Google Pulled Video Action Campaigns — What Replaced Them
If you've heard "Google pulled video advertising" and wondered whether that means video ads are going away, they're not. What actually happened is more specific: Google retired one particular video campaign type and replaced it with a newer, more automated one.
Google didn't stop video advertising — it retired Video Action Campaigns (VAC), an older video-ad campaign type, and replaced it with Demand Gen, a newer, more automated campaign type spanning YouTube, Discover and Gmail. The transition happened in phases between April 2025 and April 2026.
What Actually Happened
Video Action Campaigns were a Google Ads campaign type built specifically to drive conversions from video ads, mainly on YouTube. Google has phased this campaign type out and folded its functionality into Demand Gen, a newer campaign type that spans video and image assets across YouTube (including Shorts), Discover and Gmail in one combined format.
This is a real, documented change in Google's own product roadmap — not a broader retreat from video advertising. Google continues to actively invest in video ad formats, including AI-assisted creative tools and shoppable video formats, within the Demand Gen structure.
The Transition Timeline
According to Google's own published timeline, the shift from Video Action Campaigns to Demand Gen happened in stages rather than all at once.
What's Different About Demand Gen
Multi-format by design
Demand Gen combines video and image assets in one campaign rather than treating video as a separate, standalone campaign type.
Broader surface coverage
Ads can appear across YouTube (including Shorts), Discover and Gmail from a single campaign, rather than being limited to video-specific placements.
More automation
Demand Gen leans more heavily on Google's automated matching and optimisation than the older, more manually-configured Video Action Campaign structure.
AI-assisted creative tools
Newer features, including AI voice-over generation for video assets, have been built into Demand Gen's asset creation workflow.
Why Google Made This Change
Google's stated rationale is performance and simplification: combining video and image assets into one Demand Gen campaign, rather than running them separately, has been associated with stronger results in Google's own reporting, and consolidating campaign types reduces the number of separate systems advertisers need to manage.
If Your Campaigns Were Affected
If you were running Video Action Campaigns, they should have already been automatically upgraded to Demand Gen by Google's own timeline. If you notice a campaign that didn't transition as expected, or settings that changed unexpectedly during the upgrade, that's worth checking directly in your account.
What to check
- Confirm your campaigns upgraded correctly. Review any campaign that was previously a Video Action Campaign to confirm it's now running as Demand Gen with the settings and assets you expect.
- Check for paused campaigns awaiting review. Campaigns that couldn't auto-upgrade cleanly may be sitting paused until manually reviewed and resumed.
- Add image assets alongside video. Demand Gen is built for a multi-format approach — supplying both video and image assets is associated with stronger reported results than video alone.
- Review new features available. AI-assisted creative tools and expanded placement options in Demand Gen may offer capabilities the older campaign type didn't have.
What This Means for Affiliate Marketers
Worth doing
- Confirm any video campaigns you run have correctly transitioned to Demand Gen
- Test supplying both video and image assets rather than video alone
- Explore the newer placement options (Shorts, Discover, Gmail) now bundled into one campaign type
Worth avoiding
- Assuming "Google pulled video advertising" means video ads are no longer viable
- Ignoring a paused campaign that's waiting for manual review after an incomplete upgrade
- Sticking with video-only assets when a multi-format approach is reported to perform better
Don't Confuse a Product Retirement With an Exit From Video
Headlines and casual phrasing like "Google pulls video advertising" can make a specific, technical product transition sound like a much bigger retreat than it actually was. The accurate story is narrower: one campaign type was retired in favour of a newer one, and Google continues to actively build out video ad capabilities within that new format.
Track Your Video Campaign Performance With MarketHealth
MarketHealth provides tracking links so you can measure how your Demand Gen and other campaigns are actually performing on your own traffic, rather than reacting to headlines. Review the programme terms for your traffic source, then create your account to get started.
Join MarketHealthFrequently Asked Questions
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A Note on This Article
This article describes a specific, documented Google Ads product transition — the retirement of Video Action Campaigns in favour of Demand Gen — based on Google's own published timeline as of 2026. Google Ads features and timelines can continue to change; always confirm current status and settings directly inside your Google Ads account or Google Ads Help before making campaign decisions.