In July 2025, Google forced the migration of all Video Action Campaigns (VAC) to Demand Gen. In 2026, thousands of advertisers still don’t fully understand the new format — some because they migrated without reviewing settings, others because they entered Demand Gen directly without context of what it replaces. This is the guide you need.
What Is Demand Gen and How Does It Differ from VAC?
Video Action Campaigns were YouTube campaigns focused on generating direct conversions — landing page clicks, app installs, purchases. Demand Gen maintains that objective but expands inventory and capabilities:
Expanded inventory: includes YouTube (Shorts, In-Stream, In-Feed), Gmail and Discover — not just YouTube like VACs.
Visual formats: can use images in addition to video — more like intelligent Display than a pure video campaign.
AI creative: Demand Gen can generate video variations using AI, directly from the platform.
Improved audience signals: deeper integration with Google Audiences and Customer Match.
New Features That Change Strategy
The three most important Demand Gen additions in 2026:
Target CPC bidding: allows setting a target CPC — something VACs didn’t have. Useful for advertisers who need click cost control in quality traffic campaigns.
New Customer Only mode: automatically excludes existing customers, forcing the campaign to focus purely on prospecting. Critical for those with updated CRM lists.
AI video generation: if you don’t have your own video, Demand Gen can generate video assets from product images. Reduces the entry barrier for e-commerce with large catalogs.
The Most Common Migration Errors
The most reported problems in accounts that migrated from VAC to Demand Gen without review:
Poorly configured audiences: automatic migration doesn’t always correctly transfer audience signals — verify manually.
Insufficient budget for expanded inventory: Demand Gen covers more channels, needs more budget to learn correctly.
Video-only creative: not leveraging available images in Demand Gen reduces accessible inventory.
How to Get the Most from Demand Gen in 2026
The optimal configuration combines: Customer Match-based audience signals, mixed creative (video + image), conversion objective with sufficient historical data, and New Customer Only enabled if remarketing is managed in separate campaigns.
Conclusion
Demand Gen isn’t an inferior replacement for VACs — it’s a more capable format with more complexity. Advertisers who understand its differences and configure correctly are seeing results superior to their previous video campaigns. Those who migrated on autopilot are not.
🔗 Source: Marketing Proven — Demand Gen 2026
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