The Ultimate List Of Google Ads Campaign Types

Google is a company that needs no introduction. Anyone who goes online cannot do without using it at least once a day. Whether finding information on Google Search, watching videos on YouTube, finding locations on Google Maps, or sending emails through Gmail, we access at least one Google tool daily. This ubiquity creates a wonderful opportunity for businesses looking to market their products.

The number of people using Google is mind-blowing. With over 40,000 search queries processed every second (over 3.5 billion searches per day), it is the largest search engine in the world, closely followed by YouTube, which Google also owns. By advertising on these Google properties, you can quickly reach prospective customers. The platform through which these ads run is known as Google Ads, and in this article, we’ll explore the Google Ads campaign types you can run.

What Are Google Ads?

Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords) is an advertising platform developed and managed by Google. It allows businesses to advertise their goods and services on various platforms managed by Google and third parties who have partnered with it.

Google Ads offers a variety of campaign types. Leveraging Google Ads can significantly enhance your business’s online presence and drive targeted traffic to your website. It can also facilitate other actions beneficial to business growth – such as purchases, lead generation, and brand building.

Where Will Your Ads Appear?

The platform puts you in total control of creating and optimizing ads. Where the ads ultimately show up is determined by your chosen campaign type, targeting options, and ad formats.

Google ads can appear on the following platforms:

• Google Search: Your text ads can appear on search engine result pages when users search for terms relevant to your business, products, and services. In 2025, these ads may also appear within AI-created search summaries, opening new opportunities for visibility.
• Google Display Network (GDN): This network of third-party websites partnered with Google runs Google ads.
• YouTube: The world’s second-largest search engine where you can place ads to catch users’ attention as they watch videos.
• Google Play: Promote mobile apps directly to people who access Google Play, Android’s App Store.
• Google Discover: Showcase ads in the Google Discover feed to reach users interested in your niche.
• Google Maps: Advertise on Google Maps to reach people searching for locations and establishments, enhancing local search visibility.

Google Ads Campaign Types

At present, Google offers 10 different campaign types:

Let’s now discuss each one in detail.

1. Search Campaigns

Search campaigns show text ads on search result pages when people seek information on Google Search. They help you reach prospective customers actively searching for information about products and services you offer.

Search ads are flexible, allowing you to target different keywords with various search intent, making them effective for driving traffic, generating leads, and sales.

Types of Search Ad Campaigns:

a. Responsive Search Ads (RSA)

This search campaign type is primarily driven by AI and machine learning. This is how it works:

• Google allows the advertisers to provide multiple headlines and descriptions while setting up the campaigns.
• Google then shows different combinations of these to users depending on their search queries as well as the size of the device they are using.
• This constant experimentation with the various combinations of headlines and descriptions results in constant machine learning and Google’s AI progressively becomes better optimised.
• Soon the AI starts to smartly enhance the ad relevance by dynamically adjusting the ad display to cater to the search intent of the users.
• This increases the click through rates and the conversion rates of the ads also improve.

b. Dynamic Search Ads (DSAs)

This is a versatile ad type that, unlike traditional campaigns, don’t rely completely on predefined keyword lists provided by the advertiser to Google. DSAs generate the ads dynamically based on the content of your website.

This is how it works:

• Google first scans your website to understand the content in it.
• Then it starts to dynamically match the user queries with the content. For example if a user searches for “best running shoes for men”, then Google will show him the pages in your website which related to running shoes for men.
• These can be product pages as well as pages featuring informational content.

Tip
If you want to block some parts of your website from appearing in the dynamic searches, then you can specify them while setting up the campaigns.

Key benefits of DSAs:

• Easy to set up: Simpler and faster than traditional ad campaigns
• Broader reach: Show ads for queries you may not have anticipated
• Higher relevance: Dynamic matching enhances relevance, potentially leading to better conversions

c. Display expansion on search campaigns

If you want your ads to be shown in websites other than Google search then you can enable display expansion on search campaigns.

Display expansion and search campaigns is a special feature in the search campaigns that allows your ads to be shown in 3rd party websites which are part of the Google display network.

The Google display network consists of millions of websites that have partnered with Google to show ads on their pages. When you opt for display expansion then your ads will show up on these websites in addition to the search results.

Google cleverly utilises the unspent budget in the search campaigns to show ads on the GDN. It tries to get as many conversions as possible at the same cost per conversion as the search ads.

Who are The search campaigns right for?

If you want to reach potential customers actively searching for products and services your company offers, search ads can connect you with them. With the 2025 integration of ads within AI-created search summaries, search campaigns are becoming even more valuable for maintaining visibility in evolving search experiences.

2. Display Campaigns

Display ads are very effective in expanding your reach beyond Google search. They go beyond simple text to show visually appealing ads to customers on Google’s visual platforms like YouTube, Google Discover, Gmail, Google Maps, and various third-party websites and mobile apps.

You can use banners, images, and videos in these ads to convey your message to the customers in a very engaging way. You will be able to capture their attention, remain on the top of their minds, guide them through the sales funnel with display ads.

Types of Display Campaigns:

a. Standard Display Campaigns

Standard Display Campaigns give you manual control over the targeting and bidding strategies.You can customize where ads appear and who sees them by selecting specific demographics, interests, and placements.

Best suited for: Advertisers who prefer hands-on management of their display ads.

b. Smart Display Campaigns

These are artificial intelligence-driven campaigns that provide features like automated targeting, bidding, and campaign optimization.

These campaigns dynamically adjust the bids and placements of the ads, making campaign management very easy. Google uses machine learning to progressively optimize the performance of smart display campaigns. They also provide enhanced first-party data integration to maintain targeting effectiveness despite the phasing out of third-party cookies.

Who are The display campaigns right for?

If you want to increase brand awareness and engage your prospects with lively visual ads across a vast network of online platforms, display campaigns are perfect for you.

3. Video Campaigns

These campaigns display video ads on YouTube and other Google Partner sites to deliver a rich and engaging experience to the customers. If you want to spread brand awareness or drive conversions, then video ads are right for you.

Types of Video Campaigns:

a. Video Action Campaigns

These ads focus on driving sales and leads with action-oriented ads and precise targeting. , encouraging viewers to take specific actions, such as visiting your website or making a purchase.

Note: Google is phasing out Video Action Campaigns. Starting from April 2025, the option to create new Video Action Campaigns will be removed. Google will be upgrading these campaigns to Demand Gen campaigns in July 2025.

b. Video Reach Campaigns

These ads aim to maximize reach within your budget. The ad formats available are:

• Bumper ads (short, non-skippable ads up to 6 seconds),
• Skippable in-stream ads (ads that viewers can skip after 5 seconds),
• Non-skippable in-stream ads (ads that the viewer has to watch till the end),
• In-feed ads (ads that appear within the content of websites, apps, and social media platforms), and
• Shorts ads.

These formats ensure that your message reaches a broad audience efficiently.

c. Video View Campaigns

The goal of these campaigns is to engage viewers and increase their awareness and interest in your products or services. This is done by showcasing compelling video content via skippable in-stream and in-feed video ads.

d. Ad Sequence

Allows you to tell a cohesive story through a series of video ads presented in a specific sequence, guiding viewers through a narrative to build deeper engagement and reinforce your brand message effectively.

Who are The Video campaigns right for?

If your goal is to engage audiences with compelling video content across YouTube and the Google Display Network, Video Campaigns offer versatile formats to capture viewer interest and drive action. As Video Action Campaigns transition to Demand Gen campaigns in 2025, advertisers should prepare to adapt their strategies accordingly.

4. App Campaigns

App campaigns promote your mobile app across various Google platforms, including Search, Play Store, YouTube, and the Display Network, aiming to increase app installations and engagement by showcasing your app to relevant audiences.

These campaigns utilize advanced machine learning to optimize ad placement and targeting automatically, providing better results with less manual intervention. This allows for more precise audience targeting while respecting privacy constraints in the post-third-party cookie era.

Types of App Campaigns:

a. App Install Campaigns

These focus on driving new app installations by targeting users likely to download your app. They optimize ad placements and bids to maximize installs, effectively growing your user base.

b. App Engagement Campaigns

Aim to encourage existing users to engage more with your app by promoting specific in-app actions or features, increasing user retention and activity within your app.

Who are The App campaigns right for?

If you’re a developer or business aiming to promote your mobile app—whether to acquire new users or re-engage existing ones—App Campaigns provide a streamlined and effective solution.

5. Smart Campaigns

Smart Campaigns are a relatively new format of Google ads, which greatly simplify the process of setting up and maintaining the campaigns. These ads are ideal for helping small businesses or advertisers reach out to the maximum number of customers.

These campaigns utilize Google’s Machine Learning Technology to automatically optimize the ads based on the advertizers goals like generating customer calls, driving store visits, increasing website sales or leads, and boosting views on YouTube and partner websites.

The ads appear on Google Search, Maps, YouTube, Gmail, and Google’s partner websites.

Who are The Smart campaigns right for?

Smart Campaigns are ideal for small to medium-sized businesses seeking an easy-to-manage advertising solution that effectively reaches customers across various Google platforms. They are particularly beneficial for those new to online advertising or with limited resources for campaign management.

6. Performance Max Campaigns

Performance Max campaigns simplify the process of running ads by letting you access to the entire Google Ads inventory through a single campaign. Thus, by setting up a Performance Max campaign, you can run your ads across all channels such as Search, Display, YouTube, Discover, Gmail, and Maps. This ensures that your ads reach potential customers wherever they are.

Utilizing Google’s artificial intelligence, these campaigns automatically optimize bids and placements in real-time to maximize conversions and conversion value. according to the goals specified by you.

By consolidating all channels into one campaign, Performance Max reduces the complexity of managing separate campaigns, streamlining your advertising efforts.

Who are The Performance Max campaigns right for?

If you’re seeking a comprehensive solution to maximize reach and performance across multiple Google channels within a single campaign structure, Performance Max campaigns are ideal for you.

7. Demand Gen Campaigns

Demand Gen campaigns are tailored to engage users across Google’s visual platforms, including YouTube, Discover, and Gmail. They focus on generating demand and nurturing customer interest through visually rich and immersive ad experiences.

Demand Gen campaigns offer highly useful features like AI-powered creative enhancements to optimize ad performance, and retail-focused features integrating with Google Merchant Center product feeds. Using these features, you can now reach up to 3 billion monthly users with these campigns.

Types of Ads Formats Supported:

Within Demand Gen campaigns, advertisers can utilize a variety of ad formats to effectively reach their target audience:

• YouTube In-Stream Ads: These are video ads that play before, during, or after other videos on YouTube. Viewers have the option to skip the ad after a few seconds.
• YouTube Shorts Ads: Short-form video ads designed specifically for YouTube’s Shorts platform, engaging users with brief, impactful content.
• YouTube In-Feed Ads: Ads that appear in the YouTube feed, blending seamlessly with organic content to capture user interest.
• Google Discover Ads: Visually engaging ads that appear within the Discover feed, reaching users as they explore personalized content.
• Gmail Ads: Interactive ads that appear in the Promotions or Social tabs of a user’s Gmail inbox, expanding into a full email-like experience when clicked.

Who are The Demand Gen campaigns right for?

Demand Gen campaigns are suitable for advertisers aiming to create and capture demand by delivering compelling visual content to users across Google’s most engaging platforms. With Video Action Campaigns transitioning to Demand Gen campaigns by Q2 2025, these campaigns are becoming increasingly important for video advertisers.

8. Shopping Ads Campaigns

Shopping campaigns showcase your products with images, prices, and store names, appearing in search results and the Shopping tab, promoting your products and driving traffic to your website or local store.

Types of Shopping Campaigns:

a. Standard Shopping Campaigns

Provide control over bids, budgets, and targeting. You can manage product groups and set specific bids for each, allowing detailed oversight of your advertising strategy. These are suitable for retailers who prefer hands-on management of their product listings and bids.

b. Smart Shopping Campaigns

Combine standard Shopping and display remarketing campaigns, utilizing automated bidding and ad placement to simplify campaign management while maximizing conversion value. Ideal for advertisers seeking efficiency through automation.

Google has recently introduced shopping ads within the AI Overview in search results, significantly impacting how marketers optimize for product visibility. This integration creates new opportunities for retailers to appear in AI-generated summaries, requiring new optimization strategies.

Who are The Shopping campaigns right for?

If you’re a retailer looking to display your products directly in search results to attract potential customers, Shopping Campaigns can effectively highlight your offerings and drive sales. The 2025 integration with AI Overview makes these campaigns even more valuable for product visibility.

9. Call Campaigns

Call campaigns are tailored to encourage potential customers to contact your business directly via phone. These ads appear exclusively on devices capable of making calls, such as smartphones, and feature a prominent “Call” button. When users tap this button, it initiates a call to your business, facilitating immediate customer engagement.

Call ads are displayed only on mobile devices that can make calls, ensuring that users can easily connect with your business. You can set your ads to appear only during your business hours, ensuring that calls are received when staff are available to answer, thereby enhancing customer experience.

By enabling call reporting and conversion tracking, you can monitor the performance of your call campaigns, including details like call duration and call source. This data helps assess the effectiveness of your ads and refine your strategy.

Who are the Call campaigns right for?

If your business thrives on direct customer interaction—such as service providers, appointment-based businesses, or companies offering immediate consultations—Call Campaigns can effectively generate high-quality leads and foster personal engagement.

10. Hotel Campaigns

Hotel campaigns are tailored for advertisers from the hotel and travel industry. These ads enable them to showcase their hotel prices and availability across Google Search, Maps, and Google Assistant.

These ads provide potential guests with up-to-date room rates and availability, ensuring that they have accurate information to make booking decisions. The ads also contain links to the booking page on the advertiser’s website. This make the registration process seamless, and also reduces friction in the booking process.

Who are the Hotel campaigns right for?

If you’re a hotelier or travel service provider aiming to attract travelers actively searching for accommodations, Hotel Campaigns can effectively increase your property’s visibility and drive direct bookings.

A Recap Of The Google Ads Campaign Types

The following table summarizes the key Google Ads campaign types, their specific purposes, formats, and ideal use cases. Use this quick reference guide to identify which campaign type best aligns with your marketing objectives and target audience

Campaign Type	Purpose	Campaign Subtypes / Ad Formats	Best For
Search Campaigns	Display text ads on Google Search results pages for relevant keyword searches.	1. Responsive Search Ads (RSAs) 2. Dynamic Search Ads (DSAs)	Capturing demand from users actively searching for specific products or services.
Display Campaigns	Show visual ads across Google’s Display Network, including websites and apps.	1. Standard Display Campaigns 2. Smart Display Campaigns	Increasing brand awareness and reaching a broad audience.
Video Campaigns	Deliver video ads on YouTube and across Google’s video partner sites.	1. Drive Conversions (being phased out by Q2 2025) 2. Video Reach Campaigns 3. Get Views (Video View Campaigns) 4. Ad Sequence	Engaging audiences with compelling video content to build brand awareness or drive conversions.
App Campaigns	Promote mobile apps across Google Search, Play Store, YouTube, and the Display Network.	1. App Install Campaigns 2. App Engagement Campaigns	Driving app installations or engagement with mobile applications.
Smart Campaigns	Simplify ad management by automating targeting and ad delivery across Google Search, Display, and Maps.	AI-powered management with simplified setup for cross-platform reach	Small businesses or those new to online advertising looking for an easy setup with automated optimization.
Performance Max Campaigns	Access all of Google’s ad inventory through a single campaign, optimized for specific conversion goals using Google’s AI.	Enhanced 2025 features include campaign-level negative keywords, new customer acquisition goal, brand exclusions, URL rules, demographic exclusions, and device targeting	Maximizing performance across multiple channels with automated optimization.
Demand Gen Campaigns	Engage and convert customers across visually rich platforms such as YouTube, Discover, and Gmail.	1. YouTube In-Stream Ads 2. YouTube Shorts Ads 3. YouTube In-Feed Ads 4. Google Discover Ads 5. Gmail Ads	Generating demand and driving action through engaging, visually rich ads.
Shopping Ads Campaigns	Promote products by displaying product images, prices, and merchant names in Google Search results and AI Overview.	1. Standard Shopping Campaigns 2. Smart Shopping Campaigns	Retailers showcasing product inventory directly in search results to drive online or in-store sales.
Call Campaigns	Encourage phone calls by displaying your phone number prominently in ads shown on Google Search and Maps.	Features include device targeting, ad scheduling, and conversion tracking	Businesses aiming to drive direct customer calls and increase phone inquiries.
Hotel Campaigns	Promote hotel bookings by displaying real-time room rates and availability across Google Search and Maps.	Features include comprehensive reach, real-time pricing, and direct booking links	Hotels and travel agencies looking to increase direct bookings and reach travelers actively searching for accommodations.

Here is a short video explaining the various Google Ads Campaign Types:

Carefully Choose The Right Google Ads Campaign Type For Yourself

You must have heard the famous quote from Spiderman: “With great power comes great responsibility“. That is exactly the reason why you have to be very careful about the Google Ads campaign types you choose.

Selecting the wrong Google Ads types will not only waste your money unnecessarily but can also result in loss of business and valuable time especially when you are running a limited period offer or promotion.

Be choosy, and always go for the best campaign that helps you to achieve your marketing goals.

If you want a Google Partner digital marketing agency to select the right campaign types and manage your ads, then let us know. Our Google Ads Certified Professionals will be happy to help you out.