As the first true generation of digital natives, Gen Z is eclipsing traditional consumer demographics and is poised to turn traditional advertising on its head. With their ability to navigate the digital landscape, Gen Zers are not just consumers. They’re trendsetters, influencers, and catalysts for change. As they wield unprecedented purchasing power, the pressure is on brands and agencies to innovate and adapt.
Conventional advertising methods are no longer enough. This generation demands authenticity, connection, and creativity in every interaction. Here's what's driving that shakeup, and how to build a strategy that keeps up.
Short-form video continues to reshape how Gen Z shops, influencing everything from everyday essentials to significant investments, and platforms like TikTok and YouTube Shorts remain the entry point for a lot of that discovery.
61% of Gen Z report feeling closer to creators and artists on YouTube compared to other platforms, which makes Shorts a natural fit for building brand awareness during the research phase. With Shorts inventory integrated into Display & Video 360, you can forecast, reserve, and secure guaranteed impressions using the Instant Reserve tool, complementing YouTube TV and connected TV (CTV) strategies for a generation that moves fluidly between media and devices.
But that discovery habit doesn't stop at social video. Gen Z's shopping research now often stretches into marketplaces like Amazon and live, creator-hosted platforms like Twitch, where the line between watching and buying keeps getting thinner. Gen Z uses Twitch at roughly twice the rate of the general population, and YouGov research found that 63% of Gen Z watch game streams compared with just 38% of all consumers. That kind of engagement gap makes Twitch more of a core channel for reaching this audience where they're already paying attention.
While short-form videos ignite desire and excitement, Google Search remains the go-to platform for Gen Z to find and purchase products. As we witness an uptick in image and video-based searches, Gen Z is navigating this landscape in innovative ways. Whether it’s tracking down that unique chair from their favorite influencer’s background or screenshotting the perfect running shoes, tools that leverage visual assets are primed to enhance this dynamic consumer journey, delivering a richer, more engaging shopping experience.
That same creator-first instinct is reshaping entertainment well beyond social platforms. Netflix's push into shorter, creator-led content sits alongside its traditional slate, and Twitch's live, creator-hosted format continues to hold Gen Z's attention in ways a traditional ad unit doesn't.
Live sports are riding the same current, and younger audiences are participating in real time. Among fans aged 13 to 34 who use social media during a live game, 62% say that activity is directly related to the game. Meanwhile, platforms like TikTok and YouTube are claiming a growing share of sports viewing time for Gen Z and Gen Alpha, often outside the traditional broadcast window entirely. A fan watching the game live might pull up a creator's reaction during halftime, share a clip to their group chat after, and scroll highlights on TikTok the next morning.
AI is becoming part of Gen Z’s shopping journey, too, though perhaps not in the way brands expect. In fact, Gen Z is already using AI for product research at nearly the same rate as traditional search. 33% say they prefer AI platforms for product research, compared with 37% who prefer search engines. For millennials, the gap is wider, with 26% preferring AI compared with 40% preferring search.
That doesn’t mean Gen Z is ready to hand over the entire shopping journey to an AI agent. Instead, AI is becoming another tool for making sense of an increasingly crowded marketplace. In Tinuiti’s 2025 Holiday Shopping Study, 78% of Gen Z said they planned to use AI-powered tools for holiday shopping, compared with 71% of millennials, 55% of Gen X, and 35% of baby boomers. Among Gen Z and millennials, 48% said they planned to use ChatGPT, compared with 34% for Gemini and 30% for Meta AI.
Traditional search still has a role to play, too. According to YouGov’s 2025 Gen Z shopping research, 57% of Gen Z shoppers use search engines to research products, while 64% use social media to research brands and services. The result is a shopping journey that is becoming less linear. A consumer might discover a product on TikTok, ask ChatGPT whether it is worth buying, search Google for reviews, compare prices on Amazon, and then purchase through a retailer or brand site.
As Amazon and other platforms build AI-powered shopping experiences, brands shouldn’t think of AI simply as a new checkout channel. The bigger opportunity is to become part of the consideration set earlier, when AI is helping shoppers narrow down what's worth their attention.
And consumers still want to have a say in what happens next. Research from Commerce and PayPal found that two-thirds of consumers are interested in trying agentic shopping, but many want human approval before an AI can actually complete a purchase. For Gen Z, AI may be less about handing over the entire shopping decision and more about making an overwhelming amount of information easier to navigate.
Brands building for agentic commerce should treat AI as a new research and comparison layer to show up in, while continuing to invest in the search, social, retail, and product experiences that ultimately help consumers validate and complete the purchase.
Capturing Gen Z’s attention is one thing. But sustaining it across multiple touchpoints is another beast. Google’s expanding AI-powered campaign toolkit helps brands connect those moments, from visual discovery to high-intent search.
Demand Gen brings a visual-first approach across YouTube, including Shorts, Discover, and Gmail, helping brands build demand with image and video creative. Performance Max extends that reach across Google’s broader inventory, including Search, YouTube, Display, Discover, Gmail, and Maps, using AI to optimize toward conversion goals.
But AI Max for Search campaigns are especially relevant as search behavior becomes more conversational and unpredictable. AI Max uses AI-powered search term matching, text customization and Final URL Expansion to help advertisers reach relevant queries beyond their existing keyword coverage. Gen Z's habit of bouncing between social, AI tools, marketplaces, and traditional search makes that expanded reach more important than ever.
AI Overviews add another layer to that evolving search experience. Ads can now appear within, above, or below AI Overviews, creating new opportunities for brands to show up as consumers move from an informational question to product discovery and consideration.
By pairing these campaign capabilities with Floodlight tracking and Campaign Manager 360’s Path to Conversion reporting, brands can connect the dots across the journey, from a Shorts interaction or Demand Gen impression to an AI-assisted search and, ultimately, a conversion.
Keeping up with Gen Z can feel like a lot. It’s difficult to keep tabs on who has aura, what’s giving, and whether you’re officially at unc status.
Good thing it's not just about keeping up with trends — it's about using the right tools, across the right platforms, to build authentic connections. Whether that's Demand Gen, Performance Max, and AI Max working together; Amazon and Twitch extending your reach; or AI helping Gen Z narrow their search, the throughline is the same: a personalized, data-driven journey that captures interest and drives real action.
Ready to connect with the next generation of consumers, wherever they're paying attention? Reach out, and let's make it happen.