If a Performance Max campaign looks too good to be true, check how much of it is your own brand. Without a brand exclusion, PMax can serve on searches for your company name, pick up conversions from people who were already looking for you, and report them as its own. To find out, open the PMax search terms report, filter for your brand, and see what the campaign is worth once you take that out.
What it looked like in a real account
On a mentoring call, we reviewed the Google Ads account of a UK marketplace for heat pump installs. Thanks to a ten-year-old YouTube channel, its brand is big for its size, and nearly all of its organic search traffic was branded.
The marketer had launched PMax first, as a test. After a couple of months it looked really successful. Then he worked out why. In his words: "it's all branded search."
So he split it in two. A Search campaign that excluded everything except brand terms, bid at 5 to 10 pence a click to hold the first page. And PMax with all brand words excluded. PMax's cost per conversion went up, and that was the point. As he put it, it's "a true cost." On the call, we added one refinement: switch the brand keywords from phrase to exact match, and add real variants, like the brand plus "contact number," as exact keywords too.
How to tell if PMax is living on your brand
Our Performance Max guide covers why to split brand out. Here is how to check whether you need to:
- Open the PMax search terms report. Go to the Search terms report in the Campaigns menu and choose "Search terms and landing pages for Performance Max." Google says data is available from March 2023.
- Filter for your brand. Include common misspellings and the brand plus product, pricing or contact terms.
- Compare conversions, not clicks. If branded terms carry a large share of PMax conversions, its headline cost per conversion is flattered. Google's guidance for this report is to prioritize conversion data.
One gap: Google says store visit and store sales conversions aren't in this report (see PMax store visits and calls are modeled).
How to measure the honest number
- Write down the before. PMax conversions and cost per conversion over a clean period.
- Add a brand exclusion to PMax. Google calls campaign-level brand exclusions often the better option for blocking brand traffic than negative keywords, because they also catch misspellings and foreign scripts of the brand. They cover Search and Shopping inventory only.
- Run brand on exact match in Search. Google prioritizes a Search campaign whose exact match keyword matches the query over Performance Max. Two exceptions Google notes: Shopping ads can still show alongside it, and on searches from Lens, AI Mode, AI Overviews or autocomplete, keywords may not automatically be prioritized.
- Judge PMax on the after. Expect its cost per conversion to rise. Our read: add the two campaigns together. If total conversions roughly hold, PMax was taking credit for brand demand that Search now catches for pennies.
Google built the tool for exactly this
Google's Performance Max FAQ describes brand exclusions as a way "to gain a clearer view of your campaign's true prospecting potential." It also pairs them with the new customer acquisition goal for advertisers focused on new customers (which needs its own groundwork: 'Bid for new customers' is guessing until you upload your customers). One limit stays: because brand exclusions stop at Search and Shopping, PMax can still reach people who know you on YouTube and Display. Treat brand-heavy results there with the same suspicion.
The takeaways
- Without a brand exclusion, PMax can win your own brand searches and look better than it is.
- Check the PMax search terms report, filtered for your brand, and compare conversion share.
- Exclude brand from PMax with a brand list, and run brand on exact match in a cheap Search campaign.
- Judge PMax on its cost per conversion after the split. That is its real acquisition cost.
Common questions
Does Performance Max show ads on my own brand searches?
It can. Unless you add a brand exclusion or negative keywords, Performance Max can serve on searches for your brand on Search and Shopping inventory. Google's PMax FAQ lists account-level negative keywords, campaign-level negative keywords and campaign-level brand exclusions as the ways to stop it.
How do I see whether PMax conversions come from brand searches?
Open the Search terms report in the Campaigns menu and choose "Search terms and landing pages for Performance Max." Filter the search terms for your brand name and misspellings, then compare the conversions on those terms with the campaign total. Google says the data is available from March 2023.
Should I use brand exclusions or negative keywords to keep PMax off my brand?
Google recommends campaign-level brand exclusions, because unlike negative keywords they also block clear misspellings and foreign-script versions of the brand. Negative keywords do not match close variants. Both apply only to Search and Shopping inventory in Performance Max.
Will a brand Search campaign beat PMax on my brand terms?
When a search exactly matches an exact match keyword in a Search campaign, Google prioritizes that Search campaign over Performance Max. That is why we run brand on exact match in its own Search campaign and exclude brand from PMax. Google notes exceptions for Shopping ads and for searches from Lens, AI Mode, AI Overviews and autocomplete.
Why did my PMax cost per conversion go up after excluding brand?
Because branded searches convert cheaply and were flattering the average. The higher number is closer to what PMax actually costs to acquire a customer who was not already looking for you, which is the number to judge it on.