Display Expansion in Google Ads Search Campaigns

This guide uses Google Ads Help only: About Display Expansion on Search campaigns, About Display Expansion in Editor and About channel prioritization and budget allocation, plus the pages linked where they are used. Search partners, the other network a Search campaign can add, have their own guide: Google search partners. Standalone Display campaigns are covered in Google Display ads.

What Display expansion does

Google describes Display expansion as a way to "reach additional potential customers on the Google Display Network using your Search campaign settings." With it on, your ads still appear when people search on Google Search and search partner sites for terms that match your keywords, and they "can also appear on relevant website pages and apps on the Google Display Network."

The Display Network is a different kind of inventory from search. People are reading a site or using an app, not typing a query, so the ad is matched to the page rather than to a search. Google's Display expansion page puts the network at "more than 3 million websites, videos, and apps"; its Display Network glossary entry says "more than 2 million". Either way, it is far wider than search, and far less driven by intent.

Google's own numbers for it: Search campaigns "that have spare search budgets" and are opted in "can deliver up to 15% more conversions at similar CPA to Search", and campaigns on Maximize conversion value or Target ROAS can "expect to find an average of 14% more conversion value". These are Google's averages, not a forecast for your account.

What carries over from the Search campaign

There is no separate setup. Google says "the settings for your Search campaign will be observed in the Display Expansion wherever possible, including":

• Bidding and targeting, "for example, contextual relevance".
• The overall campaign budget. Display spend comes out of the same daily budget; it is not added on top.

Google adds that "cost per conversion on Display may vary depending on your chosen bidding strategy, priority settings, and custom budget allocation." It also warns that when you expand to Display "you may notice an increase in conversions and thus, an increase in daily spend", while on average cost per conversion on Display "should be similar" to Search.

What the ads look like on Display

Google says the ads "will be automatically created based on your Search ads", with the option to create image ads in the Assets section under Campaigns. It recommends responsive display ads, which take your headlines, images and landing page and "automatically adjust their size, appearance, and format to fit just about any available ad space."

One point to check: "If you've uploaded Google Ads image assets, from Search for example, Display Expansion may create responsive display ads automatically with no work required on your part." So image assets you added for Search can end up in Display ads. Look at them in the Display sizes before you rely on them. Asset sizes and specs are in our Display ads guide; the Search ad itself is covered in responsive search ads.

How budget goes to Display

Under the setup Google calls "previous", Display expansion "automatically delivered ads on the Google Display Network using unspent budget at similar cost per conversion as Search and with a 50% budget allocation applied in the backend." The Editor page phrases the condition this way: campaigns "will only serve on Display if we predict there's unutilized Search budget and no other Display or Universal campaigns of yours are competing for the same impressions."

From October 2026 Google is moving it to channel prioritization. In a Search campaign you can give Google Search, search partners and the Display Network a priority of High or Low, and for a Low priority channel set an optional daily budget allocation, a percentage of the campaign's average daily budget. Google calls that cap "best-effort", and says "If you set a Low priority channel's budget allocation to 0%, Google won't spend on that channel." The controls are set at account level, with campaign or shared budget overrides. How the tiers and percentages work in general, with Google's worked example, is in the channel prioritization section of our search partners guide.

Google says the rollout is progressive, so the Channel Prioritization card may not be in your account yet.

The February 2027 change

Google's channel prioritization page sets out what happens next:

• Until February 2027, Search campaigns with the Display Network on that have not set channel priorities or budget allocation "continue to use current Display Expansion behavior".
• "Starting in February 2027, all Search campaigns with Display Expansion enabled will automatically migrate to channel prioritization and budget allocation." The current spend allocation "will go away, and you may see a shift in channel spending between Google Search, Search partners, and the Google Display Network."
• To keep the current configuration, Google says you "can set the Google Display Network to 'Low priority' with a 50% daily budget allocation".
• "If you set channel priorities on Search campaigns before February 2027, the new settings apply to these campaigns right away and replace current Display Expansion budget behavior."
• "GDN will no longer serve on Search campaigns utilizing the Target Impression Share bid strategy."

Google also says that "By default, all channels are set to High priority." Our reading: a campaign that does nothing before the migration could therefore send Display more than the old backend 50% allowed. Check each Search campaign that has the Display Network on and decide its tier and cap before then.

How bid strategies use it

Google's notes on the Display expansion page: "For bidding strategies like Maximize Conversions and Maximize Conversion Value, Google Ads prioritizes High priority channels before allocating remaining budget to Low priority channels, subject to any custom budget allocation you set." The channel prioritization page adds the rest:

• Target CPA, Target ROAS or Target CPC, not limited by budget: the strategy aims for your target across all channels and priority "doesn't change how your budget is spent". A budget allocation on a Low priority channel still applies, so the percentage cap is the real control here.
• The same strategies, limited by budget: High priority channels spend first within your target, and budget shifts to Low priority channels "when they can deliver conversions at your target".
• Maximize clicks and Manual CPC: High priority channels spend first, and remaining budget goes to Low priority channels.
• Target impression share: after the February 2027 change, no Display Network serving at all.

How these strategies work in general is in our guides to budgets and bidding and target impression share.

Turning it on or off

For a new campaign, Google's steps: create a Search campaign, then in Campaign settings open the Networks section, click View network settings and select "Include Google Display Network". In the Channel Prioritization section, assign a tier for the Display Network (or keep the account defaults) and an optional daily budget allocation.

For an existing Search campaign:

1. Go to Campaigns and hover over the Search campaign.
2. Click the settings icon next to it.
3. Open the Networks drop-down and click View network settings.
4. Under "Display Network", select Include Google Display Network.
5. Optionally open Channel Prioritization to set campaign-level tiers or a budget allocation, or use account-level settings.
6. Save.

To stop it, clear the same Display Network option for that campaign. Where channel prioritization is live, a Low priority with 0% allocation also stops Display spend while leaving the setting in place. The setting is per campaign, separate from the search partners box.

In Google Ads Editor, select the Search campaign and choose Enabled in the "Include Display Network" drop-down. Google says setting channel priority tiers and percentages in Editor "will be supported in an upcoming release", so for now do that part in Google Ads.

Google may also suggest it: the recommendation types list includes "Use Display Expansion", shown "because some of your Search campaigns have unspent budget". If you use auto-apply, see our recommendations guide before you let reach-widening ones through.

Two limits from Google: channel prioritization and budget allocation work with shared budgets only when all the campaigns are the same type, and you can't set channel prioritization from a manager account.

Seeing Display results and placements

To split a Search campaign's results by network, use the "Network (with search partners)" segment. Google's Use segments in your tables describes it as the way "to compare Google Search, search partners, and Display Network performance", and labels the Display row "Google Display Network". Apply it from the Segment icon or in Report editor, and compare cost per conversion and conversion quality, not only clicks.

To keep the ads off particular sites and apps, use placement exclusions. Google's Exclude placements at the account level explains that exclusions for the Display Network, YouTube and search partners "can be applied at the account, campaign, or ad group level, with account-level exclusions overriding campaign and ad group level settings." Its placement targeting page lists Search among the campaign types that get the Content section where exclusions are managed. Our placement exclusions guide covers the lists and formats.

Display expansion, search partners or a Display campaign?

• Search partners are search sites. The ad still answers a search query, just not on Google. See Google search partners.
• Display expansion takes the same Search campaign to websites and apps, matched by context, out of the same budget and with ads built from your Search ads.
• A separate Display or Demand Gen campaign has its own budget, audiences, placements and creative. Google is moving Display campaigns into Demand Gen; see Display ads and Demand Gen. Which type fits which goal is in Google Ads campaign types.

Our view

This part is our own practice, not Google's guidance. We treat Search campaigns as intent campaigns and keep the Display Network off by default, especially when a campaign is limited by budget or reports leads by keyword. When we test it, we do it in one campaign, with Display set to Low priority and a small allocation, then compare the Display row's cost per lead and lead quality with Search after a few weeks. If you want Display reach on purpose, a separate campaign with its own creative and budget is easier to judge and to stop. And before February 2027, every Search campaign with Display on gets an explicit priority and cap, so the migration does not decide it for us.

Frequently asked questions

What is Display expansion in Google Ads?

It is a setting on Search campaigns ("Include Google Display Network") that lets the same campaign show ads on Google Display Network sites and apps, using the campaign's budget, bidding and targeting, with ads created from your Search ads.

Does Display expansion add to my budget?

No. Google says the overall campaign budget is observed, so Display spend comes out of the same budget. Google notes daily spend can rise if conversions rise, and with channel prioritization you can cap Display with a best-effort daily budget allocation.

What happens to Display expansion in February 2027?

Search campaigns with Display expansion on move automatically to channel prioritization and budget allocation, and the old backend 50% allocation goes away. Google says setting the Display Network to Low priority with a 50% daily budget allocation keeps the current configuration.

Does Display expansion work with Target Impression Share?

Not after the change: Google says the Display Network will no longer serve on Search campaigns using the Target Impression Share bid strategy.

How do I see how the Display part performs?

Segment the campaign by "Network (with search partners)". Display results appear in their own "Google Display Network" row next to Google Search and search partners.

Wherever the ads show, the landing page decides whether the click turns into an enquiry. See our website development service and all our services, or email [email protected].