ecosystem.