# How to create a Google Ads Demand Gen campaign URL: https://blackbox.plus/guides/create-google-ads-campaign Level 4: Run it as an ad (https://blackbox.plus/guides/run-ads) Updated: 2026-11-01 Time: about 10 minutes You'll end with: A Google Demand Gen campaign with your bidding and tracking, drafted as a proposal in your brand’s thread Do it in Blackbox: https://blackbox.plus/app/inbox > Reach people on YouTube, Discover and Gmail, choose how Google bids and which conversions count, add tracking and a schedule, then draft it. ## Short answer To create a Google Ads campaign with Blackbox (blackbox.plus), connect a Google Ads account to your brand, click + in the Inbox and choose New Campaign. Pick a goal such as Sell on the website, and check that Google Ads is on under Where it runs. Blackbox runs Google as a Demand Gen campaign on YouTube, Discover, Gmail and Maps. Under Who should see it, add the places, then fill in the Google only block: your Google audiences, in-market and affinity segments, who to leave out and where it runs. Then choose how Google bids: Maximize conversions, or for Sell, Maximize conversion value, each with an optional target. Keep the account's conversion goals or pick the conversions this campaign bids for. Add a final URL suffix with your UTMs, a tracking template if you use a click tracker, and the hours the ads run. Add the ad, set the budget, fix anything Review blocks, and draft it. Nothing spends until you start it. ## You'll need - **Google Ads connected.** An advertiser account under the brand the campaign is for, not a manager account. (Guide: https://blackbox.plus/guides/connect-google-ads) - **A conversion to bid for.** For Sell or Get leads, a purchase or lead conversion in Google Ads, imported from GA4 or tagged on your site. - **Something to run.** A finished Studio post, or your own pictures and words. (Guide: https://blackbox.plus/guides/make-instagram-carousel-with-ai) ## How to create a Google Ads Demand Gen campaign in Blackbox 1. **Open New Campaign.** In the **Inbox**, click the **+** button, then **New Campaign**. You'll see: **What is this campaign for?**, with goals to start from under it. Starts at: https://blackbox.plus/app/inbox ![The Inbox with the + menu open: New Campaign, paid ads on a connected account, ringed](https://blackbox.plus/guides/create-facebook-ad-campaign/01-new.png) 2. **Pick a goal.** Under **Or skip the plans**, click **Sell on the website**. You'll see: **Preset**, with **Sell on the website** under **Gets you** in the **Summary**. ![Or skip the plans and set it up yourself, starting from a goal: Sell on the website ringed, Get leads, Get website visits and the rest](https://blackbox.plus/guides/create-google-ads-campaign/02-goal.png) 3. **Check Google is on.** Under **Where it runs**, check that **Google Ads** is on with your ad account, then click **Continue**. You'll see: **Who should see it**, with **Places** and a **Google only** block. ![Where it runs: Google Ads switched on with the Daybreak Coffee · Google account in US dollars, runs as Demand Gen, and Continue ringed](https://blackbox.plus/guides/create-google-ads-campaign/03-channel.png) 4. **Choose the places.** Under **Places**, search for a country, city or region and click it. You'll see: The place as a chip, and under **Who** in the **Summary**. ![Places: All United States as a chip, ringed, above the place search](https://blackbox.plus/guides/create-google-ads-campaign/04-places.png) 5. **Add your Google audiences.** In the **Google only** block, tick any of **Your Google audiences**, or add an **In-market and affinity** segment. You'll see: A tick beside each audience you picked, and the segments as chips. ![Your Google audiences: a lookalike, a customer list, a custom segment and Staff, with Website visitors, last 30 days ticked and ringed, and Coffee Lovers added under In-market and affinity](https://blackbox.plus/guides/create-google-ads-campaign/05-audiences.png) 6. **Choose where it runs.** Under **Where it runs on Google**, keep **Google’s own channels**, or click **Pick channels** and tick the ones you want. You'll see: A line naming the channels, like **YouTube, Discover, Gmail and Maps**. ![Where it runs on Google: Google’s own channels picked, ringed, with Pick channels beside it — YouTube, Discover, Gmail and Maps, not partner sites](https://blackbox.plus/guides/create-google-ads-campaign/06-channels.png) 7. **Choose how Google bids.** Under **Bidding**, keep **Maximize conversions**, or pick **Maximize conversion value**, and enter a target if you want one. You'll see: A line under the choice saying what Google bids for. ![Bidding: Maximize conversions and Maximize conversion value, ringed, with value picked and a target return on ad spend of 400%](https://blackbox.plus/guides/create-google-ads-campaign/07-bidding.png) 8. **Choose what it bids for.** Under **Conversions it bids for**, keep **The account’s goals**, or click **Pick conversions** and tick the ones to count. You'll see: Each conversion with its category, **Primary** or **Secondary**, and whether it records a value. ![Conversions it bids for: Pick conversions, with Online order and Bean subscription started ticked, each with its category, Primary or Secondary and whether it records a value, ringed](https://blackbox.plus/guides/create-google-ads-campaign/08-conversions.png) 9. **Add a final URL suffix.** Under **Final URL suffix**, click **Use our UTMs**, or type your own parameters. You'll see: The suffix in the box, and a line saying the ad links go without our UTMs. ![Final URL suffix filled with our UTMs, utm_source=google and utm_medium=cpc, ringed, and the line saying the ad links go without them](https://blackbox.plus/guides/create-google-ads-campaign/09-suffix.png) 10. **Add a tracking template.** Only if you use a click tracker: paste its template under **Tracking template**, with **{lpurl}** where the page goes. You'll see: The template in the box, with no red line under it. ![Tracking template: a click tracker’s address with {lpurl} where the page goes, ringed](https://blackbox.plus/guides/create-google-ads-campaign/10-template.png) 11. **Choose when ads run.** Switch on **Only at certain times**, click the days, and pick the hours under **From** and **to**. You'll see: A line like **Every day, 06:00 to 11:00, in the ad account’s time zone**. ![Only at certain times switched on, every day picked, and From 06:00 to 11:00 ringed, in the ad account’s time zone](https://blackbox.plus/guides/create-google-ads-campaign/11-schedule.png) 12. **Add a Studio post.** Click **Next: creatives**, then **New** and **From a Studio post**, and click **Use this post** on a square post. You'll see: The creative in the list, marked **Ready** and switched **In campaign**. ![Creatives, with the New menu open and From a Studio post ringed](https://blackbox.plus/guides/create-google-ads-campaign/12-source.png) 13. **Set the budget.** Click **Next: budget**, pick **Lifetime** or **Daily**, and enter the amount. You'll see: What it spends **a day on average**, under the amount. ![Budget: Lifetime, 700 dollars for 14 days, ringed, with 50 dollars a day on average](https://blackbox.plus/guides/create-google-ads-campaign/13-budget.png) 14. **Run the checks.** Click **Next: review**, and fix anything marked **Block**, like Google’s business name and logo. You'll see: **Ready to draft**, with **Bidding** and **Conversion** among the checks that pass. ![Review and draft: Ready to draft · 3 warnings, ringed, with 8 checks that pass, after Use Daybreak Coffee Co.’s logo fixed the Google brand](https://blackbox.plus/guides/create-google-ads-campaign/14-review.png) 15. **Draft it.** Click **Draft the campaign**. You'll see: Your brand’s thread, open on the **Campaign proposal**. ![What the draft creates, all paused: one Google Demand Gen campaign, its ad group and ad, with Draft the campaign ringed](https://blackbox.plus/guides/create-google-ads-campaign/15-draft.png) ## Good to know - Blackbox runs Google as one Demand Gen campaign with an ad group per language. Search and Performance Max aren’t offered from New Campaign. - On Google the goals are Sell on the website, Get leads and Get website visits. Sell bids for purchases, Get leads for lead conversions, Get website visits for clicks. - Maximize conversions gets the most purchases or leads for the budget. A target cost per result starts from Target per result on Budget; clear it to let Google spend freely. - Maximize conversion value bids on what each sale is worth, so it’s for Sell only and needs a conversion that records the order value. A target return on ad spend of 400% means 4 in sales for every 1 spent. - The account’s goals are the primary conversions set in Google Ads under Goals. Pick conversions makes a goal for this campaign only, and can count secondary conversions too; the account’s settings don’t change. - Our UTMs normally go in each ad’s link. With a final URL suffix they move to the campaign instead, and {campaign} in it becomes the campaign’s name. - Maximize clicks has no maximum cost per click on Demand Gen: Google sets the bids. - The ad schedule uses the ad account’s time zone. Off, the ads run all day, every day. - Review blocks what Google would refuse: a target return on ad spend without value bidding, value bidding on a goal other than Sell, or picked conversions that are no longer enabled. - Google shows a business name and a square logo on every ad. If Review asks for them, Use your brand’s logo fills both from the brand kit. - Google runs pictures at 1.91:1 or 1:1, so pick a square post or add a landscape picture. - Drafting creates nothing on Google. Approving the proposal creates the campaign, ad groups and ads paused, and only Start spends — see [Approve a campaign proposal and start it](https://blackbox.plus/guides/approve-campaign-proposal). ## Official docs - [Google Ads: about Demand Gen campaigns](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/13695777) - [Google Ads: about Smart Bidding](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/7065882) - [Google Ads: campaign-specific conversion goals](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/9143218) - [Google Ads: add a final URL suffix](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/9054021) ## Questions people ask **Google Ads isn’t under Where it runs** The brand has no Google Ads account yet. Connect one under the brand on the Data page, then open New Campaign again. **Review says Google has nothing to bid for** The account has no primary purchase or lead conversion. Import one from GA4 or add one in Google Ads under Goals, or pick a conversion that is already enabled under Conversions it bids for. **Maximize conversion value isn’t offered** It’s for Sell on the website only, because it bids on what sales are worth. For Get leads, Google bids for the most leads. **Review blocks value bidding** None of the conversions it bids for records an order value, so every sale counts the same. Send the value with the purchase in Google Ads, or switch back to Maximize conversions. **Do I need a tracking template?** Only if a click tracker has to see every click first. For UTMs alone, the final URL suffix is enough. **I’m worried drafting spends money** It doesn’t. Draft makes a proposal. Approving it creates everything paused, and nothing spends until you click Start ads.