The tech giant is consolidating everything inside Google Ads.
Google is officially retiring standalone display ads in favour of a unified platform.
The tech giant said to “keep pace with evolving consumer behaviour”, it is transitioning Google Display Ads into Demand Gen – where advertisers can manage all their campaign workflows.
Although Google has confirmed that inventory for display ads will still be available, this migration is another major move in consolidating this part of the business into Google Ads. It comes after string of announcements at its I/O conference last week, including major updates to search and Gemini.
Demand Gen is an AI-powered ads placement platform, which offers advertisers inventory across YouTube, Google Maps, Gmail and other channels.
But for those relying heavily on traditional display campaigns, this transition could significantly change the way campaigns are managed and optimised.
According to the Alphabet-owned company, display advertisers can still run ads exclusively on its Google Display Network (GDN) inventory, but by adding it in Demand Gen, they could unlock “more streamlined campaign management”.
Through this migration, advertisers will get access to additional features previously unavailable for display campaigns, including carousel ads, expanded video ad formats, lookalike segments, generative AI image tools, channel-level reporting and new bidding options such as targeted CPC.
The transition will be rolled out in phases beginning in June 2026 and throughout 2027.
Eligible advertisers will start to see a tool inside Google Ads giving the option to migrate existing display campaigns into Demand Gen. Once the roll out is complete, advertisers will no longer be able to create standalone display ad campaigns.
