How Can You Use Google Ads for YouTube Advertising?

Choose the right Google Ads campaign approach for YouTube (based on what you’re actually trying to achieve)

1) If your goal is conversions (leads, sales, sign-ups): prioritize Demand Gen (not the old Video Action Campaign setup)

If you’re coming from the “Video Action Campaign” era, the biggest practical change is this: creating new Video Action Campaigns was removed in April 2025, and remaining Video Action Campaigns began automatically upgrading starting in July 2025. In 2026, the most reliable starting point for conversion-focused YouTube advertising is Demand Gen (or, in some accounts, a Video campaign subtype built to drive conversions), because it’s designed to optimize toward business outcomes while still using highly visual placements.

In plain language, Demand Gen is where you go when you want YouTube to behave more like a modern “feed-based” performance channel: strong creative, clear offer, and an algorithm that looks for the people most likely to take action after engaging with your ad.

2) If your goal is views and consideration: use Video View Campaigns (multi-format by design)

When the KPI is efficient viewing (and you want the system to find people likely to watch), Video View Campaigns are purpose-built for that. They’re designed to run a mix of formats in one campaign (instead of forcing you to choose only one placement type), which is exactly how you keep costs stable while expanding reach across different viewing behaviors—long-form, discovery, and short-form.

One important nuance: Video View Campaigns increasingly center around multi-format inventory and a TrueView-style target cost-per-view approach, where you set the average amount you’re willing to pay per view (rather than simply setting a hard “max” bid and hoping it paces well).

3) If your goal is reach (awareness at scale): use Video Reach Campaigns and decide whether you want efficient reach or controlled frequency

Reach campaigns are for brand outcomes—getting in front of as many relevant people as possible, as efficiently as possible, and (optionally) controlling repetition. In my experience, most accounts waste money here by either (a) going too narrow on targeting and throttling delivery, or (b) going too broad without brand-safety controls and learning what actually drove lift.

If you’re aiming to scale awareness in the U.S., note that some Video campaign inventory can extend to TV-focused surfaces, and you’ll want your creative to be “living room ready” (clear branding, strong first 5 seconds, legible overlays, and audio that works on a couch, not just on a phone).

Understand the YouTube ad formats inside Google Ads (so you stop mismatching creative to placement)

Skippable in-stream: best for persuasion, storytelling, and measurable attention

Skippable in-stream is the workhorse format for most advertisers because it allows longer creative, supports strong calls-to-action, and gives you meaningful engagement signals. It’s also one of the easiest formats to connect to downstream outcomes when your measurement is set up correctly, because you can evaluate both click-based and view-based contribution.

In-feed video: best for discovery (high intent “browsing” behavior)

In-feed video ads (previously called “video discovery ads”) show in discovery environments like the home feed and search experiences. This format is ideal when your creative looks like content people would actually choose to watch, not just an interruption. If your thumbnail, hook, and premise are weak, in-feed tends to underperform; if they’re strong, it can become one of your most efficient ways to build qualified remarketing pools.

YouTube Shorts ads: best for fast hooks, vertical creative, and mobile-first reach

Short-form inventory demands short-form creative. If you try to repurpose a 16:9 TV-style ad with tiny text, you’ll get views but not outcomes. For Shorts, build for vertical, lead with the value in the first second, and keep the message visually understandable even without sound.

Non-skippable in-stream and bumper: best for pure reach and message frequency

Non-skippable and bumper formats are “message delivery” tools. They’re less about persuading someone over time and more about ensuring your key point lands. They work best when the creative is distilled: one idea, one brand, one action (or one memory cue), no clutter.

Newer/less-discussed inventory: pause ads and premium placements

Depending on how you buy and what options are enabled in your account, you may see formats like pause ads on connected TV devices (shown after a user pauses playback and stays idle). Treat these like “billboard moments”: clean design, minimal text, and unmistakable branding.

For premium placements like masthead, plan these as campaigns with their own creative and measurement expectations. Don’t judge them like direct response campaigns; judge them like reach and lift initiatives with clear before/after baselines.

Build your YouTube advertising campaign in Google Ads: a system that scales (and doesn’t collapse after week 1)

Step 1: Start with measurement you can actually optimize against (especially view-based conversions)

YouTube often influences conversions without earning the last click, so you need to measure beyond clicks. A key concept here is engaged-view conversions: a conversion can be counted after someone watches a meaningful portion of your ad (for example, at least 10 seconds of a skippable in-stream ad, or a shorter engagement threshold for in-feed/Shorts), then converts within your engaged-view conversion window.

This matters because if you judge YouTube only on “click-to-convert,” you’ll often kill campaigns that are actually driving lift—especially on mobile, where people commonly watch, then convert later through search, direct, or another session.

Step 2: Pick a bidding strategy that matches the goal (and fund it properly)

Here’s the mistake I see most: advertisers choose an algorithmic bidding strategy, then starve it with an unrealistic budget and conclude “YouTube doesn’t work.” If you’re using target CPA for conversion-focused video, your daily budget needs enough room to explore and stabilize. As a practical benchmark, budgets are often recommended to be multiples of your target CPA (and if you’re using maximize conversions, you still need enough daily volume for the system to learn).

Also respect learning time. If you launch or make major changes (bids, creative, targeting), give the system a real learning window before you declare a winner or loser. Short-term volatility is normal; what you’re watching for is stabilization in cost trends and conversion volume once learning settles.

Step 3: Use audiences as “signals,” not handcuffs (and know which tools are unique to Demand Gen)

You’ll generally perform best when you combine strong first-party data with smart expansion. Start with audiences that indicate intent or familiarity—site visitors, customer lists, engaged channel viewers, and high-quality custom segments built from real search behavior. Then allow controlled expansion through automated targeting features where appropriate, so you’re not stuck fishing in a tiny pond.

Demand Gen adds additional audience tooling, including lookalike-style expansion from a seed list. That’s especially useful when your first-party list is strong but too small to scale on its own.

Step 4: Link your YouTube channel to unlock deeper performance levers (and avoid the common permission trap)

If you’re advertising with YouTube video assets, linking your channel to your ads account is more than a “nice to have.” It’s how you typically unlock the ability to build audience segments based on viewer interactions, view certain organic performance signals, and (in some setups) use engagement actions—like subscriptions—as conversion actions for optimization.

The most common blocker is simple: the ads account doesn’t have the right admin access to complete linking, or the channel ownership/permissions aren’t set correctly. Fix this early, because retroactively rebuilding audiences after weeks of spend is painful.

Step 5: Creative that wins on YouTube is built differently (and multi-format campaigns demand more assets)

YouTube is not a static banner environment. Your first 5 seconds are your targeting. Build creative around a clear hook, a fast problem/benefit statement, and a single next step. Then iterate. In mature accounts, I typically run multiple variants at once—different hooks, different offers, different CTAs—because the fastest way to “find the winner” is to give the system real options.

Also plan for multi-format requirements. When you run multi-format inventory (especially anything that can serve in feed-like placements), you’ll often need supporting text assets like headlines and descriptions. Even if you think you’re “only running in-stream,” your campaign settings can evolve over time, and you don’t want your expansion limited by missing assets.

Step 6: Brand safety and suitability settings are not optional at scale

As you broaden reach, you need controls. Use inventory and content exclusion settings to reduce the chance of serving alongside content that doesn’t fit your brand. This is particularly important for awareness and reach campaigns, where you’ll naturally touch more varied inventory as the system looks for efficient impressions.

My “launch checklist” (the few bullets that prevent most expensive mistakes)

• Confirm your primary goal and pick the matching campaign type (conversions vs views vs reach) before you pick formats.
• Validate conversion tracking and confirm you can evaluate view-assisted impact (not just clicks).
• Fund the bid strategy with a budget that allows learning and stability (especially for target CPA or maximize conversions).
• Build at least 3–5 creative variants, including vertical versions if you plan to serve on Shorts or multi-format inventory.
• Set brand suitability controls (inventory type and content exclusions) before scaling spend.

How to optimize week-to-week without breaking learning

When performance lags, diagnose it like a funnel: are you failing to win impressions, failing to earn engagement, failing to earn views, failing to earn clicks, or failing after the click on the landing page? Each failure point has a different fix. For example, low view rate usually points to a creative/hook issue, while low conversion rate after clicks usually points to landing page mismatch, offer friction, or conversion tracking gaps.

Finally, keep your reporting language straight: as of October 2025, the metric many advertisers historically called “Views” is labeled “TrueView views” in Google Ads. The naming change doesn’t change billing or counting, but it does reduce confusion when you’re comparing view metrics across different report screens.

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If you’re using Google Ads for YouTube advertising, a lot of the results come down to matching the right campaign type to your goal (Demand Gen for conversions, Video View for efficient views, Video Reach for awareness), then backing it up with the right formats, tracking (including engaged-view conversions), budgets, audience signals, and brand-suitability settings. If you want a lighter way to stay on top of that day-to-day work, Blobr connects to your Google Ads account and uses specialized AI agents to continuously analyze performance and turn common best practices into concrete, prioritized actions—like spotting budget waste, suggesting adjustments to bidding or audiences, and helping keep creative and landing pages aligned—while you still choose what to apply and where.