Google Discovery Ads Explained, and How to Get the Most from Them

In 2019, Discovery Ads were added as one form of Google display advertising. (English name: Discovery Ads)
Cookie rules are tightening, and Google Discovery Ads are said to be a format that still performs well under them.

This article covers the advantages and disadvantages of Discovery Ads, and how to set them up.

1. What Google Discovery Ads are

Discovery Ads are a type of display advertising shown on YouTube, Discover and Gmail.
They are also referred to as Discovery campaigns.

As in the image above, the ad appears inside a feed, so it is easy for users to notice.

At present the ads run on YouTube, Discover and Gmail together, and you cannot set them individually. (as of December 2021)

Discover, incidentally, is the suggested articles feed shown in the Google app, the Google Chrome app and the like.
For now, Discovery Ads are the only ads that can run on Discover.

1.1 Advantages of Google Discovery Ads

So what are the advantages of Discovery Ads?
We will take them one at a time.

■You can reach Google users broadly
As above, the ads appear on YouTube, Discover and Gmail, so you can approach a wide range of users.

■It is easy to catch users’ interest
Because the ads sit between items in the Discover or YouTube feed, they are easy to notice and easy to take an interest in.
Google also uses what a user does while signed in to their Google account, such as search history and YouTube viewing history, to show ads they are likely to be interested in, so strong results can be expected.
This does not rely on cookie data, so performance should hold up even as cookie rules tighten.

■Automated bidding built around winning actions
Discovery Ads only support automated bidding; manual bidding is not available.
Bids are set from the marketing objective, bid and budget you choose.
For the bid strategy you can choose between target cost per conversion and maximise conversions.

1.2 Disadvantages of Google Discovery Ads

Next, the disadvantages of Discovery Ads.

■There is little freedom in the settings
As noted, the ads run on YouTube, Discover and Gmail together, so even if you only want to run on Discover you cannot restrict where they appear.
There is also little fine control: delivery is automatic, based on the marketing objective, bid and budget.

■The ads may reach too broadly
As above, with little freedom in the settings there is a risk the ads reach people the advertiser never intended.

2. How to set up Discovery Ads

In the Google Ads admin screen, click ‘Create new campaign’.

Click ‘Sales’.

From the campaign types, select ‘Discovery’.

Set the website address and the campaign name.

The screen then covers locations, languages, bidding, budget, conversions and other settings.

Under bidding, ‘Set a target cost per conversion’ is unchecked by default.
Left unchecked, the bid strategy is maximise conversions; checked, it becomes target cost per conversion.

Under other settings you can set the ad schedule.

As you set these items, the weekly estimates on the right change. (figure below)

Use those figures as a guide while you set things up.

Moving on, a targeting screen appears.
Here you can set audience segments, demographics and optimised targeting.

Clicking ‘+ New custom segment’ under audience segments brings up the screen below.

Here you can set keywords and so on.
The example here has ‘marketing’ entered.
Analytical information about the segment appears on the right.

Under demographics in the targeting screen you can set gender, age, parental status and household income in detail.

Create the ad from ‘+ Create new ad’.

There are three options: a Discovery carousel ad, a Discovery ad, and copying an existing ad.

A Discovery carousel ad can show several images at once. A Discovery ad shows only one image.

Once you choose, the next screen looks like this.

Here you can set the images, ad headlines, descriptions and so on.

3. How to maximise the performance of Discovery Ads

Next, some points for improving how Discovery Ads perform.

■Look at audiences that already perform well in your other campaigns
Setting the target carefully matters, of course, but if you already run other campaigns with ads that perform, it is worth looking at those audiences.

■Allow enough time and budget for machine learning
Machine learning needs both time and budget.
Avoid large changes to the daily budget until learning finishes, and give it about two weeks.
The recommended budget is one that can win at least 10 conversions a day.

4. In closing

That covers the character of Google Discovery Ads (Discovery campaigns) and how to set them up.

Here are the main points.

▼What Google Discovery Ads are
A type of display advertising shown on YouTube, Discover and Gmail.

▼Advantages of Discovery Ads
・You can reach Google users broadly
・It is easy to catch users’ interest
・Automated bidding built around winning actions

▼Disadvantages of Discovery Ads
・The ads may reach too broadly
・There is little freedom in the settings

Cookie rules and laws covering personal data are advancing worldwide in the name of privacy.
In that climate, Discovery Ads, which do not need cookie data, look set to become an important option.