How-to · Updated October 11, 2026
Stop Performance Max spending on searches for your own business name
Updated October 11, 2026
20 minutes
To stop Performance Max spending on your own business name, build a brand list under Tools, Shared library, Brand lists with your name in it, then select it under the campaign's Brand exclusions. If Google's brand library lacks your name, request it; Google responds within 3 to 6 weeks, and a pending name works meanwhile.
Before you start
- Standard or Admin access to the Google Ads account. Read-only access cannot edit campaigns.
- Every name customers use for the business. Google says variants that share no common word each need their own entry.
- A decision on ads for your name. If an ad should still show for your name, plan to run it in a Search campaign; the FAQ below helps decide.
Measure how much of the campaign is your name
Performance Max can report many of its conversions from people who were already searching for the business by name, so start by counting how much of its spend and results those searches account for.
- In Google Ads, click Campaigns, then Insights and reports, then Search terms. From the drop-down, choose Search terms and landing pages for Performance Max.
- Set the date range to the last 30 days or longer, then sort the table by Conversions.
- Add up the conversions and cost of every row that contains your business name, misspellings included, and compare them with the campaign's totals.
The report leaves out searches that only a few people made, so the real share of name searches can be higher than the rows show.
Build a brand list with your business name
A brand exclusion only accepts a brand list, and a list only accepts names in Google's brand library, so build the list first and request your name if it is missing.
- Click the Tools icon, open the Shared library drop-down and click Brand lists.
- Click Create a brand list, or the plus button if the account already has one, and name the list.
- Type your business name. If it appears, select it; the website shown beside it tells similar names apart.
- If it does not appear, click Request a brand, fill in the details and click Submit. Your name shows as (under review).
- Click Save.
Google says brand requests receive a response within 3 to 6 weeks. A pending brand can already be used in a campaign, though its reach may be limited. A rejected brand shows as Not eligible and cannot be used.
Apply the list to the Performance Max campaign
The exclusion starts working once the list is selected in the campaign's Brand exclusions setting and saved.
- Click the Campaigns icon, open the Campaigns drop-down and click Campaigns. Below the page heading, click the Settings tab and select the Performance Max campaign.
- Scroll down and click Additional settings (one Google page calls it Other settings), then click Brand exclusions.
- Click the text box and select your brand list.
- Leave Allow Shopping ads on searches that mention excluded brands unticked to stop Shopping ads on your name too. A store that wants product ads on its name can tick it.
- Click Save.
Google's brand settings page says Performance Max brand exclusions apply to Search and Shopping inventory; its step-by-step page adds YouTube search. Neither lists Display or Gmail.
Check it worked
After two weeks, open Search terms and landing pages for Performance Max again, with a date range that starts the day after you saved. Rows with your name should be gone or nearly gone from the Text ads rows. A few can remain while the name is still under review, on inventory brand exclusions do not cover, or, if you allowed Shopping ads on excluded brands, in the Shopping rows.
Expect the campaign to report fewer conversions at a higher cost each. Google's brand settings page says performance may decrease because brand settings limit traffic. Worked example: a campaign reporting 40 conversions a month, 28 of them from name searches, keeps about 12 from other searches, plus whatever its budget now finds elsewhere. Judge it on total leads, calls or sales across the account.
What to do while your name is under review
As a stopgap, add your business name as a negative keyword to the campaign. Click the Campaigns icon, then Keywords, select the Negative keywords tab, click the plus button, select the Performance Max campaign, add one name per line and click Save.
Google says Performance Max negative keywords apply to Search and Shopping inventory only, and that negatives cover capital letters and misspellings but not singular or plural forms or synonyms, so add each form. Google says a brand list catches variants without listing them, so once your name is approved the negatives can go; that is a judgment, not Google's rule.
Where searches for your name go instead
Google says a Search campaign's exact match keyword takes priority over Performance Max for a search that hits it, but Performance Max may occasionally serve on exact match terms when the Search campaign is limited by budget.
If you still want an ad on your name, run it in a Search campaign with your name as the keyword.