Short answer: Google Display ads are image, text and video ads that show on websites, apps, YouTube and Gmail. They reach people while they browse, not while they search. For a local business, they work best next to search ads, not instead of them.
What the Display Network is
Display campaigns can reach people worldwide across 35 million websites and apps, and on Google-owned properties: YouTube and Gmail.
The Search Network reaches people while they search for specific goods or services. The Display Network can catch their attention earlier in the buying cycle, before they start searching for what you offer. It can also remind people who already visited your website or app of what they were interested in.
How Display campaigns work now
Google has merged Smart Display campaigns into the standard Display campaign, with AI features for bidding, creatives and targeting. You choose how much of that AI to use.
By default, the ads are responsive and the targeting is optimized: Google uses information such as the keywords on your landing page to reach new audiences likely to convert. If you prefer, you can choose another form of targeting.
Google recommends Smart Bidding strategies based on your goals, but you can choose a different strategy yourself. Our Smart Bidding guide explains the options.
In Display campaigns that use Target CPA bidding, you can pay for conversions instead of clicks. In the “Bidding” section, look for the “Pay for” header and select Conversions.
Responsive display ads
You upload your assets: images, headlines, logos, videos and descriptions. Google AI then builds ad combinations for websites, apps, YouTube and Gmail, and picks the best one for each ad slot.
It also adjusts the size, appearance and format to fit almost any ad space. One ad might show as a banner ad on one site and as a dynamic text ad on another.
Google may also use asset enhancements, stock images and AI-generated assets such as backgrounds, so check what it shows in your name. If you want more control over the creative, you can build your own image ads outside Google Ads and upload them.
When Display fits a local business
| Goal | Is Display the right first step? | What Google Ads Help describes |
|---|---|---|
| Reach people searching for your service now | Usually not; search ads come first | The Search Network, for people searching for specific goods or services |
| Become known in your area | Yes | Display campaigns built for awareness and consideration |
| Stay in front of people who already know you | Yes | Data segments of people who visited your website or app |
| Show products people already viewed | Yes, for online stores | Responsive display ads with a feed |
Our summary, read against Google Ads Help on November 5, 2026.
If you are new to paid ads, our guide on what PPC is covers the basics. Our Performance Max guide explains how to reach all of Google’s channels from a single campaign.
Where your ads show, and how to limit it
You can exclude websites or domains that are inappropriate for your brand or don’t help sell your products or services. Exclusions work at the campaign, ad group or account level.
Google names two kinds of placements you might exclude: those that don’t fit your brand, and those where your ads show but don’t perform well.
Content suitability adds another filter, by inventory type, on YouTube, the Display Network and Google video partners. Maximum inventory shows ads across all available inventory. Moderate inventory excludes strong profanity, dramatized violence and sexually suggestive themes.
Limited inventory aims to exclude as much sensitive content as possible. Google recommends it only for brands with strict suitability requirements, because it may limit reach and performance.
How to set up a Display campaign
- Set up conversion tracking first, so the campaign can count calls, forms or sales.
- Create the campaign a few days before you want it live: changes can take 12 to 24 hours to apply.
- Pick the goal: sales, leads, website traffic, or awareness and consideration.
- Limit the locations to the areas you serve, and set a budget you can keep for a few weeks.
- Keep optimized targeting, or choose another form of targeting.
- Upload images, headlines, logos, descriptions and a video for the responsive ad, then check what Google adds.
- Set content suitability and exclusions, and after the first weeks exclude the placements that don’t perform.
Before you launch
- Conversion tracking records the actions you care about.
- The campaign goal matches what you want from it.
- Locations cover only the areas you serve.
- You checked the assets Google adds to your ads.
- Content suitability and exclusions fit your brand.
- Search ads still cover people looking for your service right now.
RememberDisplay reaches people while they browse. Use it to be seen and remembered, and keep search ads for the people looking for you right now.
Our Google Ads service runs search and Display campaigns in accounts that stay in your name. Write to us through the form or on WhatsApp.
Quick answers about Google Display ads
What is the Google Display Network?
The websites, apps and Google properties where Display ads can appear, outside Google Search. Google says Display campaigns can reach people worldwide across 35 million websites and apps, and on YouTube and Gmail.
Are Display ads worth it for a small local business?
They can be, to become known in your area or to stay in front of people who already know you. Display reaches people while they browse, so search ads usually come first for people looking for your service right now.
How long does a new Display campaign take to settle?
Changes to bids, budget or targeting can take 12 to 24 hours to apply, Google says, so it suggests setting up a campaign a few days before launch. A new campaign or bid strategy may also show a Learning status for up to 7 days.
What are responsive display ads?
Ads you build by uploading images, headlines, logos, videos and descriptions. Google AI combines them and adjusts their size, appearance and format to fit almost any ad space. One ad can show as a banner on one site and as a dynamic text ad on another.
How do I keep my ads off certain sites?
Exclude the websites or domains that don’t fit your brand or don’t help sell your products, at the campaign, ad group or account level. Content suitability settings add a filter by inventory type: Maximum, Moderate or Limited.
Sources
Read on November 5, 2026. Google Ads Help, on Display: About Display ads and the Google Display Network and About responsive display ads. On control: Exclude specific webpages and videos and About content suitability.