Google Discovery Ads: Visual Campaign Strategy

Google Discovery Ads represent a fundamental shift in how advertisers reach potential customers. Unlike Search campaigns that capture existing intent, Discovery campaigns create demand by reaching users during passive content consumption moments across Google's most engaging properties. With placements spanning YouTube, Gmail, and the Discover feed, these visually-driven campaigns connect with over 3 billion users at moments when they're open to inspiration and new ideas.

This guide covers everything you need to know about Discovery Ads in 2026, including how they've evolved into Demand Gen campaigns, creative best practices for each placement, audience targeting strategies, and optimization tactics that drive measurable results.

Understanding Discovery Ads Placements

Discovery Ads appear across three of Google's highest-engagement properties, each offering unique opportunities to connect with audiences. Understanding how users interact with each placement is essential for creating effective creative and setting appropriate expectations for campaign performance.

YouTube Home and Watch Next feeds

YouTube is the world's second-largest search engine and the platform where users spend the most time engaging with content. Discovery Ads appear as native cards in the YouTube Home feed, which users see when opening the app or website, and in the Watch Next recommendations alongside videos. These placements reach users in discovery mode, actively looking for their next piece of content to consume.

For YouTube placements, creative that resembles organic content thumbnails tends to perform best. Use compelling imagery with clear focal points, avoid heavy branding in the image itself, and let your headline do the selling. The format mimics organic video recommendations, so ads that feel native to the experience generate higher engagement. For comprehensive YouTube advertising strategies, see our YouTube Ads Guide.

Gmail Promotions and Social tabs

Gmail Discovery Ads appear in the Promotions and Social tabs, reaching users who are already engaging with commercial content and social updates. These placements show your ad in a collapsed format initially, expanding when clicked to reveal the full creative with headline, description, and call-to-action.

The Gmail placement is particularly effective for e-commerce and retail advertisers, as users in these tabs are already in a mindset to evaluate offers and promotions. Use promotional language in your headlines and feature product imagery prominently. The expanded ad format allows for more detail than YouTube placements, so include specific offers or value propositions.

Google Discover feed

Google Discover is the personalized content feed that appears on the Google app and mobile browser homepage. Users scroll through articles, videos, and content recommendations tailored to their interests based on search history, browsing behavior, and explicit topic follows. Discovery Ads appear seamlessly within this feed as sponsored content.

Discover users are in exploration mode, looking for interesting content rather than specific products. Ads that feel like content recommendations, using editorial-style imagery and intriguing headlines, outperform overtly promotional creative. Think of Discover as a content marketing placement where you're competing for attention against news articles and blog posts, not other ads.

Creative Best Practices for Visual Ads

Discovery Ads live and die by their creative quality. Unlike Search ads where relevance to query drives performance, Discovery campaigns rely entirely on visual appeal and messaging to capture attention in content-rich environments. The following best practices are based on analysis of top-performing campaigns across industries.

Image requirements and specifications

Google requires multiple image aspect ratios to ensure optimal display across all placements. At minimum, you need landscape (1.91:1) and square (1:1) images, but including portrait (4:5) images maximizes your placement eligibility and creative flexibility.

File size must stay under 5MB, and images should be high-resolution without compression artifacts. Google's AI may crop images differently for various placements, so ensure your key visual elements are centered and not near edges where they might be trimmed.

Visual design principles

The most effective Discovery Ad images share several characteristics that differentiate them from traditional display advertising. Apply these principles to maximize engagement across placements:

• Lifestyle over product shots: Show products in use or in aspirational contexts rather than isolated product images on white backgrounds
• Human faces and emotion: Images featuring people, especially with clear emotional expressions, consistently outperform product-only imagery
• Minimal text overlay: Keep text to under 20% of image area; let headlines and descriptions carry messaging
• High contrast and clarity: Images must be immediately understandable at small sizes on mobile devices
• Brand integration: Include subtle branding through colors or logo placement rather than prominent brand marks

For carousel ads, tell a visual story across cards. The first card should hook attention, middle cards demonstrate value or features, and the final card drives action. Each card can have its own headline, so use the sequence to build narrative momentum. For more on carousel strategies, see Meta Ads Carousel Ads for cross-platform creative principles.

Headlines and descriptions that convert

Discovery campaigns allow up to 5 headlines (40 characters each) and 5 descriptions (90 characters each). Google's AI tests combinations to find top performers, so provide diverse options that highlight different value propositions.

Effective headlines for Discovery Ads typically fall into these categories:

• Benefit-focused: "Sleep Better Starting Tonight"
• Curiosity-driven: "The Skincare Secret Dermatologists Use"
• Social proof: "Join 500,000 Happy Customers"
• Urgency/offer: "40% Off This Week Only"
• Question format: "Tired of Expensive Gym Memberships?"

Descriptions should expand on headlines with specific details, features, or calls-to-action. Include your unique selling proposition and a clear reason to click. Avoid vague descriptions that could apply to any competitor.

Audience Targeting for Discovery Campaigns

Audience targeting is where Discovery campaigns differ most significantly from Search campaigns. Without keyword targeting, your audience selection determines who sees your ads. Google offers extensive audience options that leverage their understanding of user behavior across the web. For a complete overview of targeting options, see our Google Ads Audience Targeting guide.

First-party audience strategies

Your own data provides the most valuable targeting foundation for Discovery campaigns. Customer Match allows you to upload email lists, phone numbers, or mailing addresses that Google matches to user accounts. Website visitor audiences built from your Google Ads tag capture users who've already shown interest in your brand.

The most powerful first-party strategy combines retargeting with expansion. Create audience segments based on specific actions (cart abandoners, product viewers, past purchasers) and use these as seeds for lookalike audiences. This approach finds new users who behave similarly to your best customers.

Lookalike segments explained

Lookalike segments, introduced with the Demand Gen upgrade, analyze your seed audiences to find new users with similar characteristics. Google offers three reach levels:

Start with Balanced for most campaigns, then test Narrow if you need to improve efficiency or Broad if you need more scale. The seed audience quality matters significantly, so use your highest-intent actions (purchasers, qualified leads) rather than all website visitors.

In-market and affinity audiences

Google's in-market audiences identify users actively researching products or services in specific categories. These audiences are built from search queries, website visits, and content consumption patterns. For Discovery campaigns, in-market audiences provide a balance between scale and intent that works well for mid-funnel objectives.

Affinity audiences represent longer-term interests and lifestyle categories. While less immediately transactional than in-market, affinity audiences are valuable for building brand awareness and reaching users before they enter active shopping mode. Combine affinity audiences with compelling creative to create demand rather than capture existing intent.

Discovery vs Display Network: When to Use Each

Advertisers often wonder whether to invest in Discovery campaigns or the Google Display Network. Both serve visual ads, but they operate differently and serve distinct strategic purposes.

Key differences at a glance

Strategic recommendations

Use Discovery Ads when brand perception matters and you want premium placements with guaranteed brand safety. The native ad formats generate higher engagement and feel less intrusive than traditional display banners. Discovery is ideal for upper and mid-funnel objectives where you're introducing your brand or nurturing consideration.

Use Display Network when you need massive reach, granular placement control, or specific ad sizes for retargeting. Display excels at remarketing with dynamic product ads and allows custom creative sizes for specific site placements. For lower-funnel objectives with users who already know your brand, Display's broader reach can capture conversions across the web.

Many advertisers run both campaign types simultaneously, using Discovery for prospecting and brand building while leveraging Display for aggressive retargeting across the web.

Performance Optimization Tactics

Discovery campaigns require different optimization approaches than Search or standard Display campaigns. The AI-driven nature of these campaigns means your role shifts from micro-managing bids and placements to providing quality inputs and making strategic adjustments based on performance patterns.

Bidding strategy progression

Start new Discovery campaigns with Maximize Conversions bidding. This allows Google's AI to learn without constraints, gathering conversion data as efficiently as possible. Set a daily budget you're comfortable with, understanding that early spend may be less efficient as the system learns.

After accumulating 50+ conversions (ideally within 30 days), transition to Target CPA or Target ROAS bidding. Set targets based on your actual performance data, starting 10-20% above your average CPA or below your average ROAS to maintain delivery while improving efficiency. Gradually tighten targets as performance stabilizes.

Creative testing framework

With Discovery campaigns, Google automatically tests creative combinations, but you control what goes into the testing pool. Follow this framework for systematic creative improvement:

1. Launch with variety: Start with 5+ image variations, diverse headlines, and multiple descriptions
2. Monitor asset performance: Review the asset report weekly to identify top and low performers
3. Replace underperformers: Remove assets rated "Low" and add new variations testing different angles
4. Double down on winners: Create variations of your top-performing assets (same concept, different execution)
5. Test new concepts quarterly: Introduce completely new creative directions to prevent audience fatigue

For cross-platform creative insights that apply to Discovery, TikTok Creative Best Practices offers valuable principles for visual-first advertising.

Audience refinement over time

Discovery campaigns benefit from audience refinement based on conversion data. After initial learning, analyze which audience segments drive the most valuable conversions. Create separate campaigns or ad groups for your top-performing audiences with higher budgets and more aggressive targets.

Use audience insights in Google Ads to understand characteristics of your converters. Look for in-market categories, affinity categories, and demographic patterns that over-index among your customers. Build dedicated campaigns targeting these insights directly.

Integration with Demand Gen Campaigns

In October 2023, Google upgraded Discovery campaigns to Demand Gen campaigns, significantly expanding capabilities while maintaining the core visual-first approach. Understanding this evolution is essential for maximizing your Discovery advertising strategy in 2026.

What Demand Gen added

The Demand Gen upgrade introduced several capabilities that weren't available in original Discovery campaigns:

• YouTube Shorts placement: Vertical video ads in the rapidly growing Shorts feed
• In-stream video ads: Skippable video ads before, during, or after YouTube videos
• Video creative support: Upload videos up to 60 seconds alongside image assets
• Lookalike segments: AI-powered audience expansion based on seed lists
• A/B experiments: Native creative testing functionality within campaigns
• Expanded bidding options: Including Maximize Clicks for awareness objectives

Migration and naming considerations

All existing Discovery campaigns were automatically upgraded to Demand Gen, and new campaigns use the Demand Gen framework. While you may still see references to "Discovery Ads" in industry discussions, the official campaign type is now Demand Gen. The core Discovery placements (YouTube feed, Gmail, Discover) remain, with Demand Gen adding additional video inventory.

If you're creating new campaigns, use Demand Gen to access all available features. For historical campaigns labeled as Discovery, Google has preserved settings and performance history while enabling new capabilities.

Measuring Discovery Ads Performance

Measurement for Discovery campaigns requires a different mindset than direct response Search campaigns. Discovery influences the customer journey at upper and mid-funnel stages, meaning its impact often shows up in assisted conversions and brand lift rather than immediate last-click conversions.

Key metrics to track

Attribution considerations

Discovery campaigns often underperform on last-click attribution models because they reach users earlier in their journey. A user might see your Discovery Ad, become aware of your brand, then convert days later through a branded Search click or direct visit. Using last-click attribution, the Search or direct channel gets credit while Discovery appears ineffective.

Switch to data-driven attribution in Google Ads to give Discovery appropriate credit for its influence. Also review the Model Comparison tool to understand how different attribution models change Discovery's reported value. Many advertisers find Discovery's contribution doubles or triples when moving from last-click to data-driven attribution.

Conversion lift studies

For accounts with sufficient budget and conversion volume, Google offers conversion lift studies that measure Discovery's incremental impact. These studies compare conversion rates between exposed and control groups, revealing the true lift generated by your Discovery campaigns beyond what standard attribution shows.

Conversion lift studies require Google Account Manager involvement and significant spend commitments, but they provide the most accurate measurement of Discovery's value for advertisers questioning the channel's ROI.

Common Discovery Ads Challenges and Solutions

Even well-structured Discovery campaigns face challenges. Understanding common issues and their solutions helps you troubleshoot performance problems and maintain campaign health.

Low delivery volume

If your Discovery campaign isn't spending budget, check these factors in order:

1. Audience size: Ensure combined audience reach exceeds 1 million users
2. Bid competitiveness: Raise Target CPA/ROAS targets by 20-30% or switch to Maximize Conversions
3. Creative quality: Review asset ratings and replace any marked as Low
4. Budget constraints: Increase daily budget to allow more auction participation
5. Landing page issues: Verify pages load quickly and aren't blocked

High cost per conversion

When CPA exceeds targets, investigate systematically:

• Audience refinement: Test excluding broad audiences and focusing on high-intent segments
• Creative refresh: Stale creative leads to declining engagement and rising costs
• Landing page optimization: Ensure landing pages match ad messaging and load under 3 seconds
• Conversion tracking: Verify all valuable actions are being tracked accurately
• Funnel friction: Analyze drop-off points between click and conversion

Poor engagement rates

Low engagement suggests creative or targeting misalignment:

• Test new imagery: Move away from product shots toward lifestyle and emotional content
• Refine headlines: Test curiosity-driven and benefit-focused approaches
• Audience match: Ensure audience interests align with creative messaging
• Placement analysis: Review performance by placement to identify weak spots

Discovery Ads Best Practices Summary

Success with Discovery Ads comes from understanding that you're competing for attention in content-rich environments where users aren't actively shopping. Apply these principles consistently:

• Think content, not ads: Your creative should feel native to each placement, not like obvious advertising
• Invest in visual quality: High-quality imagery is non-negotiable for Discovery success
• Target thoughtfully: Use first-party data as the foundation, expand with lookalikes
• Measure holistically: Attribution matters; don't judge Discovery on last-click alone
• Test continuously: Creative fatigue is real; refresh assets every 4-6 weeks
• Integrate with Demand Gen: Leverage video capabilities and expanded placements

Discovery Ads offer a powerful channel for reaching high-intent audiences at scale across Google's most engaging properties. By following the strategies outlined in this guide and continuously optimizing based on performance data, you can build Discovery campaigns that drive measurable business results while building brand awareness.

Ready to elevate your Discovery Ads performance? Benly's AI-powered platform provides creative inspiration from top-performing Discovery campaigns, helping you identify winning visual strategies and stay ahead of creative trends across Google's visual advertising ecosystem.