Maintaining a strong brand presence and reach is crucial for any successful pay-per-click (PPC) strategy. While some businesses prefer to consistently bid on their brand keywords, others choose to avoid it altogether. Ultimately, there’s no definitive right or wrong approach, as brand advertising is a decision every business grapples with at some stage.

However, as ad platforms evolve and introduce new features, it’s essential to reassess your brand strategy and adapt accordingly. One such change that has significantly impacted brand advertising is the updates made to Google Ads match types in recent years. The removal of broad match modifier keywords has presented challenges for some brands, making it difficult to effectively reach their target audience using broad match variants of branded terms without also attracting irrelevant traffic.

Recently, Google introduced a new feature called Google launched brand restrictions for search ads designed to address this specific issue. Let’s delve into what these new brand settings entail, how to implement them effectively, and explore some valuable tips to maximize their potential.

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Understanding Google Ads Brand Restrictions

Google Ads brand restrictions empower advertisers to leverage broad match keywords within their brand campaigns while ensuring that their ads are displayed only for search queries directly related to their brand. Before the introduction of these brand controls, advertisers lacked the ability to filter potentially matching search queries triggered by their broad-match branded keywords.

Previously, your branded keywords set to broad match could have been triggered by any search query contextually similar to your brand name and its variations. However, with Google Ads brand restrictions in place, advertisers can now have confidence that their branded keywords will only match searches from users specifically seeking their business.

Google achieves this by linking lists of brands to campaigns, ensuring enhanced relevancy. This enables advertisers to expand their reach and attract a wider customer base while maintaining brand relevance. For additional strategies to optimize your Google Ads campaigns, explore the insights provided by our free Google Ads Grader!

Distinguishing Between Brands and Keywords

Google Ads restrictions, implemented through brand lists, function by identifying brands rather than keywords. The screenshot below, taken from Google’s help article, illustrates this concept in greater detail.

Brands encompass comprehensive information about organizations, trademarks, goods, or services and possess clear, consistent branding. They provide a broader scope compared to the simple keywords (or negative keywords) typically used in regular campaigns.

Creating a Google Ads Brand List

To establish a brand restrictions list in Google Ads, navigate to the main menu, and under the “Shared Library” section, select “Brand Lists.”

Once you click the blue plus button to initiate a new list, you can start populating it by typing in the desired brand names. To illustrate this, let’s begin with Coca-Cola, a widely recognized brand with numerous associated brands.

After adding all the desired brands to your list, simply click “Save.”

If you encounter difficulties finding a specific brand, you can submit a request for its inclusion in Google’s list. Click on the “+ Request a brand” link located at the bottom of the brand list builder and provide Google with relevant details about the brand.

Include information such as the brand name, category, URL, and any other pertinent product names, and then submit your request.

The review process for a suggested brand can take a minimum of three weeks and up to six weeks, depending on the interface you’re using. Google states that your brand remains usable in a brand list even while it’s under review. Once approved, the brand becomes accessible in the library for all advertisers. If the brand doesn’t meet the approval criteria, it will be removed from your account.

Applying Brand Lists to Search Campaigns

Whether you’re setting up a new campaign or modifying an existing one, brand lists are applied within the campaign settings.

However, there’s one important requirement: to utilize brand lists, you must enable broad match keywords. If broad match keywords are disabled, the brand list section within the settings will still be visible, but the option to add a list will be grayed out.

After enabling broad match keywords, click on “More Settings” to reveal the brand list options. You have the flexibility to choose up to 10 lists for a single Search campaign. Once you’ve made your selections, click “Save.”

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Two Best Practices for Utilizing Google Ads Brand Lists

While creating a brand list to apply to your brand campaigns primarily focuses on your brand name, the functionality of brand lists offers additional applications. Here are a couple of practical tips for leveraging Google Ads restrictions effectively:

1. Establishing Separate Lists for Products and Sub-Brands

While many brands incorporate their business name as part of their overall branding, they often have other trademarked terms and products that fall under their brand umbrella.

In the Coca-Cola example mentioned earlier, you’ll notice variations like Coke Zero, Coke Vanilla, and more distinct deviations such as Sprite, Fanta, Dasani, and Minute Maid.

For such brands and sub-brands, it’s recommended to create separate brand lists to maintain clarity and organization. Given the significant differences between some of these brands, it’s generally advisable to target audiences interested in Minute Maid differently from those interested in Vanilla Coke. However, your specific strategy should align with your brands, sub-brands, and the distinctions (or similarities) between them.

When it comes to campaign structure, you have two primary options:

1. Create individual campaigns for each brand, applying only that specific brand’s brand list to the campaign.
2. Create a single “brand” campaign encompassing all your brand names, and apply multiple Brand Lists to that campaign to capture all relevant search traffic.

The only constraint is the limitation of 10 lists per campaign. Beyond that, the structural approach you choose depends on your personal preferences.

2. Taking Competitor Brands into Consideration

The brand library is accessible to everyone, not just the brand owners themselves. This raises the question: Is it permissible to create a brand list of competitors and target their terms as well?

The answer is yes, it’s technically possible.

While there are differing opinions and personal preferences regarding bidding on competitors’ terms in Search campaigns, brand lists can be an effective tool for reaching users searching for your competitors’ brands on the Google network.

Leveraging Google Ads Restrictions and Brand Lists to Your Advantage

Brand lists offer a valuable addition to the advertiser toolkit for search campaigns. Their introduction demonstrates Google’s commitment to addressing the challenges and concerns faced by brands.

While the long-term effectiveness of these lists remains to be seen, they represent a positive development in the platform’s interface.

For additional strategies to enhance your branded search campaign performance, explore how our solutions can assist you!