What Is the Google Display Network (GDN)? A 2026 Guide

Quick answer: The Google Display Network (GDN) is Google’s network of over 3 million websites, 600,000+ apps, and platforms like Gmail and YouTube where your visual ads (banners, images, video) can appear. It reaches more than 90% of internet users. Unlike Search ads, which show when someone searches, Display ads reach people while they browse, watch, or check email, making GDN ideal for brand awareness and remarketing.

What is the Google Display Network?

The Google Display Network (GDN) is Google’s display advertising network: a huge collection of websites, apps, and Google platforms where advertisers can show visual ads. Instead of text ads on a search results page, GDN shows image, responsive, and video ads across the sites and apps your audience already uses.

Its scale is the headline: over 3 million websites, 600,000+ apps, plus Gmail and YouTube, reaching more than 90% of internet users worldwide. That reach is why GDN is a go-to for building awareness and re-engaging past visitors.

How the Google Display Network works

Publishers (website and app owners) sell their ad space through Google AdSense or Google Ad Manager. Advertisers buy that space through Google Ads. When a page loads, an auction runs, the same way it does on Search, but with visual placements instead of text on a results page, and the winning ad appears.

The key difference from Search: – Search ads appear when someone actively searches for a keyword (high intent, they are looking). – Display ads appear while someone browses content, watches videos, checks Gmail, or uses apps (you reach them before they search).

So Search captures existing demand; Display creates awareness and stays in front of people.

GDN vs Google Search: the difference

Most advertisers use both: Search to capture intent, Display to build awareness and remarket. See our Google Ads services.

What GDN is best for

Brand awareness (prospecting)

Put your brand in front of large, relevant audiences who are not yet searching for you, using visual ads across the sites and apps they use.

Remarketing

Show ads to people who already visited your website but did not convert. Remarketing is one of GDN’s strongest uses: it keeps your brand in front of warm audiences and brings them back.

GDN ad formats

• Responsive display ads: you supply images, headlines, and descriptions, and Google automatically combines them to fit each placement. The default and most flexible format.
• Image / banner ads: your own designed banners in standard sizes.
• Video ads: short visual ads across the network and YouTube.
• Gmail ads: ads that appear in the Gmail inbox.

GDN targeting options

GDN’s power is in reaching the right people, through:

• Audiences: in-market (actively researching), affinity (long-term interests), and custom audiences.
• Demographics: age, gender, location, device.
• Remarketing lists: past visitors and customers.
• Placements: specific websites, apps, or YouTube channels you choose.
• Topics and content signals: pages about chosen subjects.
• Automated targeting: Google optimises who sees your ads based on performance.

Important 2026 update: Display is moving into Demand Gen

This is the big change to know. Google has confirmed it is retiring standalone Display campaigns as a separate campaign type. Going forward, GDN inventory lives inside Demand Gen campaigns, alongside YouTube, Discover, Gmail, and Maps. In practice this means:

• You will run visual, audience-based ads through Demand Gen rather than a separate Display campaign.
• Your ads reach GDN placements plus YouTube, Discover, and Gmail from one campaign.
• The targeting and creative principles below still apply; the campaign container is changing.

If you are planning display advertising in 2026, plan it as Demand Gen, not a standalone Display campaign.

Best practices for display ads

• Design for attention: clean, on-brand visuals with one clear message.
• Strong, specific CTA: tell people exactly what to do.
• Use responsive ads so your creative fits every placement.
• Segment audiences: separate prospecting from remarketing.
• Exclude irrelevant placements to avoid wasted spend.
• Test creative and refresh it before it fatigues.
• Send clicks to a matching landing page, not your homepage. See landing pages.

How much does GDN cost?

GDN runs on cost-per-click (CPC) or cost-per-thousand-impressions (CPM), so you can optimise for clicks or for reach. Display CPCs are usually lower than Search because intent is lower, which makes GDN cost-effective for awareness and remarketing. Set budgets by goal and audience, and measure against conversions, not just clicks.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Google Display Network (GDN)?

It is Google’s network of 3 million+ websites, 600,000+ apps, and platforms like Gmail and YouTube where visual ads (image, responsive, video) can appear, reaching over 90% of internet users.

What is the difference between GDN and Google Search ads?

Search ads appear when someone searches a keyword (high intent); Display ads appear while people browse, watch, or check email (awareness and remarketing). Search captures demand; Display builds it.

What is GDN best for?

Brand awareness and remarketing, showing visual ads to large audiences and re-engaging people who visited your site but did not convert.

How much does the Google Display Network cost?

It runs on CPC or CPM, and CPCs are usually lower than Search because intent is lower, making it cost-effective for awareness and remarketing.

Is Google retiring Display campaigns?

Google is retiring standalone Display campaigns; GDN inventory now runs inside Demand Gen campaigns alongside YouTube, Discover, Gmail, and Maps. Plan display advertising as Demand Gen in 2026.

The bottom line

The Google Display Network puts your visual ads in front of huge, targeted audiences across the web, ideal for building brand awareness and remarketing to past visitors. Its intent is lower than Search, so use it for reach and re-engagement, pair it with Search for demand capture, and, in 2026, run it through Demand Gen rather than a standalone Display campaign.

Want display and remarketing campaigns that actually perform? Talk to MediaPlus Digital about Google Ads management, and claim a free RM300 consultation.