Separating brand and non-brand in Performance Max

In a standard Search campaign, you separate brand and non-brand by creating separate campaigns with appropriate negative keywords. In Performance Max, it is more complicated because you cannot apply negative keywords at campaign level in the same way - but there is a mechanism to manage brand separately.

Brand exclusion requests

Google provides a Brand Exclusion feature in Performance Max that lets you prevent your PMax campaign from serving on your own brand terms. This pushes brand queries to your dedicated brand Search campaign rather than letting PMax absorb them. To use it, go to your PMax campaign settings and look for Brand Exclusions. Apply your brand name and key brand variants.

This is important because without it, your PMax campaign will take credit for brand conversions that would have happened anyway. That inflates your PMax performance metrics and makes it look better than it is.

Why it matters for measurement

Brand traffic converts at a much higher rate than non-brand traffic. If PMax is serving your brand terms, its reported conversion rate and CPA will look excellent - because it is capturing easy, high-intent conversions from people who already know you. When you exclude brand from PMax, the performance numbers may initially look worse. That is not because PMax stopped working. It is because you are now measuring it honestly.

Running a separate brand Search campaign

Maintain a dedicated brand Search campaign with exact and phrase match on your brand terms, set to a controlled CPC bid. This campaign should have high impression share - 85 to 90 percent minimum. It will be your lowest CPA campaign in the account and your most reliable converter. Keep it separate, keep it funded, and do not let PMax cannibalise it.

Reporting after the split

Once brand is properly separated, you can report on PMax non-brand performance in isolation. That is the number that tells you whether your Performance Max campaign is genuinely driving incremental business rather than just capturing demand that was already there. It is a harder metric to hit and a more honest one.