Google Video Ads (YouTube campaigns) work slightly differently from other channels supported in Propensity.
Google does not allow video campaigns to be created or launched through third-party APIs, which means the campaign must be created directly in Google Ads Manager.
Propensity is used to:
Define the audience (Buying Circle)
Send that audience to Google Ads
Sync campaign analytics back into Propensity once the campaign is live
Because of this limitation, launching a Google Video campaign requires steps in both platforms.
Why this process is different
Unlike other ad channels supported in Propensity, Google does not allow third-party platforms to create or launch YouTube campaigns via API.
Because of this restriction:
Campaigns must be created and launched in Google Ads
Propensity is used to upload the audience and sync reporting
Before you start
Make sure your audience has the following requirements:
Step 1: Create your video campaign in Google Ads
Before launching anything from Propensity, you must first create the video campaign directly in Google Ads.
In Google Ads Manager:
Create your Video campaign
Configure the campaign settings
Save the campaign
Do not launch the campaign yet. The audience must first be uploaded from Propensity.
Step 2: Configure the Google Video play in Propensity
Next, configure the Google Video play in Propensity.
In Propensity:
Navigate to your Campaign
In the Playbook tab, open the Google Video Play
Configure:
Audience (Buying Circle)
Start date
End date
This step defines which contacts will be used for the campaign.
In the Playbook tab, when clicking View, you will also see a text regarding Google Requirements. Make sure to read it, as it contains important information about the setup:
Step 3: Upload the audience to Google
Once the play is configured, you must send the audience from Propensity to Google.
In Propensity, once in the Launch tab:
Confirm the campaign cost
Locate the Google Video channel and click View Channel
Click Send Audience
Select your Google Manager Account and Google Account
Click Send Audience
This uploads your Buying Circle audience to Google Ads Audience Manager.
After uploading, the audience will appear in your Google Ads account.
This step is required before the campaign can be connected to the audience in Google Ads
Step 4: Connect the audience to your Google campaign
After the audience is uploaded, return to Google Ads Manager.
In Google Ads:
Open your Video campaign
Locate the audience that was uploaded from Propensity
Assign it to the campaign
The audience must be manually assigned to the campaign in Google Ads.
Step 5: Launch the campaign in Google Ads
Once the audience is connected, launch the campaign in Google Ads Manager
After the campaign is live, performance data will begin syncing back into Propensity automatically.
Audience matching timeline
After uploading an audience, Google must match the contacts against its internal user database.
This process typically takes 1–4 days.
Lists with larger audiences tend to perform better. Lists containing around 30,000 contacts often produce 2,000–3,000 matched users.
Important targeting requirements
To target contacts directly in Google Ads using an uploaded audience, your Google Ads account must meet the following requirements:
At least $50,000 total lifetime ad spend
At least 90 days of Google Ads account history
If these requirements are not met, the audience can only be used in Observation mode.
Observation mode allows ads to run to a broader audience while still measuring how users from your uploaded list behave compared to other viewers.
Note: Google campaigns may underdeliver when the daily budget is too low relative to the CPM bid. In these cases, campaigns may spend quickly and stop delivering early in the day. To improve delivery consistency, consider lowering the CPM bid or increasing the daily budget.
Important considerations
For accurate reporting in Propensity:
Assign the uploaded audience to only one video campaign
Using the same audience across multiple campaigns may result in inaccurate analytics when syncing data back into Propensity.