What is a brand exclusion on Performance Max?
WeAdU · Updated 3 October 2026
A brand exclusion list, on Performance Max, is a list of brands from Google Ads, applied as an exclusion on the campaign. Ads no longer trigger on queries associated with those brands.
Which inventory do these exclusions cover?
Ads no longer trigger on queries associated with the brands in the list. A checkbox can still let Shopping ads serve despite that exclusion. The list is created in Google Ads, then applied to the campaign. It can hold your own brand, competitors, or another brand already in the library.
Two help pages, read on 2 October 2026, do not describe the same scope. "About brand settings" limits the Performance Max exclusion to Shopping and Search. It adds that applying a list does not generate an extra cost. Coverage shrinks, and performance can fall: that sentence is from that help page, not a WeAdU commitment. "Apply brand exclusions" adds YouTube, plus the checkbox that lets Shopping through. It describes a migration of Search network exclusions toward AI Max, with no effect on Performance Max. Both pages are cited below, and they are not merged into one rule.
How is this list different from a keyword exclusion?
A brand list covers, according to the same help, misspellings, variants and languages, without typing each one. It is not a keyword exclusion: you do not upload a list of queries. The displayed URL does not filter the traffic. The setting acts on the queries Google associates with the brands in the list.
Where is the list created, and where does it apply?
The list is created under Tools, Shared library, Brand lists. On a campaign that already exists, the path given is Campaigns, the Settings tab, Additional settings, Brand exclusions, then Save. Nothing on these pages names an agency.
What does this page describe, and what does the audit cover?
The question of who should run Performance Max for a multi-brand catalogue is not answered here. This page describes the setting. It names no agency. The homepage, reread on 2 October 2026, says: "The free audit covers Google Ads only." Campaign structure is already covered in the Performance Max structure article linked below.
Help pages
Google help pages read on 2 October 2026.