What match type should my brand keywords use?

Exact and phrase match, usually. Broad match is Google's default and can serve on related searches without your keyword's direct meaning. If you want broad match, add a brand inclusion, which limits a Search campaign to queries associated with the brands in your list.

What Target impression share should a brand campaign aim for?

There is no universal number. Google's own example sets 100% for a campaign that should show whenever someone searches your brand. Whatever you pick, pair it with a Max CPC bid limit from your margin, so a bidding war cannot set your price.

Should brand keywords share a campaign with my other keywords?

Usually not. People searching your name already know you, so their sales flatter any keywords they sit next to. Keep brand in its own campaign, add your name as a negative keyword elsewhere and use a brand exclusion in Performance Max.

How to bid on your own brand name, step by step

Check who shows up on your name in Ad preview first. Then build a separate Search campaign with exact and phrase brand keywords. Block support searches, keep other campaigns off your name and cap bids with a limit worked out from your margin.

By Joris van Huët, Founder & CEOUpdated 2026-10-018 min read

Run the numbers for your store: the free CPC calculator.

If you bid on your own brand name, first check who else appears on it. Then build a separate Search campaign with exact and phrase brand keywords, block support searches as negatives and keep other campaigns off your name. Cap bids with a limit worked out from your margin, and review search terms weekly.

You need Google Ads, your gross margin and about an hour. After launch, the weekly check takes minutes.

If you already decided not to bid, step 1 still tells you whether that was safe.

Step by step

See who shows up on your name, without paying for the look. Search your brand in the Ad preview and diagnosis tool rather than on Google itself. Google says the tool avoids accumulating ad impressions in your account. Note every rival, reseller, affiliate and Shopping ad above your listing. Menu path: Google Ads > Tools > Troubleshooting > Ad preview and diagnosis.
Create a separate Search campaign for your name. People searching your name already know you, so their sales would flatter any keyword sharing a campaign with them. Google requires at least one conversion goal for a new Search campaign. Menu path: Campaigns > Campaigns > plus icon > New campaign > Sales > Search > Continue.
Add brand keywords in exact and phrase match. Broad match is the default and can serve on searches without your keyword's direct meaning. Put exact keywords in square brackets and phrase keywords in quotes, such as [yourbrand] and "yourbrand". If you prefer broad match, add a brand inclusion, which keeps a Search campaign on queries tied to your brand list. Menu path: Campaigns > Audiences, keywords, and content > Search keywords.
Block the searches you will not pay for. Add your name plus login, account, track, order, returns and contact as negative keywords. Negatives don't match close variants, so add singular and plural forms yourself. Menu path: Campaigns > Audiences, keywords, and content > Search keywords > Negative search keywords tab > plus button.
Keep your other campaigns off your name. Add your brand as a negative keyword in your non-brand Search campaigns. In Performance Max, use a brand exclusion instead, which Google recommends when brand traffic runs in its own campaign. Menu path: Campaigns > Campaigns > Settings tab > your Performance Max campaign > Additional settings > Brand exclusions.
Work out the most a brand click is worth. Multiply your average order value by your gross margin. Then multiply by the share of brand clicks that bring a sale you would not otherwise get, which a regional pause test measures. Menu path: Shopify admin > Analytics > Reports > Category filter > Sales > Average order value over time.
Switch the campaign to Target impression share with a cap. Google names brand terms as a good fit for this strategy. Choose Absolute top, set your target, and enter the number from step 6 as the Max CPC bid limit. Menu path: Campaigns > your brand campaign > Settings > Bidding > Change bid strategy > Target impression share > Save.
Give the ad something your free listing lacks. Add sitelinks to your bestsellers and your delivery page, and a promotion asset while a sale runs. Menu path: Campaigns > Assets > plus button > Sitelink, or Promotion.
Read the search terms every week. Look for support searches and other meanings of your name that slipped through, and add them as negatives. Menu path: Campaigns > Insights and reports > Search terms.

A worked example

One store's Break-even sheet works out the line for a 40% margin: 1 divided by 0.40 gives a break-even ROAS of 2.5x. That is arithmetic on a margin, not a result from that store's ads.

For illustration	Value
Average order value	€60
Gross margin	40%
Gross profit per order, 60 × 0.40	€24
Brand clicks that add an order you would not otherwise get	1 in 50
Most a brand click is worth, 24 ÷ 50	€0.48

For illustration, say your average order is €60 and your gross margin is 40%. In this worked example, each order leaves €24 of gross profit. Say a pause test showed that 1 brand click in 50 brings an order you would not otherwise get.

For illustration, each brand click is then worth €24 divided by 50, which is €0.48. In this worked example, €0.48 is your Max CPC bid limit. Bid more and every added sale loses money.

Check it against the Break-even sheet. For illustration, 50 clicks at €0.48 cost €24 and add one €60 order. In this worked example, that is 2.5x on the added sale, exactly break-even at a 40% margin.

Now the trap. For illustration, if 1 click in 10 converts, Google Ads reports five orders from those 50 clicks. In this worked example, that is €300 of sales on €24 of spend, a ROAS of 12.5x on paper. In this worked example, only one of those orders was added, so the return that matters is still 2.5x.

Reported brand ROAS is not wrong. It answers a different question: who bought after a click, not who bought because of it.

What to check when the report looks wrong

The campaign spends on searches that are not about you. Read the search terms report. Broad match or a brand inclusion found another meaning of your name, so add those words as negatives.
Cost per click jumps overnight. Someone joined your auctions. Auction insights lists the domains you now share auctions with, though it shows nothing when your impression share is under 10%.
Impression share stays below your target. Your Max CPC bid limit is binding. Google warns that a limit set too low can stop the strategy reaching its impression share goal. Decide whether the lost clicks are worth more than your cap.
Performance Max still pays for brand searches. Check that the brand exclusion was saved. Its checkbox can still allow Shopping ads on searches that mention excluded brands.
A rival still sits above your ad. Ad Rank weighs several factors, including the competition, the context of the search and your ad quality at that moment. A capped bid can lose the top slot to a rival willing to overpay. Watch your Shopify orders in those weeks before you chase the slot: if sales hold, the cap is doing its job.
Brand conversions climb while Shopify orders stay flat. The campaign is collecting buyers who were coming anyway. Run the pause test before you raise the budget.

What to do this week

Add the support negatives to your brand campaign. Use the list from step 4, in singular and plural forms. Pass: next week's search terms show no login, order or returns searches. Fail: they still appear, so add the forms you missed.
Put your bid cap on the campaign. Work out the number from step 6 and enter it as the Max CPC bid limit. Pass: the limit sits on the campaign and matches your margin math. Fail: the campaign runs uncapped, so one bidding war can set your price.
Watch absolute top impression share for a week. In Google Ads, open Campaigns, click the Columns icon, select Modify columns and add Search abs. top IS. Pass: it sits near your target at a cost per click under your cap. Fail: it lags well behind, so raise the cap or accept the gap.

Check the homework. Your GA4 Attribution paths export already holds the evidence. Causality Engine reads that one file and shows what each channel caused next to what last-click gave it, in 1 to 2 minutes, for €99 once (excluding VAT), refundable within 30 days. Check the homework

Frequently asked questions

What match type should my brand keywords use?
Exact and phrase match, usually. Broad match is Google's default and can serve on related searches without your keyword's direct meaning. If you want broad match, add a brand inclusion, which limits a Search campaign to queries associated with the brands in your list.
What Target impression share should a brand campaign aim for?
There is no universal number. Google's own example sets 100% for a campaign that should show whenever someone searches your brand. Whatever you pick, pair it with a Max CPC bid limit from your margin, so a bidding war cannot set your price.
Should brand keywords share a campaign with my other keywords?
Usually not. People searching your name already know you, so their sales flatter any keywords they sit next to. Keep brand in its own campaign, add your name as a negative keyword elsewhere and use a brand exclusion in Performance Max.

Go deeper: Incrementality testing, explained.

Sixty-second versions of these ideas: Causality Engine on YouTube Shorts.

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