How to exclude placements in Performance Max

This is a real limitation of Performance Max and worth being honest about. In a standard Display campaign you can block specific websites, apps, and YouTube channels. In PMax, placement exclusion options are more restricted. That does not mean you have no control - just less of it than you might like.

Account-level placement exclusions

The main tool available is account-level placement exclusions, which apply across all campaigns including Performance Max. These are managed under Tools > Shared Library > Placement Exclusion Lists. You can block specific URLs, mobile apps, and YouTube channels at this level. For sites and apps you know are consistently low quality or irrelevant to your audience, this is effective.

Google also provides a content exclusions tool where you can exclude categories of content - sensitive social issues, tragedy, mature audiences. These are imprecise but provide a broad filter for brand safety concerns.

IP exclusions

You can exclude specific IP addresses from seeing your ads at the campaign level. This is mainly useful for excluding your own office IP and known competitor IP addresses - not a sophisticated brand safety tool, but useful for keeping internal traffic out of your data.

Requesting placement reports

Performance Max does not show placement-level reporting by default in the UI. You can request a placement report through the report builder or by asking your Google rep. The data shows you which URLs and apps your ads ran on. Use this to identify placements worth excluding at account level. Review it monthly - new low-quality placements appear regularly and the list needs ongoing maintenance.

The bigger picture

If placement control is critical for your brand safety requirements - say you are a client in a regulated industry with strict advertising standards - Performance Max may not be the right primary campaign type. Standard Search, Standard Shopping, and controlled Display campaigns give you more explicit control. PMax is a high-automation format. That automation comes with reduced visibility into exactly where your ads appear. Factor that into your campaign mix decisions.