Performance Max brand queries may now be filtered out of Performance Max so that a dedicated brand Search campaign serves them. Performance Max is a goal-based Google Ads campaign type that serves ads across YouTube, Display, Search, Discover, Gmail and Maps from a single campaign.
A brand Search campaign is a Search campaign whose keywords target only your own brand name, its misspellings and brand plus product searches. The short recommendation from this Google Ads hub explainer: run one with exact match brand keywords, enough budget and approved ads, then check the Performance Max search terms report to confirm where brand searches land.
Google added the filter to its help page on how Performance Max interacts with other campaigns, and advises giving that brand Search campaign enough budget and eligible ads. Google says "may", so treat the filter as a tendency, not a rule.
What did Google change about Performance Max brand queries?
Google changed its documentation on Performance Max brand queries by adding one paragraph: Performance Max campaigns may filter out navigational or brand-specific searches so that dedicated Search campaigns serve them. A navigational query is a search for a specific brand or website, such as a company name.
The new paragraph sits on the help page How Performance Max interacts with other campaigns in your account. As of November 2026 it reads:
"Performance Max campaigns may also filter out navigational or brand-specific search queries to prioritize serving them through dedicated Search campaigns. This ensures brand-related queries are handled by campaigns offering more precise control. To capture this traffic, ensure your dedicated brand Search campaigns have sufficient budget and high-quality, eligible ads, and consider adding Search Themes to the Performance Max campaign."
A search theme is a phrase added to a Performance Max asset group to signal which searches matter.
- Officially confirmed. The paragraph is on Google's help page. The June 17, 2026 archived copy does not contain it.
- Reported. Hana Kobzová spotted the change on PPC News Feed, and Barry Schwartz covered it on Search Engine Roundtable on November 3, 2026. Neither cites a separate Google statement.
- Not stated. Google gives no launch date, no definition of navigational queries and no figures on how often filtering happens.
How does the brand filter fit the existing Search vs Performance Max rules?
The brand filter adds a layer on top of the existing priority rules: an exact match keyword identical or spell-corrected to the query still wins over Performance Max. Otherwise the campaign with the higher Ad Rank serves. Ad Rank is the score Google uses to decide whether and where an ad shows. Brand queries can now also be held back.
Google's page on ad group and asset group prioritization sets the order inside one account:
- Exact match keywords identical to the search term.
- Phrase and broad match keywords or Performance Max search themes identical to the search term.
- AI based relevance between the remaining ad groups and asset groups.
- Ad Rank among candidates that are still tied.
"Identical" includes spell-corrected terms, such as "plumbrs" for the keyword [plumbers], but not plurals or synonyms.
Before the update, a brand query that missed your exact match keyword (a variant, a brand plus product search) went to the campaign with the higher Ad Rank. The new paragraph says Performance Max may step back on those queries when a dedicated Search campaign exists. The Ad preview and diagnosis tool shows why an ad group or asset group was not chosen for a given search.
What happens to brand searches if you have no brand Search campaign?
Google's help page does not say what happens to Performance Max brand queries in an account without a dedicated brand Search campaign. The wording links the filter to Search campaigns that can serve the query, so an account with no brand Search campaign has no documented safety net. Measure your own brand coverage instead of assuming it continues.
Three account setups are common, and the documented facts differ for each:
- No Search campaign at all. Google has not documented whether Performance Max keeps serving on brand searches here. Watch your brand rows in the Performance Max search terms report over the coming weeks.
- Generic Search campaigns, no brand campaign. Broad match keywords in a generic campaign can match brand searches. Whether Google treats those as "dedicated" brand campaigns is not documented, so the result can be brand clicks at generic CPCs and with generic ad copy.
- A dedicated brand Search campaign. This is the setup Google's paragraph describes. Google names sufficient budget and eligible ads as the conditions for capturing filtered brand traffic.
Brand searches that no campaign of yours serves leave the paid slot to competitors bidding on your name. For the overall setup of the campaign type, see the guide to the Performance Max campaign.
How can you see where your brand queries are served?
You can see where Performance Max brand queries are served with the search terms report and search terms insights. The report shows which brand searches triggered Performance Max ads, and comparing it with your brand Search campaign shows the split. The Brand Routing Check is a four-step version of that audit you can repeat every month.
The Performance Max search terms report has an "Ad format" segment that separates Shopping ads from text ads, and search terms insights count terms hidden from the report for privacy reasons in their categories.
- Build a brand term list. Include misspellings, the domain and brand plus product searches.
- Pull the Performance Max view. Choose "Search terms and landing pages for Performance Max" for the last full month and filter for each brand term.
- Pull the brand Search campaign. Run its search terms report for the same dates and note impression share lost to budget.
- Compare and act. If brand terms still land in Performance Max, check the brand campaign for budget limits, disapproved ads or missing keywords.
Should you run a brand Search campaign next to Performance Max?
Most advertisers who want to own their brand searches should run a dedicated brand Search campaign next to Performance Max, because that is the setup Google's updated help page tells advertisers to rely on. A brand Search campaign gives exact match control, your own ad copy and separate reporting, so brand conversions stop inflating Performance Max results.
Brand conversions can come from people who would have converted without an ad, so inside Performance Max they can lift ROAS without adding new business. Your attribution model decides their credit, and a Google Ads Conversion Lift study tests whether brand ads are incremental.
The table below follows Google's documented rules. A brand exclusion is a brand list that blocks a campaign from serving on searches for those brands.
| If your account... | Then do this | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Runs Performance Max only, and competitors bid on your brand | Launch an exact match brand Search campaign | The filter is tied to dedicated Search campaigns |
| Has a brand campaign limited by budget | Raise its budget first | Google names sufficient budget |
| Has a brand campaign with disapproved ads | Fix the ads, add brand variants | Google names eligible ads |
| Wants Performance Max off brand | Add a brand exclusion list | Covers Search, Shopping and YouTube search |
| Has little brand search or competition | Monitor with the Brand Routing Check | No documented need to change yet |
Where do brand exclusions and search themes fit?
Brand exclusions and search themes pull Performance Max brand queries in opposite directions. A brand exclusion keeps Performance Max off searches for the brands you list, while a brand search theme asks Performance Max to serve on them. Google's search themes help page says search themes respect brand exclusions, so using both for the same brand cancels the theme.
As of November 2026 Google allows up to 50 search themes per asset group (search themes help page), and a brand exclusion applies to the whole campaign.
| Criterion | Brand exclusion in Performance Max | Brand search theme in Performance Max |
|---|---|---|
| Effect on brand searches | Blocks them | Signals them as relevant |
| Priority | Not a priority rule, a block | Same as phrase and broad match identical to the query |
| Inventory | Search, Shopping and YouTube search | Google Search and YouTube search results |
| Shopping option | Checkbox to allow Shopping ads on excluded brands | None |
| Fits when | A brand Search campaign covers the brand | You deliberately want Performance Max on brand |
Table sources: brand exclusions and the brand settings overview. Brand lists catch misspellings and other languages, which negative keywords do not. To test brand messaging inside Performance Max, use Performance Max asset testing.
Common mistakes with Performance Max brand queries
The most common mistakes with Performance Max brand queries come from reading the help page update as a guarantee. Google writes "may", gives no launch date and no definition of navigational queries, so the change does not replace your own brand setup. Each mistake below leaves brand traffic uncovered, misreported or blocked by your own settings.
- Assuming Performance Max no longer touches brand. Google says it may filter brand searches, not that it always does. Run the Brand Routing Check on your own data.
- Pausing the brand Search campaign. The filter is tied to dedicated Search campaigns. Without one, brand coverage is undocumented.
- Starving the brand campaign of budget. A brand campaign limited by budget cannot capture filtered traffic. Check lost impression share first.
- Adding brand search themes next to a brand exclusion. Search themes respect brand exclusions, so the theme never serves. Pick one direction per campaign.
- Judging Performance Max on blended results. Brand conversions inflate ROAS. Split brand and non brand in reporting, and review the setup in a regular Google Ads audit.
