Google is testing a way for YouTube viewers to start a conversation with a brand in a messaging app straight from a Demand Gen ad, which gives lead generation advertisers something to do besides push traffic to a landing page. Google didn’t say which messaging apps are involved, which markets get it, when it starts, or who qualifies. Google is also pulling nearby activities, events, and live offers into Demand Gen ads shown to travelers, and personalizing hotel ads by audience. Multimodal Video Creation in Asset Studio is now open to every advertiser, taking a campaign from storyboard to both widescreen and vertical cuts in a single workflow. Google credits hundreds of tweaks it shipped over H2 2025 with an average 30% lift in conversions or conversion value, a figure from its own testing.
