Google Demand Gen Asset Specs Cheatsheet: Images, Video, Text
Demand Gen asset specifications: logo, image and video ratios and pixel sizes, duration and file caps, text character limits, placement eligibility and asset-group composition.
Demand Gen will mix whatever you upload across Shorts, in-feed, Discover, Gmail and Display. This sheet is the asset spec: ratios, pixels, duration, file caps, text limits and placement eligibility so a missing 9:16 file does not quietly become a landscape campaign.
If the ratio is missing, that inventory is missing
Demand Gen is not a YouTube in-stream campaign with extra checkboxes. It is an asset group that Google restyles across surfaces. Skip 9:16 video and you under-serve Shorts. Skip 4:5 and 1:1 stills and Discover/Gmail look letterboxed or never qualify. Skip a 1:1 logo under 150 KB and the UI will nag while you argue about hooks. Spec errors here are the same class of failure as a Meta 9:16 served into 4:5: the auction never gets to judge the idea. Export a vertical master first, then the square and landscape cousins from the same edit.
Text fields are short on purpose
Demand Gen headlines are 40 characters, and at least one should be 30 or under for tighter surfaces. Descriptions are 90. Business name is 25. Gemini-written paragraphs will not fit, and truncation is not a style. Headlines must echo the hook in the video, not a brand slogan the file never says. Count characters including spaces before upload. If a promo is not on the landing page, it is not a headline. Pair each headline family to a hook_id so the asset report is readable. A retargeting-only urgency line attached to a cold 9:16 prospecting video is a combination fail, not a clever mix.
Placement eligibility is a table, not a vibe
Video is what gets you YouTube in-stream. Image-only groups will not. Product-feed-only has its own map. Uploaded Display sizes are a separate, smaller-file path onto the Google Display Network. Read the eligibility table before you declare Demand Gen 'cannot spend on Shorts.' Usually you uploaded one 16:9 file and no vertical. Klip Kanvas renders 9:16, 1:1 and 16:9 from one product URL so the asset group is actually a group. Google still owns the mix; you own whether a legal file existed for the surface.
How to use the tables below
QA every asset against logo, image and video specs first, then text character limits, then the placement-eligibility table (this is how you learn why in-stream never spent), then the composition counts for a real asset group. If a row fails, fix the file — do not publish to 'see how it serves.' A group with one landscape clip is not a Demand Gen test. Caps below follow Google Ads Demand Gen creative specifications as commonly listed at time of writing; if Ads Manager rejects a file, the live help article wins. Re-export 9:16 at 1080×1920 before you argue with the auction. Keep key type out of Shorts UI zones listed in the last table.
5 spec tables inside: logo and image pixels/ratios/file caps, video duration and HD sizes, text character limits and counts, placement eligibility by format, and asset-group composition plus 9:16 safe-zone notes.
Unlock the full cheatsheet
Enter your email and we'll instantly unlock the complete cheatsheet — plus send you fresh ad playbooks every month.
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Ready to put this into practice?
Create your first AI UGC video ad in minutes — no filming, no actors, no editing.
Try Klip Kanvas freeMore in this section
Win/Loss Creative Readout Sheet
A scoring sheet for creative tests: sample-size floors, win/loss/inconclusive bands by metric, what to scale vs kill vs iterate, and the one-page readout the next sprint actually uses.
TikTok Spark Ads Cheatsheet
Spark Ads as a lookup sheet: authorization codes, post-first rules, inherited social proof, CTA overlay, expiry bands and QA versus cold in-feed uploads.
Ready to make ads like these?
Paste a product link and Klip Kanvas writes the script, casts the creator and renders the ad — no filming, no actors, no editing.