{"id":4962,"date":"2026-08-09T01:28:45","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T22:28:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ivitskiy.com\/blog\/adworld-experience-2025\/"},"modified":"2026-08-09T01:28:45","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T22:28:45","slug":"adworld-experience-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ivitskiy.com\/blog\/en\/adworld-experience-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"YouTube In-Stream Ads and Quality Leads: Igor Ivitskiy at Adworld Experience 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
In short:<\/strong> When Video Action Campaigns gave way to Demand Gen, many advertisers found that YouTube in-stream traffic spent money without producing dependable leads. After six months of A\/B tests involving about $1.5 million in client spend, Igor Ivitskiy presented a three-part response: align the landing experience, earn attention with the creative and give the campaign clean signals. His central finding was that lead quality comes from the interaction of the whole system, not from one setting or one strong video.<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Adworld Experience 2025<\/a> took place in Bologna, Italy, on October 2 and 3, 2025; this was an English-language, 27-minute conference talk. The speaker was Igor Ivitskiy<\/a>, a PhD and Google Ads practitioner who tests acquisition systems across information businesses and B2C SaaS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The talk, \u201cYT In-Stream Ads & Quality Leads,\u201d<\/strong> examined what changed when Google began moving Video Action Campaigns to Demand Gen<\/a>. Instead of treating YouTube as an isolated media-buying problem, Igor connected the ad to the page, the conversion signal and the revenue behind each lead. It is a different acquisition context from conventional keyword research for Google Ads<\/a>: the viewer did not ask to see the offer, so every transition has to earn the next moment of attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2248$1.5M<\/div>
in client spend across six months of A\/B tests behind the framework<\/div><\/div>\n
Source: Adworld Experience 2025 talk, Igor Ivitskiy.<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Quality is a system property<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Video
Video campaign connected to a lead quality funnel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The main idea was simple: an in-stream campaign cannot be judged by the ad account alone. A person is interrupted while watching something else, lands without the intent of a search visitor and may submit a form before becoming a valuable customer. The ad, landing page and campaign therefore have to preserve one promise while removing reasons to disengage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This logic resembles the discipline behind broad match<\/a>, but the signals are different. Demand Gen can serve across several Google surfaces, including YouTube, Discover and Gmail, as described in the official campaign overview<\/a>. The account needs enough separation to show what is working, yet enough data for the algorithm to learn. Structure is useful only when it improves that feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lead quality was the governing metric. Igor compared what leads eventually paid, not merely whether a form was submitted. That distinction also explains his attention to fake leads and poor placements: bad conversions do more than waste budget, because they teach the bidding system to find more of the wrong behavior. The placement exclusions play a role similar to an evidence-based negative-keyword discipline<\/a>, while the final decision still belongs to business economics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
1<\/span>Conversion machine<\/strong>
The landing experience continues the promise, establishes trust and protects the conversion signal.<\/div>\n
2<\/span>Creative<\/strong>
The video earns attention, communicates the core idea early and remains coherent with the destination.<\/div>\n
3<\/span>Campaign architecture<\/strong>
The account separates meaningful variables and gives optimization a cleaner view of performance.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Source: Adworld Experience 2025 talk, Igor Ivitskiy.<\/div>\n\n\n\n

How I judge lead quality<\/strong><\/p>

I do not stop at the form submission. I compare leads through the back end of the product and look at how much value they actually create. A cheaper lead is not better if the revenue data says otherwise.<\/p><\/section>\n\n\n\n

This systems view also shapes how Google Ads is taught in the school: metrics are read in context, while the detailed operating procedure is reserved for practical learning materials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Key insights<\/h2>\n\n\n\n