Google Gallery Ads: What they were, why they were discontinued & what replaced them (2026)

Abisola Tanzako | Jun 18, 2026

Google Gallery Ads

Table of Contents

  1. What are Google Gallery Ads?
  2. How did Google Gallery Ads work?
  3. What is the timeline of Google Gallery Ads?
    1. May 2019: Launch
    2. Late 2019: Broader testing
    3. August 2020: Discontinuation
    4. Post-2020: Absorbed into Discovery Ads
    5. 2023 onwards: Discovery Ads become Demand Gen
  4. Why did advertisers like Gallery Ads?
  5. Did Google Gallery Ads work?
  6. Which industries use Google Gallery Ads?
    1. Automotive
    2. E-commerce and retail
    3. Hospitality and travel
    4. Food and restaurants
    5. Home services and interiors
    6. What these examples show
  7. Why did Google discontinue Gallery Ads?
    1. Low advertiser adoption:
    2. Mobile UX limitations:
    3. Loading friction:
    4. Measurement complexity:
    5. Automation prioritization:
  8. Gallery Ads in 2026: What should you use instead?
    1. Gallery Ads vs Demand Gen: How Google's visual advertising evolved
  9. The end of Google Gallery Ads and where visual search advertising stands today

Google Gallery Ads were a swipeable image carousel at the top of mobile search results, combining the high intent of search with the visual engagement of social media.

Announced at Google Marketing Live in May 2019 and discontinued in August 2020, they were the only Google search format to combine keyword-based targeting with a swipeable image carousel.

This guide covers what they were, how they worked, real examples, why Google discontinued them, and what to use instead in 2026.

Google Gallery Ads were a visual ad format in Google Ads that showed multiple images in a single search ad.

Gallery Ads stood out as one of the few search formats that could genuinely compete with social media for visual attention while still capturing the high intent that makes search advertising valuable.

This format is designed to increase engagement and works best for industries that rely on visuals, such as fashion, travel, real estate, and hospitality.

In simple terms, Gallery Ads turn a regular search ad into a swipeable image experience. To understand why they were eventually discontinued, it helps to see how the format actually worked inside Google Ads.

Google Gallery Ads were a mobile-first search ad format in Google Ads that combined images and text in a swipeable carousel within search results.

They appeared in eligible search ad placements and allowed advertisers to showcase multiple images in a single ad unit.

Users could swipe through images and interact with short captions before clicking through to a website. Gallery Ads were part of the same ad auction as text ads, meaning they competed with other search ads for visibility

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Their display depended on relevance, bidding, and available ad space. Advertisers were charged based on user engagement, such as clicks or meaningful interactions with the ad (for example, swiping through images or clicking through to the landing page), rather than simple impressions.

May 2019: Launch

Google announced Gallery Ads at Google Marketing Live as an experimental mobile search ad format. The format entered beta testing with a limited pool of advertisers across select industries.

Late 2019: Broader testing

Gallery Ads were rolled out to more advertisers in the second half of 2019, with automotive, travel, and retail seeing the strongest early adoption and engagement.

August 2020: Discontinuation

Google officially discontinued Gallery Ads, citing low adoption rates outside of a few key industries, high creative requirements, and challenges in scaling the format across different advertiser types.

Post-2020: Absorbed into Discovery Ads

Following the discontinuation of Gallery Ads, Google continued investing in visual advertising formats through Discovery Ads.

These ads appeared across YouTube, Gmail, and the Google Discover feed, helping advertisers reach users through image-based experiences beyond traditional search results.

2023 onwards: Discovery Ads become Demand Gen

Google later rebranded Discovery Ads as Demand Gen campaigns. The updated format introduced additional creative options, expanded placements, and greater use of automation, reflecting Google’s broader shift toward AI-driven advertising solutions.

Unlike standard text ads, which offer a single headline and description, Gallery Ads allow advertisers to include up to 8 images and individual captions per ad unit, creating multiple touchpoints within a single impression before a user clicks through.

Advertisers were drawn to the format for three main reasons:

  1. Higher engagement than text ads: The swipeable carousel naturally encouraged more interaction, giving advertisers more touchpoints before a user clicked.
  2. Mobile-first advantage: As mobile search grew, Gallery Ads gave brands a way to own more screen space and deliver a richer experience on smaller devices.
  3. Visual storytelling in search: For industries like automotive, travel, and retail, showing a product rather than describing it was a significant advantage over standard text ads.

According to initial test data, Gallery Ads always performed better than regular text ads in engagement:

  1. CTR: CTR was higher for Gallery Ads due to the visual and carousel format on mobile devices.
  2. Swipe interaction value: It was shown that people who used the swipe interaction and viewed more images before taking action had higher purchase intent than those who just clicked a text ad.
  3. Engagement vs text ads: Gallery Ads performed most effectively when each of the 4 to 8 images addressed a distinct customer objection or showcased a separate product feature, turning the carousel into a sequential sales argument rather than a repetitive visual

While active, Gallery Ads in Google Ads were used across several industries to display visual content directly in search results.

The format worked best in industries where visuals played a strong role in decision-making.

Automotive

The automotive industry was one of the most common use cases for Gallery Ads. Car dealerships could showcase different angles of a vehicle, including the exterior, interior, dashboard, and available colour options.

This allowed users to preview a car visually before clicking through to a website.

E-commerce and retail

Retailers used Gallery Ads to display multiple product variations within a single ad unit. For example, a furniture brand could show different colour options of a sofa, while a fashion retailer could present multiple outfits from the same collection.

Hospitality and travel

Hotels and travel brands used the format to highlight visual experiences such as rooms, pools, dining areas, and amenities.

This helped users get a clearer sense of the property before visiting the website.

Food and restaurants

Restaurants used Gallery Ads to display menu items and signature dishes. This gave users a visual preview of the food and helped influence dining or ordering decisions.

Home services and interiors

Service-based businesses, such as interior designers and renovation companies, used Gallery Ads to showcase project portfolios, including before-and-after images and examples of completed work.

What these examples show

Across industries, Gallery Ads were most effective in categories where visual presentation influenced user interest and engagement.

Gallery Ads in Google Ads were phased out as part of Google’s broader shift toward simpler, more automated, and scalable ad formats. Several factors contributed to their discontinuation:

Low advertiser adoption:

Gallery Ads required advertisers to produce between 4 and 8 high-quality images per ad unit, a creative workload comparable to a social media campaign, but applied to a search auction where text ads remained the dominant and lower-effort alternative.

Mobile UX limitations:

Despite being a mobile-first format, Gallery Ads created friction in the search experience. The carousel interaction added an extra step between the user and the result they were looking for, which ran counter to the speed and simplicity users expect from mobile search.

Loading friction:

Image-heavy ad units took longer to load than text ads, particularly on slower mobile connections. This negatively affected the user experience and reduced the format’s effectiveness in markets with inconsistent mobile data speeds.

Measurement complexity:

Assigning value to swipe actions over clicks led to confusion in determining ROI for advertisers. Unlike with text ads, where a click was an unambiguous indicator, Gallery Ads presented advertisers with partially engaged metrics that were not always convertible into sales.

Automation prioritization:

Google was moving towards automated solutions, such as Responsive Search Ads and Performance Max, that decreased the need for creative effort and enabled the machine learning algorithms to combine ads effectively, which the Gallery Ads solution could not do.

Demand Gen campaigns are the closest replacement, but Performance Max, image assets in Search, and Shopping Ads collectively cover what Gallery Ads used to do.

If your goal was to achieve what Gallery Ads used to do, visual storytelling in search and discovery, Google now spreads that function across several modern formats:

  1. Performance Max campaigns: The most advanced replacement. They use automation to show your ads across Search, YouTube, Display, Gmail, Maps, and Discover. You upload images, videos, and text, and Google’s system decides where and how to show them for conversions.
  2. Image assets in Search ads: Attach images to standard text ads in Search. It keeps things simple while still adding a visual layer to traditional search advertising.
  3. Shopping Ads: Best for product-based businesses. They show product images, prices, and store details directly in search results, making them ideal for purchase-driven searches.
  4. Demand Gen campaigns: The closest modern equivalent to Gallery Ads for visual discovery. It focuses on image and video-based ads across YouTube, Discover, and Gmail, helping users explore products before they actively search for them.
Feature Gallery Ads Demand Gen
Where Ads Appear Mobile search results only YouTube, Gmail, Google Discover
User Intent Active search intent Browsing and discovery
Creative Format 4–8 image carousel Images and video
Targeting Keyword-based Audience-based
Automation Minimal Heavy — Google AI optimizes placements
Availability Discontinued in August 2020 Active in 2026

Google Gallery Ads were an early attempt in Google Ads to combine search intent with visual storytelling.

Although the format showed promise in early testing, it was discontinued around 2020 due to limited adoption, high creative requirements, and challenges in scaling across different industries.

Today, the goals behind Gallery Ads are better served by more flexible formats. Image assets in Search ads allow visuals within text ads, Shopping Ads support product-focused listings with rich imagery, and Performance Max campaigns deliver automated, multi-surface advertising across Search, YouTube, Display, and other Google properties.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • What is the difference between Gallery Ads and Discovery Ads?

    Gallery Ads only showed up in mobile search, while Discovery Ads ran on YouTube, Gmail, and Google Discover, reaching users without any active searches. Once Gallery Ads were phased out, their visual purpose was incorporated into Discovery Ads, which then became Demand Gen campaigns.

  • Were Google Gallery Ads successful?

    Partially. They showed stronger engagement than text ads in automotive, travel, and retail, but never gained broad enough adoption to be considered a mainstream success, contributing to their discontinuation in 2020.

  • How do image assets differ from Gallery Ads?

    Image assets attach a single thumbnail image to an existing Responsive Search Ad, whereas Gallery Ads were a standalone format requiring 4 to 8 images and a separate setup process. Image assets have a much lower barrier to entry, appear at multiple positions rather than only first place, and are available on both mobile and desktop.

  • What industries benefited most from Google Gallery Ads?

    Automotive was the strongest-performing vertical by a significant margin. Hospitality, travel, food and beverage, retail, and home services also showed viable use cases. Industries where purchase decisions are primarily text-driven, such as legal and financial services, B2B saw limited benefit from the format.

  • What replaced Google Gallery Ads?

    No single replacement exists. Demand Gen is the closest equivalent to visual discovery; Performance Max covers broader automated advertising; image assets add visuals to Search ads; and Shopping Ads handle product-focused listings.

  • Can I still create Google Gallery Ads?

    No. The format was discontinued in August 2020 and is no longer available in Google Ads.

  • Why did Google remove Gallery Ads?

    Google discontinued Gallery Ads due to low adoption rates outside visually driven industries like automotive and retail, high creative requirements relative to standard text ads, and challenges in scaling the format across different advertiser types.

  • Why did Gallery Ads fail?

    Three major reasons: highly creative demands, which kept most businesses, except those in visually based industries, from participating; mobile experience difficulties, which introduced yet another obstacle between users and their search results; and a lack of correlation with Google’s goal of automation and easy campaign creation.

  • Do Gallery Ads still appear in Google Ads auctions?

    No. Gallery Ads were fully discontinued in August 2020 and no longer participate in any Google Ads auction. Advertisers cannot create, run, or access the format in any current campaign setup.

Abisola

Abisola

Meet Abisola! As the content manager at ClickPatrol, she’s the go-to expert on all things fake traffic. From bot clicks to ad fraud, Abisola knows how to spot, stop, and educate others about the sneaky tactics that inflate numbers but don’t bring real results.

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