Google Discover Ads for Toy Stores: Getting Into the Feed Before the Holidays

Google Discover ads now run inside Demand Gen campaigns, and for toy stores they do one job: branding and light retargeting in the weeks before Black Friday and Christmas. In the five toy store accounts I’ve run over the last three years, Discover and Gmail together get about 10% of the Google Ads budget.

This post is part of the complete guide to Google Ads for toy stores.

What are Google Discover ads now?

Discover ads are ads in the Discover feed, the stream of articles and videos Google suggests in its mobile app. You can’t create a “Discover campaign” any more: Discovery campaigns were upgraded to Demand Gen in early 2024 (PPC Land), and Discover is one of the channels inside Demand Gen, alongside YouTube, Gmail and the Google Display Network (Google Ads Help).

What do Discover ads do for a toy store?

Discover ads put your toys in front of people while they’re scrolling through content. That makes them a branding and retargeting channel:

• Branding: showing your store and your bestsellers to parents and gift buyers before the season starts.
• Light retargeting: reminding past visitors and customers ahead of Black Friday and Christmas.

The payoff comes later, in your Shopping and Search campaigns, during November and December, when about 30% of yearly sales happen in the toy accounts I run.

When should a toy store run Discover ads?

In the weeks before Black Friday and again before Christmas, the same window as Gmail ads. YouTube starts earlier, in late October, because it takes a few weeks to show any lift.

Starting before the peak also saves money: in November and December, CPCs in toy accounts jump around 70%.

How do you set up Discover ads for a toy store?

Create a Demand Gen campaign and give Discover its own ad group:

1. Make sure conversion tracking works, then create a new Demand Gen campaign.
2. In the ad group settings, open Channels and choose Let me choose (Google Ads Help).
3. Select Discover only, and untick YouTube, Gmail, Maps and the Display Network.
4. Choose your audience: past customers, recent website visitors, or custom segments built from toy brand and gift searches.
5. Add image ads or a product feed from Merchant Center.

The steps are the same as for a Gmail-only ad group, covered in more detail in how to set up ads on Gmail. Keeping Discover in its own ad group means you decide how much it gets, and you can judge it on its own results.

Remember who you’re targeting: adults. Google turns off ads personalisation for users under 18 (Google Ads policy).

What creative works in Discover ads for toys?

Discover is a visual feed, so the image decides whether anyone stops scrolling:

• The toy as the main subject, large and clear, ideally being played with.
• Bestsellers first. As everywhere in toy advertising, put the budget behind products that already sell.
• Gift angles: age ranges, “under €30”, gift sets.
• Seasonal timing: Christmas delivery dates in the description once you’re in December.

How do Discover ads compare with Gmail and YouTube?

Across the 12 online stores whose Demand Gen campaigns I manage (not only toy stores), Discover usually converts a bit worse than Gmail and YouTube. That doesn’t make it useless: each channel reaches people at a different moment. Judge Discover against your break-even ROAS.

For how Discover fits into the full budget and calendar, read the complete guide to Google Ads for toy stores.