Google Ads has started rolling out channel control for select Demand Gen campaigns, allowing advertisers to specify where their ads appear across Google’s platforms. This update, first announced in January, aims to provide greater control over ad placements.

What’s changing?

Advertisers now have more influence over where their ads are displayed. However, individual channel segmentation (e.g., YouTube, Discover, Gmail) is not yet available, meaning performance data is still grouped under the general “Google-owned channels” category. This limitation makes it challenging to optimize based on specific platform performance.

Why this matters

Greater control over ad placement could lead to better targeting and improved ROI. However, until performance metrics are separated by platform, making data-driven adjustments remains difficult. Marketers will need to wait for further refinements before fully leveraging this feature.

Greg Kholer, Director of Digital Marketing at ServiceMaster, shared his thoughts on LinkedIn:

“While exciting, we won’t be making any changes until we’re able to see channel performance segmented out – as of today it’s still all lumped together as ‘Google-owned channels’.”