Google Ads is making another significant change to video advertising.
Starting in September, Google will begin upgrading certain legacy Video Reach and TrueView campaigns to newer campaign types that support multi-format ads.
For law firms running YouTube advertising, this means the way video campaigns can reach potential clients is about to change — even if you don’t actively make any changes to your campaigns.
What’s Changing?
According to Google’s announcement, two legacy campaign types are being upgraded:
Legacy Video Reach – Efficient Reach
These campaigns have historically been limited to in-stream ads.
They’ll be upgraded to the newer Efficient Reach campaign type, which supports multiple ad formats, including:
- In-stream ads
- Shorts
- In-feed ads
Legacy TrueView In-Stream and In-Feed for Considerations
These campaigns use maximum cost-per-view (CPV) bidding and will be upgraded to Video View Campaigns.
The new campaigns will support:
- In-stream ads
- Shorts
- In-feed ads
- Target cost-per-view bidding
Essentially, Google is moving away from campaigns that are restricted to a single video placement and toward campaigns that can distribute video content across more of YouTube.
What Does This Mean for Law Firms?
The biggest takeaway is that your video ads may start appearing in more places without you manually rebuilding your campaigns.
Instead of relying exclusively on traditional YouTube in-stream placements, your videos can potentially reach users through YouTube Shorts and in-feed placements as well.
For law firms, that’s particularly interesting because legal marketing has traditionally leaned heavily toward search-based advertising. Video gives firms another opportunity to build familiarity with potential clients before they’re ready to contact an attorney.
For example, a personal injury firm could use short-form videos covering:
- What to do immediately after a car accident
- How insurance companies handle injury claims
- Common mistakes after an accident
- When you should contact a personal injury attorney
Those videos could now have opportunities to appear across multiple YouTube environments rather than being confined to traditional in-stream placements.
Your Campaigns Aren’t Being Completely Rebuilt
The good news is that Google says existing campaigns will generally continue running without advertisers needing to make changes.
The upgraded campaigns will retain their historical campaign reporting data. However, there is an important caveat: Ad group and ad history will be reset.
Only active ad groups will be migrated, and after the upgrade, new asset fields will become available.
Google also notes that business name and logo fields will use default values based on the video where possible. Advertisers may need to provide additional information when making future campaign changes.
So while this isn’t necessarily a change that requires an immediate overhaul, it’s worth checking your campaigns after the migration.
Why Multi-Format Video Matters
YouTube isn’t just traditional YouTube videos anymore. Users are consuming content through:
Long-form video → Shorts → In-feed content
A campaign restricted to one format is potentially leaving opportunities on the table. Google’s move toward multi-format campaigns reflects how people actually use YouTube today.
For law firms, this creates an opportunity to think beyond the traditional “commercial.” A 30-second attorney video doesn’t necessarily need to look like a television advertisement. A quick, informative video answering a question someone might actually have can be much more effective for building familiarity and trust.
When someone eventually needs an attorney, being the firm they’ve already seen and recognized can matter.
What Law Firms Should Do Now
You don’t necessarily need to make major changes before Google’s September upgrades.
But there are a few things worth doing:
1. Audit your existing video campaigns
Identify any legacy Efficient Reach or TrueView campaigns that will be affected.
2. Review your creative
If your videos were designed specifically for in-stream placements, consider whether they also make sense in Shorts and in-feed environments.
3. Start thinking vertically
Short-form video is becoming increasingly important. Law firms should have creative assets that work in vertical formats rather than simply repurposing traditional horizontal commercials.
4. Monitor performance after migration
Pay attention to where impressions, views, clicks, and conversions are coming from once the new campaign formats are active. You may discover that certain placements perform significantly better than others.
