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Channel controls for Demand Gen lets you precisely target YouTube Shorts, Gmail and other visual platforms, with detailed reporting.
Google is rolling out channel controls in beta for Demand Gen campaigns, giving advertisers more granular control over where their visual ads appear across Google’s ecosystem.
The new controls, first announced in January and spotted in March, allow marketers to choose specific placements across YouTube, Gmail, Discover, and the Google Display Network — including the ability to target YouTube Shorts specifically.
Between the lines. The beta release signals Google’s recognition that advertisers want more transparency and control over ad placements, especially as competition with social media platforms intensifies. The YouTube Shorts targeting option specifically appears aimed at competing with TikTok and Instagram Reels for advertisers’ short-form video budgets.
The big picture. These controls offer three main benefits, according to Google:
- Creative customization: Advertisers can tailor content to specific platforms (like vertical videos for YouTube Shorts)
- Social strategy extension: Opportunity to expand beyond traditional social platforms while maintaining format-specific approaches
- Performance transparency: More detailed channel-level performance data for optimization
How to access reporting. Channel-level reporting is available throughout the campaign hierarchy—at campaign, ad group, and ad levels. Advertisers can use network segmentation to break down performance across:
- Discover
- Gmail
- YouTube
- Google Display Network
For YouTube traffic specifically, Demand Gen campaigns can be further segmented by ad format:
- Skippable in-stream
- In-feed
- Shorts
Why we care. This update provides advertisers with control over their visual ad inventory on Google platforms, allowing for more tailored creative approaches and better alignment with specific channel strategies. With the channel reporting functionality now available, advertisers can also switch strategies according to performance.
What’s next. Despite offering manual channel selection, Google still recommends most advertisers use the automatic “All Google channels” option, suggesting the algorithm-driven approach remains their preferred optimization method.
The feature is in beta with limited availability, with Google promising additional features in the coming months.
About the author
Anu Adegbola has been Paid Media Editor of Search Engine Land since 2024. She covers paid search, paid social, retail media, video and more.
In 2008, Anu’s career started with delivering digital marketing campaigns (mostly but not exclusively Paid Search) by building strategies, maximising ROI, automating repetitive processes and bringing efficiency from every part of marketing departments through inspiring leadership both on agency, client and marketing tech side.
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