Google has rolled out an Enhanced Brand Lift Study option that sits alongside the existing Standard version, giving advertisers a more sensitive way to measure how campaigns shift brand awareness. The enhanced study can pick up lifts as small as 1.2%, compared with 2% for the standard study, and it raises the likelihood of detecting a lift by about 60%. The trade-off is budget: the enhanced version needs roughly three times the spend. Search Engine Land reported the change, which was first surfaced by a Google Ads specialist on LinkedIn.
What changed
Brand Lift Studies measure the effect of ads on brand metrics such as awareness and consideration. They usually work through survey-based comparisons between people who saw an ad and a control group who did not. Until now, advertisers ran a single standard configuration. The enhanced option adds a second, higher-powered setting.
Two numbers define the difference. The standard study needs a lift of at least 2% before it can report a result with confidence. The enhanced study lowers that floor to 1.2%. It also increases the chance of detecting a real lift by around 60%, which matters for campaigns where the effect exists but is small enough that a standard study would miss it.
| Setting | Standard study | Enhanced study |
|---|---|---|
| Smallest detectable lift | 2% | 1.2% |
| Likelihood of detecting a lift | Baseline | About 60% higher |
| Budget required | Baseline | Roughly 3x |
The budget trade-off
Sensitivity is not free. The enhanced study requires about three times the budget of a standard one. A more sensitive survey needs a larger sample, and a larger sample costs more media to reach. For advertisers with modest awareness budgets, the standard study may still be the practical choice. For larger campaigns where a 1.2% swing carries real revenue weight, the extra cost can pay for itself in cleaner measurement.
Why smaller lifts are worth measuring
Upper-funnel campaigns have always been harder to measure than performance campaigns. A search ad ties to a click and a conversion. A video awareness campaign moves perception, and perception moves in small increments. When the only tool available reports lifts of 2% or higher, a campaign that genuinely nudged awareness by 1.5% shows up as no result, which can make effective spend look wasteful.
The enhanced study narrows that blind spot. It gives brand advertisers evidence for gains that were previously below the reporting threshold, which helps justify awareness budgets that finance teams often question.
What this means for Thai marketers
Larger Thai advertisers running video and awareness campaigns stand to gain the most here, because they are the ones with budgets that can absorb the higher cost. A brand spending heavily on reach can now measure whether that spend actually moved awareness, rather than assuming it did. Smaller advertisers will likely stay on the standard study, where the budget is easier to justify and a 2% floor is good enough.
For teams planning upper-funnel work, the choice comes down to budget and the size of the lift they expect. If a campaign is large enough that a one-point swing in awareness represents meaningful revenue, the enhanced study is worth the cost. If not, the standard version still does the job. Either way, the measurement question is better settled before the campaign launches than after. Relevant Audience plans YouTube advertising and Google Ads campaigns with that measurement approach set from the start.
How to plan around the higher cost
The three-times budget figure changes how a study should be scoped. A standard study can run on a slice of a campaign's media budget. An enhanced study needs enough survey volume that it is closer to a line item of its own, so it works best when planned before the media buy rather than added on after. Advertisers who decide mid-flight that they want finer measurement often find the window has passed, because the survey needs to run alongside the exposure, not after it.
There is also a question of what a 1.2% lift is worth. For a small campaign, moving awareness by one point may not change any downstream number enough to matter. For a national brand spending across video and connected TV, a single point of awareness can map to a measurable shift in search demand and store visits weeks later. The enhanced study earns its cost when that downstream value is large and the brand needs proof to keep funding the top of the funnel.
The practical rule is to match the tool to the stakes. Run the standard study when the budget is tight and a rough read is enough. Run the enhanced study when the campaign is large, the expected lift is modest, and the decision to keep spending depends on seeing it.
FAQ
Is the enhanced study replacing the standard one?
No. It is an additional option. The standard study remains available.
How much more does it cost?
Roughly three times the budget of a standard study.
What is the smallest lift it can detect?
1.2%, down from 2% for the standard study.
Thinking about how to measure your next awareness push? Talk to Relevant Audience about setting the right lift target before you spend.
