ScaleyGoogle Ads Campaign Types: Which One Does a Store Need?
The 7 main types of Google Ads in 2026, what each one does, where the ads show, and the order an online store should use them in.
Written and reviewed by Christopher Krassnig
Published Last checked
Google Ads campaign types are the 7 main kinds of campaign you pick from when you build one: Search, Shopping, Performance Max, Demand Gen, Display, Video and App. The type decides where your ads show and what they look like. Most online stores start with Shopping, Search or Performance Max.
Also called: types of Google Ads, Google Ads campaign types, Google ad types
The 7 Main Types of Google Ads
Google's help page is called "Choose the right campaign type". Here is each main type in Google's own words, plus what it means for a store.
| Campaign type | What Google says | What it is for in a store |
|---|---|---|
| Search | "Text ads on search results." | Catch people who search for your product or your brand name. |
| Shopping | Uses "your existing Merchant Center product data (not keywords)". Shows on the Shopping tab, Search results and Google Images. | Your product photo, title and price in front of people ready to buy. The core campaign for most stores. |
| Performance Max | "A goal-based campaign type" that reaches "all Google Ads inventory", including YouTube, Display, Search, Discover, Gmail and Maps. | One campaign that runs your products everywhere Google shows ads. Needs a clean product feed and sales tracking. |
| Demand Gen | Image and video ads on YouTube (including Shorts), Discover, Gmail and the Google Display Network. | Show a new product to people who are not searching for it yet. |
| Display | "Reach a relevant audience with visually engaging ads" on websites, apps and Google sites like YouTube. | Mostly remarketing to past visitors. Moving into Demand Gen in 2026. |
| Video | "Show video ads on YouTube and other websites." | Worth it once you have good product videos. Not a first campaign. |
| App | Runs ads "across Search, Play, YouTube, Discover, and over 3 million sites and apps" to promote an app. | Only if you sell through your own mobile app. Most stores skip it. |
Which Campaign Types a Store Needs First
You do not need all 7. Here is the order we use for most online stores:
- Shopping first. People see the product, the photo and the price before they click, so clicks come from real buyers. Read what Google Shopping ads are.
- Search next, starting with your brand name and your best product searches.
- Performance Max once your sales tracking works and your feed is clean. It runs everywhere at once, so it needs good data to learn from. Read what Performance Max is.
- Demand Gen or display remarketing last, when the campaigns that catch buyers already make money.
Not sure if Shopping or Performance Max should come first? We compare them in Performance Max vs Standard Shopping.
Display Is Becoming Part of Demand Gen
The list is changing in 2026. Google says Display campaigns "have a new home as Google Display Network (GDN) in Demand Gen." A migration tool started rolling out in June 2026, and later new Display campaigns can only be made inside Demand Gen. The Display Network itself stays. Read Google display advertising and Demand Gen for the details.
Example: A New Store Picks Its Campaign Types
Made-up numbers, to show the method. A pet supply store starts with $40 a day.
It puts $30 a day into one Shopping campaign for its 50 best sellers, and $10 a day into a Search campaign on its brand name and a few product searches.
After it has steady sales tracked in Google Ads, it tests Performance Max on the same products. It leaves Display, Video and App alone until those campaigns make money.
Common Mistakes
Starting with Display
Display reaches people who were not looking for you. For a new store it is the hardest money to turn into sales. Start where buyers already search.
Running Performance Max with no sales tracking
Performance Max is goal-based. If Google cannot see your sales, it has nothing to aim at.
Picking App because it sounds broad
App campaigns promote a mobile app. If you sell on a website, they are not for you.
Questions People Ask
There are 7 main campaign types: Search, Shopping, Performance Max, Demand Gen, Display, Video and App. Display is moving into Demand Gen in 2026.
Google's Own Pages We Quoted
Every rule, limit and size on this page comes from these pages, read on 8 October 2026. Google changes them, so check the page itself before you act.
Where to Go Next
Ask Where Your Ad Money Went
Scaley Media Buyer connects read-only. Within minutes of connecting, it names the search terms and products that lost money. The two-minute quiz scores you with no Google Ads login if you are not ready to connect.
3-day free trial. Card required. Cancel anytime