Google Adds One-Tap Site Visits for Demand Gen Images on Shorts and Gmail

Google says eligible Demand Gen image ads on YouTube Shorts and Gmail can now take someone to an advertiser’s landing page in one tap. Its September 24, 2026, update gives businesses a direct website destination from those image placements.

For campaign teams, the distinction is where the next interaction happens. A retailer can send an interested shopper to its product page; a service business can direct someone to a page explaining its offer. The change Google describes concerns these image-ad placements, rather than every ad format on Shorts or Gmail.

Shorts calls for vertical creative

Google specifies uploaded, full-bleed 9:16 images for the Shorts experience. Its Demand Gen asset specifications set a minimum of 600 × 1,067 pixels for 9:16 images and recommend 1,080 × 1,920. An advertiser planning to use the Shorts route can check its vertical artwork and landing-page destination together.

A different route keeps questions in the ad

Google also offers a distinct way to handle a shopper’s initial question. In a September 16 retailer update, it introduced a U.S. beta for Business Agent in YouTube ads, which lets viewers ask product questions within an ad. That interaction stays on YouTube; the newer Shorts and Gmail image-ad route sends the visitor to the advertiser’s site.

The practical choice is whether the campaign should bring someone to the business’s own page immediately. For advertisers choosing that destination on Shorts, Google’s vertical-image specification provides the concrete creative requirement.