ANALYSIS

Should you exclude brand from Performance Max?

Armin Memić’s decision framework for brand exclusions in Performance Max, branded Shopping and when more advanced separation may be justified.

Armin Memić Senior Google Ads consultant

When I want to understand what Performance Max contributes beyond existing branded demand, I normally exclude the company’s own brand. That is my starting point, rather than a Google rule everyone must follow.

Brand can distort the final numbers. A PMax campaign can report high ROAS while many conversions come from people already searching for the company name.

That traffic can be valuable. It does not mean the campaign found new demand.

High ROAS can mean two different things

I have seen accounts where the initial reaction was: PMax has three times the ROAS of Shopping, so we should increase its budget.

A closer look at search terms then showed that many conversions came from searches for the company’s own name.

The question becomes: is Performance Max really three times better, or did it simply receive more traffic from people already searching for the business?

Those are two very different things.

To scale profitably and sustainably, I want to know what the campaign contributes beyond existing demand. I want to distinguish the cost of capturing someone already searching for us from the cost of winning someone making a more generic product search.

What Google Ads brand exclusions do

Google Ads brand exclusions use brand lists, rather than standard negative keywords. Google defines brands as identifiable organisations, goods or services, while keywords are words or phrases users search for. Brand lists can therefore cover common misspellings and variants across languages. Google’s documentation on brand settings

For Performance Max, brand exclusions currently apply to Search, Shopping and YouTube search inventory. They do not restrict all PMax properties in the same way. Google recommends using them when needed because they reduce campaign reach and can limit conversion opportunities. Google’s instructions for brand exclusions in PMax

Standard negative keywords can also block particular queries, but are less comprehensive for brands. Google notes that negative keywords do not capture close variants in the same way that a brand exclusion can cover misspellings and other scripts. Google’s overview of brand controls in PMax

When I am less rigid

I do not automatically exclude brand in every account. Simplicity may matter more when:

the business has almost no branded search volume
the account is very small
the client only cares about total sales and total ROAS
further separation would be more complex than the data justifies

But if the question is whether PMax can find new demand at this CPA or ROAS, I prefer not to mix brand into the figures.

A relevant middle ground for e-commerce

Retail accounts with a product feed have a useful setting. You can apply a brand exclusion to PMax while allowing Shopping ads on searches mentioning the excluded brand.

That can create an arrangement where:

Element	Possible role
Brand Search	Controls text ads on branded searches
Performance Max	Has brand excluded from relevant Search traffic
Shopping	Can still appear on branded product queries when the setting is selected

This is an interesting compromise for retail. Google documents the feature for PMax with a product feed, but it should be verified in the account concerned because the interface and availability can change. Google’s instructions for allowing Shopping ads for excluded brands

When more advanced Shopping separation may be justified

In larger e-commerce accounts, I sometimes use more advanced separation. One example is two Standard Shopping campaigns for the same products:

Non-brand Shopping

brand terms excluded
more aggressive bids
focus on more generic product searches

Brand Shopping

branded queries
lower bids
a different or lower campaign priority where the structure requires it

I do not recommend this setup as a routine choice. It requires volume, a clear purpose and ongoing checks of what the structure does.

Google Ads supports negative keywords in Shopping campaigns, although Shopping does not use keywords for targeting. Campaign priority matters when the same product in the same country appears in several Shopping campaigns: a higher-priority campaign normally enters the auction first, while a lower-priority campaign can take over if the higher one does not participate or exhausts its budget. Negative keywords for Shopping and Google’s explanation of campaign priority

This allows more separation, but does not guarantee perfect attribution. Negative keywords also need careful management because they do not match close variants in the same way as positive keywords.

Brand Search can capture demand influenced earlier by PMax

There is an important objection to treating Brand Search as completely separate from PMax.

A customer may first see the business on YouTube, Display or other PMax inventory, leave the site and search for the brand a few days later. Brand Search capturing the purchase does not automatically mean it created the demand alone.

Google Ads data-driven attribution attempts to allocate credit across interactions, including Search, Shopping, YouTube and Display, using the account’s own data. It helps explain conversion paths, but does not provide a definitive answer on every incremental effect. Google’s documentation on data-driven attribution

My basic question remains: Which demand does the campaign create, and which demand does it capture?

My decision framework

This is my decision framework, rather than a universal Google template.

Situation	My starting point
Prospecting or non-brand test	Exclude brand
Separate Brand Search	Normally exclude brand
Assessing non-brand ROAS	Exclude brand
Very little brand demand	Simplicity may matter more
Total ROAS is the only goal	Brand can remain
E-commerce	Consider an exclusion with branded Shopping
Large account with substantial data	More advanced separation may be justified

For the broader picture on tracking, structure and what PMax should contribute, read Performance Max: my approach to tracking, structure and profitability.