0.20, 0.37, 0.83, 1.55 and 3.35 wt.% of gold was impregnated on Ce0.5Zr0.5O2 prepared by sol-gel method. Systematic characterizations of gold catalysts by atomic emission spectroscopy, N-2 physisorption, X-ray powder diffraction, H-2 chemisorption, transmission electron microscopy, temperature programmed reduction by hydrogen and measurement of oxygen storage capacity allowed detailed monitoring of their characteristics. Subsequently, the catalytic performance and selectivity in the oxidation of selected volatile organic compounds (VOCs) was studied and linked to the physicochemical properties. The study revealed that depending on VOC type, an improvement in catalytic performance with increasing gold loading can be observed despite of gold sintering to large agglomerates during the preparation of catalysts.