Last updated: September 25, 2026
Brand exclusions stop Performance Max from serving your ads on searches for your own brand name. You set them up through a brand list in the Google Ads shared library, apply the list at campaign level, and PMax stops bidding on those queries across Search and Shopping inventory. Expect your reported PMax ROAS to fall afterwards. That is not the campaign breaking, that is the campaign finally telling the truth.
This guide covers when exclusions make sense for a Shopify store, the exact setup, the scope limits Google does not advertise loudly, and how to read performance after the change.
Why would I exclude my own brand from Performance Max?
Because people searching your brand name were going to buy anyway. When PMax is allowed to bid on "yourbrand hoodie", it captures a conversion that organic search, your homepage, or a two-cent branded Search click would have captured, then reports it at a beautiful ROAS. Three problems follow:
1. Inflated reporting. A blended 8x ROAS that is really 25x on brand and 2.5x on everything else tells you nothing about whether the campaign acquires new customers profitably.
2. No bidding control on brand. Inside PMax you cannot bid brand terms differently from generic terms. In a dedicated branded Search campaign you can bid them down to the floor.
3. Budget starvation of prospecting. Smart Bidding chases the cheapest conversions first. Brand conversions are the cheapest, so PMax over-allocates there and under-invests in the cold traffic you actually pay an agency or a platform to find.
You can confirm whether this is happening to you in two minutes: open the PMax search terms report and sort by conversions. If your brand and product names sit at the top, you have a cannibalization problem. Our PMax reporting guide shows where every one of these reports lives.
What do brand exclusions actually cover, and what do they miss?
This is the part most guides skip. Brand exclusions in Performance Max apply to Search and Shopping inventory only. They do not apply to Display, YouTube, Gmail or Discover, because those placements are not triggered by a search query. If someone who searched your brand yesterday sees your display ad today, brand exclusions do nothing about it.
Two more scope details worth knowing:
Misspellings and close variants. Google's brand lists are entity-based, so common misspellings and variants of an approved brand are generally covered, unlike old-style phrase-match negatives where you had to list every typo yourself. Still spot-check the search terms report after a couple of weeks.
Your brand must exist in Google's brand database. When you build a brand list, you pick from Google's known brands. Smaller Shopify stores sometimes are not in the database yet. In that case, request the brand from inside the brand list interface, and use negative keywords as the stopgap while the request processes.
How do I set up brand exclusions step by step?
Total time: about ten minutes.
Step 1: Create the brand list. In Google Ads, go to Tools > Shared library > Brand lists, create a new list, and add your brand. Add every variant Google offers for your brand, plus any sub-brands or product line names people search.
Step 2: Apply it to the campaign. Open the Performance Max campaign, go to Settings > Brand exclusions (under additional settings if collapsed), and attach the list. It applies at campaign level, so every asset group in the campaign inherits it.
Step 3: Build the catch net. Add your brand terms as exact and phrase negatives at account level too. This covers edge cases while the brand list entity matching settles, and covers any brand variant not in Google's database.
Step 4: Launch the branded Search campaign the same day. Do not leave a gap. A simple exact and phrase match branded Search campaign with tight ad copy, sitelinks, and a low tCPA or manual bid takes over the traffic PMax just released. If a competitor bids on your name, this campaign is also your defense.
Step 5: Annotate the date. Add a note in Google Ads and in whatever reporting sheet you use. Every comparison you make for the next quarter needs to account for this date.
Why does ROAS drop after brand exclusions, and how do I explain it?
Here is the sequence you will see, and it scares merchants who were not warned:
| Metric | Before exclusions | After exclusions | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| PMax ROAS | High (brand inflated) | Drops, sometimes by a third or more | You are now seeing true prospecting efficiency |
| PMax conversions | Higher | Lower | Brand conversions moved out, not lost |
| Branded Search ROAS | n/a | Very high, very cheap | Brand demand captured at a controlled cost |
| Account-level revenue | Baseline | Should hold or improve over 4 to 8 weeks | The only number that matters |
Judge the account, not the campaign. Total conversions and total revenue across PMax plus the new branded campaign, compared against the pre-change period, is the honest scoreboard. Give Smart Bidding two to four weeks to recalibrate to the new conversion mix before drawing conclusions, and expect to loosen the PMax tROAS target slightly, since the old target was set against brand-inflated data.
When should a Shopify store NOT exclude brand?
Exclusions are not automatic best practice. Skip or delay them if:
You have almost no brand search volume. New stores with a handful of brand searches a month gain nothing. The setup and the split campaign add complexity for no measurable change.
Your PMax campaign barely clears the conversion threshold. Smart Bidding needs conversion volume to work with, and Google's guidance for tROAS is roughly 30 or more conversions per month. If pulling brand conversions out drops the campaign well below that, bidding gets erratic. Fix volume first.
Nobody is defending the brand SERP afterwards. If you exclude brand from PMax and do not run a branded Search campaign, and a competitor bids your name, you have handed them your best traffic. The exclusion and the branded campaign go live together or not at all.
How do I measure the true incremental value after the split?
Once brand is separated, you can finally answer the question that matters: what does a genuinely new customer cost from PMax? Compare the post-split PMax cost per conversion against your contribution margin per first order, and if you track it, against LTV. Many stores discover their real prospecting ROAS is 2x to 3x, not the 8x the blended number claimed. That is not bad news. It is the first accurate input you have ever had for deciding budgets.
If you want a second layer of proof, run the comparison geographically: hold PMax out of one region for a few weeks and compare total sales trends. That is the closest a small account gets to an incrementality test without enterprise tooling.
Where does an agency fit in?
The setup above is genuinely doable yourself. Where stores stumble is the eight weeks after: reading the new numbers, resetting tROAS targets, restructuring asset groups now that brand is out, and resisting the urge to revert when the vanity ROAS disappears. 7SEA Marketing runs this exact restructure for D2C Shopify brands, brand split included, and reports on account-level truth rather than campaign-level flattery. Our Google Ads management page explains how we work.
Frequently asked questions
Do Performance Max brand exclusions apply to YouTube and Display?
No. Brand exclusions apply to Search and Shopping inventory only, because they work on search queries. Display, YouTube, Gmail and Discover placements are not query-triggered, so brand exclusions cannot filter them.
Will my ROAS go down after adding brand exclusions?
Reported PMax ROAS usually drops, because cheap branded conversions move to your branded Search campaign. Account-level revenue should hold or improve within four to eight weeks. Judge total account performance, not the PMax campaign in isolation.
What if my brand is not in Google's brand list database?
Request it from within the brand list interface in the shared library. While the request processes, add your brand terms as exact and phrase match negative keywords at account level, which achieves most of the same effect for Search and Shopping.
Should I run a branded Search campaign after excluding brand from PMax?
Yes, and launch it the same day. It captures the brand demand at a controlled low cost, defends your name against competitors bidding on it, and gives you clean brand versus non-brand reporting for the first time.
Do brand exclusions cover misspellings of my brand?
Generally yes. Brand lists are entity-based, so common misspellings and close variants of an approved brand are covered automatically. Check the search terms report after two weeks and patch any leaks with negative keywords.
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