The news
Google on September 28, 2026 announced a Display & Video 360 vertical video feature that lets advertisers buy and measure portrait-format video ads across channels in one platform. Google said an early test with Unilever's Hellmann's brand lifted unique reach by 24%.
The feature is called Vertical Video Unification. Display & Video 360, often shortened to DV360, is the programmatic buying platform of Google, part of Alphabet (GOOGL): software that advertisers and agencies use to purchase digital ad space automatically across many publishers. Google said the new option gathers vertical video purchases from multiple publishers into a single workstream instead of separate buys.
In the announcement, written by Marta Martinez, managing director of Google Marketing Platforms, Google said its Gemini AI models power the buying, the execution and what it called full-funnel measurement. That term covers the whole path from first seeing an ad to later actions such as a visit or a purchase. Google also said a unified approach helps avoid showing the same ad to the same people too many times.
Google's post did not name the channels or publishers involved. MediaPost reported that the inventory includes premium open-web publishers, streaming apps and social environments. According to MediaPost, advertisers can upload a vertical video asset once and have it distributed across several inventory sources, and Gemini links how a person responds to a vertical ad on one platform with later consideration or conversion actions.
The only performance data came from a test run by Hellmann's, a brand of Unilever (UL), with agency WPP Media. Google said the test produced a 24% increase in unique reach, meaning the number of distinct people who saw the ads, and a 25% reduction in cost per unique user.
Google did not say when or where the test ran, what it was measured against, or when Vertical Video Unification will be available to all advertisers. PPC Land, a trade publication covering ad platforms, flagged those gaps and noted that the announcement did not mention any independent, third-party verification of the results.
The numbers
- Unique reach increase in Hellmann's test (Google figure)
- 24%
- Reduction in cost per unique user in the same test (Google figure)
- 25%
- Projected 2026 US social video ad spend (IAB, as reported by PPC Land)
- $31.9 billion
- Approximate DV360 share of global programmatic spend, Q1 2026 (Guideline data, as reported by PPC Land)
- ~41%
Why CEOs should care
For chief marketing officers and media directors, the appeal is simpler planning. Short-form vertical video is often bought channel by channel, each with its own reports, which makes it hard to tell how many distinct people a campaign reached or how often the same person saw an ad. Before moving budget, ask your agency or Google team which publishers and apps are actually included in your markets, and whether the social platforms your customers use are part of it.
For CFOs, the headline figures need context. The 24% reach gain and 25% lower cost per unique user come from one brand's test, reported by the vendor, with no baseline disclosed. PPC Land calculated that a 24% reach increase on its own would cut cost per user by roughly 19%, which suggests spending or the comparison baseline also changed. A fair request is a controlled test on your own campaigns, with a holdout group that sees no ads and an agreed baseline, before shifting budgets.
For data and analytics leaders, measurement is the bigger question. When the platform that places the ads also grades their results with its own AI, an outside check matters. Ask whether results can be verified by an independent measurement provider, how Gemini-based attribution credits conversions that happen away from Google's own properties, and whether you can export the underlying reach and frequency data.
The bigger picture
Vertical video has spread from social apps into the wider web and TV screens, and ad budgets are following. PPC Land, citing projections from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), reported that US social video ad spending is expected to reach $31.9 billion in 2026, ahead of $29.3 billion for connected TV. It also cited Guideline data showing four buying platforms held about 85% of global programmatic spend in the first quarter of 2026, with DV360 alone near 41%.
Rivals are making similar pitches. PPC Land pointed to TikTok's TopReach product, which combines two of its premium ad placements and which TikTok promoted using its own 2025 data. The contest is over which platform becomes the default place to plan and measure short-form video, and whose numbers advertisers are willing to trust.
What’s next
Google has not published availability dates, eligible markets, pricing or a list of supported publishers for Vertical Video Unification. Advertisers should watch for Display & Video 360 help documentation that spells out supported inventory, any independent measurement partners, and case studies beyond the Hellmann's test before committing large budgets.
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