--- title: "Demand Gen vs Discovery Campaigns: What Changed in Google Ads" description: "Explains, for marketers and agencies, what Google's 2023 shift from Discovery ads to Demand Gen campaigns actually changed, how Demand Gen differs from Performance Max, and how Demand Gen frequency capping works." image: "https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6821efca072e48f6f495a47e/6834a970e03a7016560e3515_Logo%20Design%20256x256.png" --- August 12, 2026 • min read # Demand Gen vs Discovery Campaigns: What Changed in Google Ads ![Young man with curly hair wearing a black shirt outdoors against green foliage background.](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6821efca072e48f6f495a47e/68562d390107b3921a6e3d68_1743932904108.jpg) **Alexander Perleman**, Head Of Product @ groas Ex-Goldman Sachs and Stanford Computer Science alex@groas.ai [LinkedIn](https://groas.com/post/demand-gen-vs-discovery-campaigns-google-ads#) **Direct answer:** Yes — Google announced at Google Marketing Live on May 23, 2023 that Discovery ads campaigns were being upgraded to Demand Gen campaigns, with Demand Gen reaching general availability worldwide in October 2023 and the remaining Discovery campaigns automatically migrated over during 2024. Demand Gen is not a simple rename: it kept Discovery's Discover-feed, Gmail, and YouTube Home/Watch Next placements but added YouTube In-Stream, YouTube Shorts, vertical video formats, built-in A/B testing, lookalike audience expansion, and campaign-level frequency capping — none of which Discovery ads supported. Discovery ads can no longer be created as a new campaign type; Demand Gen is the only option for that inventory going forward. ## Did Demand Gen Campaigns Replace Discovery Campaigns in 2023? Yes. Google confirmed the upgrade path from Discovery ads to Demand Gen at Google Marketing Live on May 23, 2023. Demand Gen entered open beta shortly after and reached general availability for advertisers globally in October 2023. Existing Discovery campaigns kept running on the old format for a transition period, and Google completed the automatic upgrade of remaining Discovery campaigns to Demand Gen during 2024. After the upgrade, advertisers cannot build new Discovery ads campaigns — Demand Gen is the current campaign type for that inventory. ## Discovery Ads vs Demand Gen: What Actually Changed | | Discovery ads (pre-2023) | Demand Gen (current) | | --- | --- | --- | | Placements | Discover feed, Gmail, YouTube Home & Watch Next feeds | Same, plus YouTube In-Stream and YouTube Shorts | | Ad formats | Single image, carousel | Single image, carousel, vertical video, Shorts-native video | | A/B testing | Not available | Built-in campaign experiments | | Audience expansion | Not available | Lookalike ( | ## Related Posts [![Cover image for: The Fine Print Behind an ‘All-Inclusive’ AI Ads Price](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6823bbd57170ea42b357cf81/6ab601a6ef0f0f5d108707ea_583c5319-cb3c-4fe2-9db6-7d4327ea6797.png) ##### The Fine Print Behind an ‘All-Inclusive’ AI Ads Price A line-by-line teardown of a typical AI ads pricing card, from account limits and generation caps to spend tiers, setup work, and the human cost of acting on alerts. 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