The Media Lab team oversees media strategy, buying, and planning for Google Marketing. Led by Joshua Spanier, VP of marketing, these media, measurement, and brand safety experts help Google’s campaigns succeed. Here, Media Lab shares its findings to help marketers with their 2025 planning.
Every year, my team and I debate which findings will be the most interesting, helpful, and actionable for the rest of our peers in marketing. From the onset of the agentic era to revelations about AI and performance, we’ve never had so many insights to share, all with major lessons for improving media efficiency. Here’s how we’re uplevelling our approach to continue driving gains in 2025.
1. When it comes to AI, the ROI speaks for itself
Much of our on-stack media spend is now touched by AI. Since Google began integrating new AI into its core advertising products, we’ve seen substantial performance gains across campaigns, especially video campaigns in the U.S.
2. AI is the future of creative testing
AI-powered creative testing has the potential to reduce timelines from weeks to days. It’s also overwhelmingly accurate when it comes to predicting whether creative will drive brand lift. Based on these early successes, we plan to accelerate adoption.
3. The best tools do one thing well
In a sea of AI-powered marketing tools that feel like beta products, the most effective AI solutions focus on narrow tasks. Pencil and Pencil Pro’s generative capabilities are a prime example of this optimisation, and we expect to see more cost savings as our design teams use them to scale creative production.
4. The agentic era: Prepare to meet the AI agents
We’re excited about this one. With the agentic era on the horizon, all marketers should be thinking about how they would collaborate with an AI capable of working on tasks more or less independently. Our early experiments with AI agents have been positive. One found that AI agents have the potential to save teams time on briefs as a result of how quickly they can retrieve significant data.
A media strategy that considers reach without influence is missing the big picture.
5. No funnel can hold today’s consumer journey
There are simply too many touchpoints generated from streaming, scrolling, searching, and shopping. Instead of forcing consumer behaviours into funnel segments, we have adopted BCG’s model for mapping influence across the journey. Our own campaign results support the need for more finely nuanced messaging at scale.
6. Reach is no longer enough. Focus on outcome
A media strategy that considers reach without influence is missing the big picture. For decades, marketers were collectively pressured into reporting reach in terms of TV ratings. In 2024, we pivoted hard to outcome-based planning, which has resulted in incremental performance gains.
7. YouTube is (still) for the young
Testing shows that YouTube on connected TV delivers brand lift, particularly when it comes to younger audiences. Vertical video can do more than the industry once thought as well. YouTube Shorts rivals social platforms in the realms of brand building and direct response.
8. No matter your age, all you need is YouTube
Even among a new generation of streaming platforms, YouTube stands out. YouTube on CTV was more efficient at driving any lift and just as capable of driving reach as the other options we tested. This makes us hopeful that we’ll continue helping brands of all sizes reach valuable, highly engaged audiences on the platform, wherever those audiences decide to watch.
The hidden complexity of managing through change is real, so give partners the support they need to do the best job possible.
9. Creator partnerships are a winning play
The Paris Olympics reminded us of the power of “mega moments.” One key takeaway was that endorsements alone are not enough. If you find yourself in the lucky position of working with a talented creator, let them steer. Athletes-as-creators helped us increase reach and capture attention, especially among Gen Z.
10. Automate what you can to ensure compliance
New regulatory policies around the world are quickly rewriting the rules of engagement, but not so fast that agencies with AI resources can’t keep up. The hidden complexity of managing through change is real, so give partners the support they need to do the best job possible. Automating certain review processes can help.
