How-to · Updated October 11, 2026
Turn off Google search partners in a campaign
Updated October 11, 2026
15 minutes
Before you turn off Google search partners, segment the campaign by Network (with search partners) and compare what partner clicks cost and brought in. If they brought few leads, click the gear icon beside the campaign, open Networks, uncheck Include Google search partners and save. Then stop the recommendation that can switch partners back on.
Before you start
- Standard or Admin access to the Google Ads account. Changing a campaign's networks is a campaign edit, which Read-only access cannot make.
- At least 30 days of ad traffic in the campaign, so the partner rows hold enough clicks to judge.
- Know which conversion actions are real leads, such as calls and form submissions, in case your Conversions column also counts page views or map directions.
Read the partner split first
Split the campaign's numbers by network before changing anything, so the decision rests on what partner clicks produced rather than on how the traffic looks.
- In Google Ads, click Campaigns in the left menu, then Campaigns. Set the date range at the top right to the last 30 days or longer.
- Click the segment icon above the table and choose Network (with search partners). Google built this segment to compare Google Search, search partners and Display Network performance, so each campaign splits into a row per network.
- Compare the search partners row with the Google search row: clicks, cost, conversions and cost per conversion. If your Conversions column also counts page views or map directions, treat the partner row's conversions as an upper limit, since your own lead records cannot show which network a lead came from.
- Decide per campaign. If partner clicks took a real share of the cost and produced few or no leads, turn partners off in that campaign. If they produced leads at a cost per lead close to Google Search's, leaving them on is a reasonable call.
Google's own page warns that ads can appear on partner sites that display and link to products for sale, and that clicks from these sites "may not always reflect highly targeted traffic." It asks advertisers to consider carefully whether including these networks fits their goals.
Uncheck search partners in the campaign
The switch is a Search campaign setting, so repeat these steps in every Search campaign you want on Google Search only.
- Go to Campaigns within the Campaigns menu and hover over the campaign.
- Select the gear icon that appears beside the campaign name.
- Open the Networks drop-down and uncheck Include Google search partners. To show ads only on Google Search, leave only the Google Search Network box checked.
- Select Save.
Google includes search partners by default in every new Search campaign, so uncheck the box again each time you create one.
Stop the recommendation that switches partners back on
Google's list of recommendations it can apply automatically includes Expand your reach with Google search partners, so turn that one off or the setting can come back.
- Go to the Recommendations page within the Campaigns menu and select Auto-apply settings.
- Find Expand your reach with Google search partners and uncheck it. Leave the other recommendations as they are unless you mean to change them.
- Select Save. Auto-apply works at the account level, so this covers every campaign in the account.
Open the History tab in Auto-apply settings to see whether this recommendation was applied before. Change history also shows each recommendation that was applied.
Check it worked
After a week, run the Network (with search partners) segment again with a date range that starts the day after you saved. The campaign should show no new impressions or clicks in a search partners row.
Expect impressions to fall, since partner impressions were part of the total. Judge the change on leads and cost per lead over the following weeks, not on impressions. If leads dropped along with the partner clicks, those clicks were earning their place, and the box can be checked again.
Can you block only some partner sites instead of all of them?
Yes, by excluding them as placements. Since March 2024, account-level placement exclusions also apply to the search partner network, across Search, Performance Max, Shopping, App and Smart campaigns. Go to Content suitability within the Tools menu, then under Advanced settings select Excluded placements and enter the sites.
Exclude whole domains. Google says exclusions for subdomains, subsites and subpages do not work on the search partner network.
How do you keep a Performance Max campaign off partner sites?
The steps above are for a Search campaign's Networks setting. For Performance Max, Google's exclusion page names account-level placement exclusions, described above, as the control that reaches partner sites.
What about the Display Network box in the same drop-down?
It is a separate setting. Google's Search Network page reminds advertisers to check the Display Network setting too when a campaign has performance problems. Leaving only Google Search Network checked turns both off for that campaign.