If you’re a retailer thinking about your marketing strategy for the next six months, especially the upcoming holiday season, this year’s Google Marketing Live announcements offer plenty to pay attention to. From video shopping experiences and app measurement to AI-powered creative tools, the latest updates are all about helping brands connect with shoppers more visually and interactively.
You can download the complete Google Marketing Live PDF here.
Our post gives you a quick run-down of the sections most valuable for holiday season planning. We’ll unpack the key video, apps, and future of creative updates from Google Marketing Live 2025 and show you how you can take advantage of them.
Google Marketing Live Focuses On Shoppable Content
One of the clearest trends from Google Marketing Live 2025 is the focus on making content shoppable — helping retailers turn video views into sales faster. A great example is the new Checkout Links feature for Demand Gen campaigns, as shown here. It allows users to add products directly to their cart and head straight to checkout from a video ad or shoppable placement.
According to Google’s internal data, merchants using Checkout URLs have already seen an average 11% increase in conversion value — a strong signal that reducing friction in the buying journey works. For retailers, this means shoppers can move from inspiration to purchase in just a few clicks, especially important during high-conversion moments like Black Friday or holiday promotions.
As Google continues to expand shoppable video formats across YouTube, Discover, and Shopping, the ability to seamlessly connect engaging content with transactional moments will be a key lever for growth in the months ahead.
Why these updates matter for retailers now
Retailers know that shopping journeys have become more visual, mobile, and fragmented across surfaces. Shoppers are discovering products through YouTube videos, Instagram Reels, and Google searches, and expect smooth experiences when they move between channels.
The GML 2025 updates signal how Google is helping brands meet these new expectations:
- Make video shoppable across more Google surfaces
- Measure how web campaigns drive app installs and conversions
- Use AI to generate and manage creative assets faster
For retailers preparing for peak periods like Black Friday, Singles’ Day, and holiday shopping, these tools can help drive more conversions and deliver better creative at scale, even when resources are tight.
How can you produce video content on a budget?
Creating great video content doesn’t have to break the bank. Retailers can repurpose existing assets, such as product photos, customer reviews, and behind-the-scenes clips, into simple, engaging videos using tools like Google’s Asset Studio or free editing apps. Short-form formats like vertical videos for YouTube Shorts and Discover don’t require polished production; authenticity often performs better.
By leveraging AI-powered tools to reformat videos and generate on-brand visual content automatically, even small teams can scale video output without costly shoots or complex editing. The key is to start with what you have and focus on quick, visually compelling stories that match your audience’s shopping mindset.
Make video your shoppable secret weapon this holiday season
Video ads across Google surfaces were one of the standout announcements at Google Marketing Live 2025. Retailers can now run video ads not just on YouTube, but also across:
- Search
- Google Shopping
- Google Discover
- Image Search
This means your product videos can inspire potential customers earlier in their journey, before they’ve narrowed down choices or reached your site.
For the holidays, this opens up opportunities to use gift guide videos, influencer content, or seasonal brand campaigns to drive demand in more places. The addition of Shoppable CTV (Connected TV) and Shoppable Masthead makes it possible to convert inspiration into action, even on the big screen or YouTube’s most prominent placements.
And it’s measurable: YouTube CTV ads drove over 1 billion conversions globally in the past year. If your holiday marketing mix isn’t already using video in these ways, now is the time to test.
A standout new ad type video: The shoppable YouTube masthead
The new shoppable YouTube Masthead presents a powerful opportunity for retailers. It lets you showcase products directly on YouTube’s most prominent placement, turning brand awareness into action. With the ability to feature clickable products alongside your video, you can drive traffic straight to your website during key sales moments.
From Black Friday countdowns to new collection launches. For retailers, this means turning YouTube’s massive reach into a high-intent shopping channel, right at the top of the funnel.
Drive more value from your app with Web + App integrations
Google Marketing Live also introduced updates that help retailers better integrate their app into broader marketing efforts:
- Measure app installs and conversions from your web campaigns
- Use Web + App Connect to drive more installs and app usage
- Target ROAS bidding for iOS app campaigns
- On-device conversion measurement for iOS
This is a big win for omnichannel retailers with loyalty apps or app-based offers. It lets you see how web and app campaigns work together, for example, if a shopper clicks on a YouTube ad, installs your app, and then completes an in-app purchase.
During the holiday season, this can help you:
- Drive more app installs during major promotions
- Optimise campaigns toward valuable app actions (loyalty signups, purchases)
- Deliver better measurement and reporting on app ROI
As more retailers lean into app-based offers and loyalty, this should be part of your playbook.
Save time and scale your creative with AI
The Future of Creative section of Google Marketing Live introduced some of the most practical updates for busy marketing teams:
- Asset Studio: A single hub in Google Ads where you can create, edit, and manage video and image assets — powered by GenAI.
- Effortlessly reformat and extend videos: AI will automatically adapt videos to different formats (vertical for Shorts, landscape for CTV, etc.) so you can deliver surface-native performance.
- Visual content generated for you: In Merchant Center, Google AI can now generate branded images and videos from your product catalog, helping retailers scale creative quickly.
If your team struggles to produce enough content for different placements (video, search, display, shopping), these tools can be a game changer.
For the holidays, this means:
- Quicker turnaround for Black Friday and festive promotions
- More varied creative formats across Google’s ecosystem
- Higher-quality creative without extra production cost
Retailers that embrace these AI tools can test more variations and iterate faster, which is key for a season where consumer behaviour shifts daily.
Final Google Marketing Live takeaway
The Google Marketing Live 2025 updates are not about shiny new toys; they reflect a fundamental shift in how shoppers engage with content and buy across channels.
For retailers, here’s where to focus ahead of the holidays:
- Incorporate shoppable video across more of your Google campaigns
- Leverage Web + App measurement and bidding to drive app value
- Adopt AI-powered creative tools to save time and improve performance
Start testing now, because the brands that move first will have an edge when holiday shopping hits full speed.
