Are you one of the many businesses that have a registered trademark on your products, services, or company name? In case you didn’t already know, Google doesn’t actually register trademarks.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t choose to request an investigation of infringement by advertisers outside of the ones you authorize.

Listen, trademarking is an expensive and time-consuming process.

One of our many duties here at Direct Online Marketing is to address any infringement upon our clients’ trademarks in Google Ads by alerting clients to another company’s use of their trademarks in search engine results pages.

Let’s take a few minutes below to discuss the tools at hand to properly file a formal complaint against advertisers with Google when we find unauthorized trademarks in ad text.

Who Can File A Google Ads Trademark Complaint?

• The owner of the trademark
• An attorney of record listed on the trademark registration
• A representative of the trademark owner based at a parent company headquarters (think a brand manager, product marketer, or communications director)
• Someone the trademark owner has notified Google has the authorization to act on their behalf
• Other associated parties (for instance, a Google Premier Partner advertising agency)

Want a Premier Google Partner’s
help filing your trademark complaint?
Call 800.979.3177 today.

How Do You File A Google Ads Trademark Complaint?

Google makes this process pretty straightforward. Below is a four-step process for submitting a trademark complaint in Google Ads if you believe another advertiser is in violation of the Google trademark infringement policy.

1. Review The Google Advertising Policy Guidelines

Review Google’s Advertising Policies. Note that their trademark policy varies by region, so please review them closely if you feel your brand has fallen victim to this, especially in a country represented in the European Union or the European Free Trade Association.

2. Produce Proof Of Another Advertiser Misusing Your Trademark

Locate an example of where someone is misusing your trademark. If it’s a national issue, you can do this just by doing a search on google.com. If it’s a localized issue and outside of your area, you can use Ads’ Ad Preview and Diagnosis tool to mimic any location.

To use this tool:

1. Click the Tools tab
2. Under Troubleshooting, click “Ad preview and diagnosis”
3. Enter your trademark term. Select location, language, device, and audience type (if necessary).
4. Press enter to create the search result preview box and scroll down.

Before you go too far through this process, it’s worth noting that a reseller and informational site that uses this information may be protected against any kind of infringement action if:

• The landing page of their ad is meant to sell the products and services that use the trademark
• The landing page is found to simply provide information or specific details related to the trademark

3. Collect Your Trademark Infringement Information In A Google Sheets Document

Create a Google Sheets doc or excel spreadsheet. This is just for your own internal use, but we find it extremely helpful.

Below is an example of kinds of information you will want to have on hand in case you need to send more information.

• Date Sent
• Date Received Reply
• Search Engine – if using different search engines
• Status: Removed or Not?
• AIMS Service Ticket or # – this will be the number to refer to when communicating with Google
• Site Owner / Search Term
• Ad Displayed (text version)
• Display URL
• Destination URL – copy the destination URL by right-clicking onto the ad’s headline
• Location (ex. Washington, DC)
• Screenshot the Ad – this is not always necessary, but helpful when Google responds asking for it (which they often do)

4. Complete The Google Ads Trademark Complaint Form

Fill out the Google Trademark Complaint form.

You will be required to fill out the form and submit for review. The form is self-explanatory, but you will need specific information in order to complete the process. Most importantly, you will need to know the following:

• Ads Account #
• Trademark owner’s name, address, phone, and email
• Countries where the term is trademarked
• Registered status (yes or no)
• Whether the trademark is on a word, design, or both
• Application or Registration #
• Your name
• Title
• Company Name
• Relationship (ex. trademark owner or advertising agency that is authorized to act on your behalf)
• Address
• Phone #
• Email

Please note, the Google complaint form is ordered differently than above. You will be asked a few additional questions, which is where the spreadsheet will then be put to good use. You will also need to describe specific details concerning the “Scope of complaint” and select either only specific advertisers or all advertisers. Once you are finished filling out the form, click submit.

Next Steps Following Your Submission Of A Trademark Infringement Complaint

A Google representative will notify you that the complaint has been received; the issue will then be investigated. You may need to provide Google with additional information such as a screenshot (as you are not able to input an image into the complaint form).

That’s it. Pretty simple and quick.

Running through this process 3 times a week allows you to stay on top of competitor ads that could potentially limit your ads from showing. Most importantly, this small task will help prevent a company from gaining value from your trademarked term.

For other options on how to respond when a competitor targets your brand name with their PPC and SEO strategies, we strongly suggest you check out our post on responding to competitors who target your brand name.

For more on trademarks and other legality related to SEO and advertising in search engines, please check out any of the following:

• Want Approval For Resellers And Partners To Use Your Trademark In Google Ads?
• Google Now In Legitimate Trouble over Trademarks
• You Can Use Competitor’s Brands in PPC, But Do You Want To?
• How SEOs Can Protect Themselves Legally

Key Takeaways on Trademark Infringement in Google Ads

• Google allows advertisers to bid on competitors’ trademarked terms as keywords; however, the use of trademarks in ad copy is restricted without authorization.
• Trademark owners can file a complaint with Google to prevent unauthorized use of their trademark in competitor ads.
• To protect your trademark, you need to have it registered in the relevant territory and provide evidence of infringement when submitting a complaint to Google.
• Monitoring your brand terms regularly is key to protecting your trademark and maintaining control over your brand visibility in search.

If you’re interested in learning how you can drive better results with search engine marketing, schedule a digital marketing consultation.

This article was updated to add additional information on May 5th, 2025.

The post How to Protect Your Brand From Trademark Infringement In Google Ads (Updated 2025) appeared first on Direct Online Marketing.

Why Should You Link Your Google Ads Console to Google Search Console?

Um, because you’ll get more data. DUH!

By connecting Google Search Console (GSC) with Google Ads you get a snapshot glance of paid vs. organic keywords. You will get data at the Search Query and Keyword levels so you can see the incremental value of paid vs. organic terms.

This should be really great news for paid advertisers and organic search campaign leaders alike. Google’s spin is that you can see new, organic opportunities and new, paid search opportunities. Equally, you can see – in a really simple report – where you are performing well organically and make adjustments to drop paid search bids or pause keywords altogether if you’re on a limited budget. This is especially great news whether you’re doing both yourself or if you’re working in an agency that provides both PPC and SEO to the same client.

How To Create a Google Search Console Linked Account in Google Ads

• Tools Needed: Google Search Console, Google Ads Console
• Time Required: 10 minutes
• Estimated Cost: $0

Similar to linking Google Ads to Analytics, click on the gear icon in the upper right corner, and select Linked Accounts. You’ll see an option for Search Console. Follow these steps:

1. 1. Access ‘Linked accounts.’ Click on the Tools button on the top navigation of your Google Ads dashboard. Clicking this will produce a dropdown of 20 different options. Click the link titled  “Linked Accounts” under the Settings section.
   2. Select ‘Search Console’ from your list of options. Since first releasing this feature in 2013, Google has added several other options under the “Linked Accounts” heading. Search Console is one of the last options in the list, located in the 9th position of available options – fifth row, right-hand side. Click the link for ‘DETAILS’.
      
   3. Click the link titled “LINK” to launch Search Console. Pretty self-explanatory, we think.
      
   4. Enter your website address, and click “CONTINUE”. Again, we also find this step to be pretty self-explanatory. One note of caution: make sure your domain names in each account are a match. For instance, if you use https:// and www in front of your domain name in Ads, make sure you select the Search Console account with the same naming convention. You are using https, right? Of course you are.
      
   5. Voila! Your Search Console account is now linked to your Ads account. Depending on whether or not this is successful for you, you might receive one of the following results from your attempt at linking these accounts.
      
      Here is what you should see if your Search Console account was successfully linked to Google Ads.

If you have already verified ownership of your site in Google Search Console – congratulations, you’re all set!

If you haven’t claimed your site, simply click the blue link for “Claim it at Search Console.” This will direct you to Google Search Console and provide the recommended methods for verifying your site.

Need more help? Check the Google Help article here or contact a friendly DOM digital advertising specialist (link below).

The Paid & Organic Report: The Mother Lode of Google Performance Data

The Paid & Organic Report can be found under the Predefined reports tab (formerly known as the Dimensions tab). By the way, if you’re not familiar with this section of Google Ads, take some time and play around. There are so many insightful reports here.

To get to the Paid & Organic report, navigate to Basic > Paid & Organic.

Check out the screenshots below. Although the search terms and other personal information has been blurred out, below is a synopsis of what you’ll see in the paid and organic report:

“This table shows how your paid and organic results performed for every search that triggered an ad or organic listing.”

The click details and other data updates once a day and we do not believe that you can see historical data, rather it starts accruing once you link the accounts. However, our Ads reps were not certain about this at the original time of publication. Over the last five years, we have confirmed that as such :).

Key Takeaways on Connecting Google Ads to Search Console

• Linking Google Search Console with Google Ads provides valuable organic search data that can improve paid search campaign performance.
• This integration allows you to identify keywords performing well organically and adjust your paid search bids accordingly for better budget management.
• By seeing both paid and organic data side-by-side, advertisers can make more informed budget allocation and keyword bidding decisions.
• The combined data helps you understand the incremental value of running paid ads alongside organic listings for the same search queries.
• This integrated reporting reveals instances where paid ads are essential to support weak organic rankings, and where organic visibility is strong enough to recommend lowering ad spend.

Conclusion

Google keeps giving us more and more reporting features from within the Google Ads interface. You can see competitive data, analytic data, funnel data, data…..data…..data! Now there’s even more! It’s almost like Google wants you to be successful.

Hell yeah, they do! We love that they’re tying all their properties together. Instead of being an outlet mall, Google Ads has evolved into being a one-stop-shop.

If you found this article helpful, you might want to check out one of these other posts on getting the most out of Google Search Console for your SEO efforts.

• How To Make the Google Knowledge Panel Work For You
• Set Your Course In Google Search Console With International Targeting
• What are Core Web Vitals and What Should I Do About Them?

To get more information on this topic, contact us today for a free consultation or learn more about our status as a Google Premier Partner before you reach out.

This article was updated to add additional information on April 28th, 2025.

The post How To Link Google Ads To Google Search Console (Updated 2025) appeared first on Direct Online Marketing.

Excluding placements in the Google Display Network (GDN) isn’t just a hygiene tactic—it’s a strategic lever for improving ROI and campaign efficiency.

GDN Placement Exclusions

Google’s AI-driven placement algorithms are continuously improving. Right now, though, they still lack the nuance to fully understand brand suitability or the nuanced goals of a specific campaign. That’s why the proactive exclusion strategies we detail below are important.

Start by considering the context in which your ads appear. Certain websites or app categories—such as mobile games with accidental clicks or sensationalist news sites—may technically deliver impressions, but they rarely contribute to meaningful engagement.

Looking at your placement reports clues you into patterns that you can take action on: high impressions with low conversions, unusual CTR spikes, or bounce-heavy traffic sources. These indicators often point to placements worth excluding.

Audience intent is crucial. Even on high-traffic, reputable sites, your ad might not belong if the user’s mindset doesn’t match your offer. For example, placing a B2B SaaS ad on a recipe blog won’t align with user expectations, regardless of the domain quality.

Brands with international campaigns should also consider cultural and legal sensitivities. Some domains or categories might be legally acceptable in one country but damaging in another.

GDN exclusions aren’t set-and-forget. They’re part of a feedback loop. Make it routine—monthly at minimum—to review your placements and performance metrics. Couple this with developing your own dynamic exclusion list, informed by your brand’s specific needs, vertical trends, and prior campaign data.

Background on the Google Display Network

With more than a million websites across the globe, the sheer size of the Google Display Network is one of the main reasons why display and retargeting campaigns are such strong marketing tools. Spanning myriad topics and interests, reaching a target audience based on what matters to them has never been easier.

A high-performing campaign leverages the Google Display Network by serving highly targeted ads to users somewhere across the mammoth network of websites and publishers. Odds are, if a user is seeing a display or retargeting ad, they are seeing it on a website in the GDN.

However, there are thousands of websites with which brands do not want to be associated. This is why it’s a good idea for advertisers to consider blocking or excluding certain websites for placements of their ads on the Google Display Network.

Why Exclude Some Websites on the GDN?

It may seem counterintuitive that blocking placements on some websites would lead to better campaign performance, but there are instances where blocking placements can be extremely beneficial. There are two main reasons why advertisers should exclude websites on the Google Display Network.

1. Spammy, Inappropriate, or Unrelated Websites

Considering how large the Internet is, it’s pretty clear that no matter what a person is interested in, there is likely a large community and hundreds of websites dedicated to that interest. This covers a gamut of topics from the very wholesome to the very “adult.”

Advertisers probably don’t have the luxury to consider and evaluate every single website on the GDN. That would take hours. But serving ads on a spammy, inappropriate website (or one that’s just not very related to your brand) can have unintended consequences. For example, say a butcher shop sets up a display campaign, and several of its ads are placed on websites whose audiences are passionate about the vegan lifestyle and animal rights. Not a great match.

2. Saving Money on the GDN

Besides avoiding placements because of a mismatch for relevancy or inappropriate misrepresentations of a brand, the big reason for blocking placements on the display network is to save money. When targeting is dialed in and a retargeting campaign is set up correctly, advertisers can reduce costs by eliminating irrelevant websites.

Say that a SaaS software company runs a display campaign but they don’t exclude a whole ton of websites geared towards teenaged and college-aged gamers. These placements eat away at the ad budget, and they don’t contribute meaningful conversions to the campaign.

By eliminating a whole slew of such websites, advertisers leveraging the GDN can ultimately get more out of their campaigns with lower costs if they refine where ads are being placed.

How to Block Placements on the GDN

Seasoned digital marketers may know about website exclusions, but they can be easily overlooked by less-experienced users of Google Ads.

At the most basic level, placements can be excluded by opening your campaign in Google Ads and clicking on the “Placements” tab. From there, hover the mouse over the top navigation and click on the “Exclusions” tab.

Once in this new area, exclusions can either be selected by website, YouTube channel and video, app, or by entire app categories.

It’s important to keep in mind that Google Ads’ exclusion tools don’t cover every website worth excluding from a campaign, and there are thousands it will miss.

Using an exclusion list can be a mighty weapon for any digital marketer working inside the Google Display Network — one you’ll want to come back to over and over again.

The Definitive Website Exclusion List (Free Resource!)

For years, Google Ads professionals have either had to resort to creating their own exclusion lists or borrowing lists of URLs from fellow marketers.

The team at Direct Online Marketing has created the exclusion list to end all exclusion lists.

This list is the culmination of our two decades as an agency running campaigns for clients in Google Ads. (To supplement our internal list, we also took every list of website exclusions we could find online and compiled it all in the above Google Sheet.)

At a stunning 70,000+ website URLs, this list is quite comprehensive as it covers such categories as dating, mobile, gaming, quizzes, sports, and more. And hey, it’s free!

Because this list can be found as a shareable Google Sheet, we encourage you to share this with anyone who would find it useful.

Notes About High-Cost, Low-Performing Categories

If you’ve taken a look at our list, you’ve probably noticed how we broke out several website categories.

High-Cost, Low-Performing – One of our categories addresses a large number of high-quality and reputable websites and publishers (such as The New York Times, CNN, etc.). We’d generally recommend excluding or considering blocking placements on some of these sites for direct advertisers. The placements may make sense if you’re using GDN just for brand awareness and reach. Because exclusions can be a good method of keeping ad costs down, blocking placements on high-quality websites can help stretch budgets a lot farther.

Key Takeaways About Google Ads Placement Exclusions

• Excluding placements on spammy, inappropriate, or unrelated websites helps maintain brand integrity.
• Advertisers can exclude placements directly in Google Ads so that ads reach their intended audience.
• Blocking select websites can improve ROI by reducing wasted spend on placements that don’t convert.
• Direct Online Marketing offers a comprehensive list of over 70,000 website URLs for exclusion.

Final Thoughts

Using the behemoth Google Display Network is how marketers are finding success with display and retargeting campaigns, but not every website is a good opportunity for advertising. By leveraging our comprehensive list of websites to exclude ad placements, advertisers can easily avoid the negatives of placing ads on inappropriate websites and reduce costs associated with their campaigns.

For those of you who share our vision in making this list the best it can be, we thank you and welcome any submissions.

To get more information on this topic, contact us today for a free consultation or learn more about our status as a Google Partner Agency before you reach out.

This article was updated to add additional information on April 21st, 2025.

The post Google Ads Placement Exclusion List for Google Display Network (Updated 2025) appeared first on Direct Online Marketing.

Table of Contents

• DOM and IGAP Bring You International Marketing Tools
• Proprietary Google Tools for International Insights
• Translate Your Brand to the World with Localization by Google
• 1:1 Support from Google’s International Growth Team
• Competitive Insights Across the World from Google
• DOM Is Your Partner for Global Growth
• Increased ROI
• Faster Market Entry
• Sustainable Growth

DOM and IGAP Bring You International Marketing Tools

Direct Online Marketing has earned a spot in Google’s International Growth Agency Program (IGP), a rare achievement that directly benefits our clients.

This isn’t just a badge; it’s a gateway to resources and support that directly translate into tangible benefits for your global ambitions.

IGAP connects Google Premier Partner agencies (such as DOM) with exclusive resources and expertise that help businesses expand their reach globally. For our clients, this means access to cutting-edge tools, expert insights, and international business liaisons that can accelerate growth in new markets.

Proprietary Google Tools for International Insights

In the complex world of international marketing, data is your compass. Our participation in Google’s program grants us access to exclusive IGAP tools that dig deeper than standard analytics. Granular insights into market trends will be available, along with the same for consumer behavior and competitive landscapes across geographic regions. This isn’t just a data dump; it’s observations voiced in plain language with numbers to back them up.

Imagine being able to pinpoint the exact search terms driving traffic in a country, or identifying emerging trends before your competitors. These tools allow us to craft hyper-targeted campaigns that are more likely to resonate with local audiences.

IGAP tools will help our clients maximize ROI and minimize wasted spend.

Translate Your Brand to the World with Localization by Google

IGAP brings you a team of localization experts. Their efforts extend the reach of your brand to countries all over the world.

Localization is the process of presenting your messaging to people in another culture who speak a different language. It’s not merely a word-for-word translation, though.

Localization is a deeper process of considering social and regional differences, which prevents cultural misunderstandings that often occur with one-to-one translation services.

DOM and IGAP help you pitch your unique value proposition to new markets in new languages.

1:1 Support from Google’s International Growth Team

One of the biggest advantages of DOM’s membership in this program is the direct line to Google’s International Growth Team. We have one-on-one access to experts who can provide tailored guidance on your specific challenges.

Google can feel like an unresponsive giant at times. We know the struggle of trying to contact Google support, or trying to track down an answer to your problem on help forums. It’s tough to get a real person on the phone. And you can easily wile away countless hours down rabbit holes trying to see whether someone else has had the same problem before.

This 1:1 support from Google as part of DOM’s membership in IGPA means we can quickly address challenges, adapt to market changes, and capitalize on emerging opportunities.

Competitive Insights Across the World from Google

Imagine having a bird’s-eye view of competitors in your target international markets. From that vantage point, you could see how other companies are performing in different markets. You could get a sense of their marketing strategy.

DOM and IGAP bring you this potent perspective. Google provides IGAP members with real-time competitive insights into markets around the globe.

With this intel, we can pinpoint exactly where competition is sparse, where competitors are thriving, and how to differentiate your brand. This may take the form of adjusting keywords, changing demographic targets, or tweaking your messaging to better resonate with the local culture.

With competitive insights from IGAP, DOM can help you identify market gaps and stand up to fierce competition with targeting digital marketing.

DOM Is Your Partner for Global Growth

Our participation in Google’s International Growth Agency Program translates directly into tangible benefits for your business.

Increased ROI

Our enhanced expertise and access to Google’s resources mean more effective campaigns and a higher return on your investment. We make sure your marketing dollars work harder.

Faster Market Entry

DOM helps clients enter new markets quickly and efficiently, minimizing risks and maximizing opportunities. We help you think through the most advantageous way to start selling into a new country.

Sustainable Growth

Data-driven strategies ensure long-term, sustainable growth in international markets. That’s why at DOM our analytics team is integral to meeting our client’s business objectives. Our analysts deliver comprehensive reports of user behavior, PPC performance, and SEO trends that enable you to make data-driven decisions.

By combining our expertise with Google’s cutting-edge tools and support, we’re empowering businesses to conquer new markets and achieve sustainable growth. We’re not just an agency. We’re your global growth partners.

The post DOM Is a Member of Google’s International Growth Agency Program appeared first on Direct Online Marketing.

Can You Use Competitors’ Names In Google Ads? Can They Use Your Brand In Google Ads?

Branded search engine ranking positions (aka SERPs) can make or break your online presence within your market and your customers’ minds. But when you find a competitor using your brand name as part of their Google Ads or SEO campaigns, the stakes can get raised by a considerable margin.

When a user performs a search, visitors click on the first ads or organic results that seem most relevant to them.

The chances of winning that click are higher when you show up in top positions on relevant searches.

For many years brands have tried to undermine competitors’ names to rank higher and poach visitors through covert PPC and SEO tactics. When this happens, competitors getting search visibility on your brand name become a huge detriment to your sales by hijacking your brand’s reputation.

Leveraging competitor brand names via search engines is a common tactic and an issue that must be addressed to maintain both your rankings and your branding.

Savvy competitors — often with agencies behind them — combat these challenges and capitalize on the opportunity.

The Basics of Advertising and Doing SEO on Competitor Brand Names

Just to make sure we’re on the same page here, let’s take a brief second to fully define what we’re talking about.  When we talk about competitor brand names, there are a few different keyword types to pay attention to if you want a full picture of which competitors are trying to take over your brand. The three most common types are:

• Competitor’s actual business names (like Pepsico buying ads or optimizing for Coca-Cola keywords)
• Competitor’s branded products (Pepsi buying ads or optimizing pages on Sierra Mist’s site for Sprite keywords)
• Competitor’s executive names or prominent thought leader names (Walmart running ads on searches of Jeff Bezos promoting CEO Doug McMillon)

The process in search advertising works the same as bidding on any other search term.  You select the competitor term(s) you wish to bid on, set how much you’re willing to pay, and set up ads for that ad group. Voila, you can have your ad appear when someone searches for your competitors.  There’s no cost to you until and unless someone clicks on one of your ads.

In SEO, the process is also very similar. Publish a piece of content on the subject matter, optimize it for the search term, and then build backlinks to the page so that it ranks well.

Legal Questions – Is This Allowed?

It’s important to understand that leveraging a competitor’s brand name is quite common in digital marketing.

You may be thinking to yourself at the moment — is this even allowed?

Yes, yes it is.

For the most part, using such advertising tactics is OK provided you are not deceptive in your practices. This means that if you are intentionally trying to mislead searchers, you may find yourself in hot water.

You need to make sure you’re clean in your ads and other marketing materials by being upfront about who you are. And doing that well means representing specific reasons customers often prefer you over your competition. If your name, your competitor’s name, or other branded term isn’t trademarked, then there’s no issue at all as far as the search engines are concerned.

Where courts have generally upheld advertisers’ rights to advertise — non-deceptively — on competitor brand names, this is America. Anyone can sue anyone for any reason, so legal costs are a real consideration.

By the way, if you’re really into this sort of thing, check out Eric Goldman’s Technology & Law blog.  It’s the single best source on the Web for following these types of lawsuits regarding search engine marketing.

With that disclaimer and plug out of the way, let’s dive into how you can protect the reputation you’ve built against competitors trying to draft off of your brand.

Google Ads Options to Address Competitor Bidding

Campaigns explicitly created to target competitor brand searches are expensive and typically produce low numbers of conversions.

If this is happening to you, take solace in knowing that your competitor is spending some serious cash. But you still want to reclaim what is yours and reduce any adverse impacts on your brand.

When reacting to competitors running ads on your company’s or product’s name in Google Ads — and other search engines — you have some options.

Option 1: Protect Your Name by Running Ads on Your Own Name

Branded campaigns use your company’s brand name as a keyword. This play typically yields high conversions at a low cost per conversion – and the more your brand is known and trusted, the more impressive the results.

As you can see in the above example, Salesforce is running Google ads on its name, taking up the top ad position. Two competitors – Pipedrive and SugarCRM – also run on Salesforce keywords, positioning themselves as an alternative to this well-known CRM.

Searchers click on ads at the very top of a page more often than other positions. This is especially true on mobile because the visual real estate is so much smaller.  By running these ads, Salesforce ensures searchers will see its ads first before seeing alternatives.

When you run ads on your name, you have a much better chance of influencing how searchers interact with your brand in the SERPs. This way you have more control of your campaigns, and you’ll always be first in search results on your brand.

Note: Some companies don’t like to bid on their name as they think that it’s an unnecessary cost, taking away conversions from organic search – clicks they don’t have to pay for. They also feel that bidding on their name is wasting money that could go toward reaching new searchers who aren’t looking for them. But if your competition is running on your name, do you really want people looking for you to see the competition first?

Option 2: Petition Google Ads for Trademark Protection

We highly recommend trademarking your brand if you haven’t done so already. Be aware that it can take up to six months or more to receive a trademark even if you don’t face other companies with similar claims.

The significant benefit of having a valid trademark as that there’s a formal process to petition Google to disallow your competitors from using your name in their ads if you own a trademark.

They can still run on your name even if you have this trademark protection, but at least they won’t be able to use your name in the ad copy, except in very limited circumstances.

If you’d like to learn more, check out our step-by-step guide on how to protect your trademark in Google.

Want a Premier Google Partner’s
help filing your trademark complaint?
Call 800.979.3177 today.

Option 3: Fight Fire with Fire

If you’re interested in going on the offensive, you can try to beat your competition at their own game and run ads on their branded terms. Just keep in mind that this tactic is prone to have the same high costs and challenges as discussed earlier.  Here’s why.

Search advertising platforms allow you, in theory, to run on almost any keyword you want, including your competitors’ names.  But in all cases, they want to make sure your keywords are relevant to your business.  Otherwise, consumers will have a harder time finding information related to their searches and the whole PPC model starts crumbling.

And since you aren’t your competitor, Google will quickly give those keywords in your account a low Quality Score.

Keywords with a low Quality Score (caused by low clickthrough rates and other metrics) will end up costing you more than average on a per click basis. If your keywords are not relevant to your brand (i.e., because they aren’t your brand), then your search advertising platform will make you pay for it. In a best-case scenario, your quality score for competitor’s brand names may peak at a 3/10.

As we mentioned earlier, these kinds of campaigns come at a high cost and a lower chance of successful conversions. However, conversions don’t have to be the goal of this play.

Going on the offensive allows you to fight fire with fire if your competitors are already deploying these tactics. It will also draw some awareness to your brand for potential new customers who only knew about your competitor.

Note: It is possible to find a competitor’s ad come up when you search your own business name even if they don’t have you in their keyword crosshairs. If you see that, it’s probably one of two scenarios:

• Search retargeting (RLSAs): If you have been to the competitor’s website, their ads may be displaying based on your website habits.
• Similar audiences for search: The competitor may have a “similar to” retargeting audience and Google’s machine learning is considering your search habits similar to those of the competitor’s website visitors.

Either way, it’s the algorithm doing what it does best!

Other Pros and Cons of Bidding on Competitor’s Brand Names

Pros

• It can work.  A lot of times people are interested in that competitor for a specific reason that won’t help you at all: trying to get hired, a vendor looking up directions, etc.  But for the consumer doing research – or maybe a current, unsatisfied client looking up a phone number, the payoff could be handsome.
• It will jerk their chain.  Double edged sword here (see Cons), but after seeing your ad on their name, internally they may devote a lot of executive resources figuring out what can be done.  Plus, some people just really, really like ticking off their competitors.
• More competition should drive up their prices to bid on their name. While this means they’ll be spending more money they could be devoting elsewhere, their Quality Scores will likely be so much higher than yours, that the additional cost may not add up to much.  Unless they weren’t advertising on their name at all before and decided to start doing so because of your ads.

Cons

• Your time.  Your competitors may call you up and chew you out about this.  Trust me, I’ve seen this time-suck happen and had advertisers flip their feelings about bidding on competitor names 180 degrees.
• Money.  They may sue you or threaten to do so.  While you could just adhere to their cease-and-desist and potentially be done with it, most companies will at least consult their attorneys about this.  And if they don’t happen to be experts in search – and virtually none are, this can get really expensive.  (BTW, we have consulted with attorneys about this in the past.  If you’re an advertiser or lawyer needing help with this, give us a shout at 800.979.3177.  We can also advise on how to broker a fair peace accord without the courts).
• They may start advertising on your name, which could send up your costs somewhat and also decrease your click throughs.

Be Careful with Dynamic Keyword Insertion

Dynamic Keyword Insertion (DKI) can be a great tool—until it serves up an ad with a competitor’s name who happens to spot the ad. That’s where it goes from clever automation to potential liability.

(See stats and insights from a test of keyword-insertion code in Google Ads that we conducted.)

DKI functions by automatically inserting the user’s search query into your ad text, provided that the search query matches one of your keywords and fits within character limits. This dynamic functionality can enhance ad relevance for generic terms; it becomes perilous when competitor brand names are among your keywords.

For instance, if your keyword is “Competitor Brand Alternatives” and a user searches for “Competitor Brand Product X,” your headline might read “Competitor Brand Product X,” directly featuring your competitor’s name in your ad.

Google explicitly absolves itself of responsibility for any policy violations arising from the use of DKI. (Even in cases where it was the applying a Google Recommendation that introduced DKI functionality into a campaign.) Their policy clearly states that advertisers are accountable for ensuring that their ads comply with all advertising guidelines after keywords are inserted.

The fix is simple: don’t use DKI with competitor keywords. Build static ads with deliberate messaging that highlights your differentiators.

How to Respond When Competitors Use SEO to Leverage Your Brand

Several SEO tactics can solidify your SERP positions against competitors who want to rank in organic search for your brand name, or for when potential customers seek alternatives to your brand.

Much like the Google Ads tactics listed above, you can either take a defensive route or get aggressive with your SEO keyword targeting.

Choose wisely, as this is the perfect time to heed Uncle Ben’s wisdom — because great responsibility is bestowed upon those who wield these great SEO powers.

Option 1: Ranking for “Brand Alternative” Keywords

To dampen your competitors’ efforts, consider creating a page to rank for brand alternative searches specific to your brand name. This page still aims to promote your brand as the better solution, but the idea is to optimize it with your name and “alternative” keywords to make sure it outranks your sneaky competition.

You can also supplement this tactic with content development and link building strategies targeting ‘brand alternative’ keyword phrases. Guest posts and other authored contributions optimized for brand “alternative” keywords can help take up valuable search positions. These opportunities also are good places to score a link back to the page you already created.

By leveraging these two tactics, you can fortify your brand against alternative searches that your competitor targets with their SEO efforts.

Option 2: Fighting Back with Your Own “Brand Alternative” SEO Strategies

When your competitors step up their efforts against your brand, it’s time to consider going on the offensive from an SEO perspective. Some examples include previously mentioned tactics:

• Your competitor running ads on your brand name
• Optimizing a page on their website to rank for your brand name
• Leveraging backlinks to improve their ranking for your brand name

Just like how competitors may create content on their site to rank for keywords related to your brand, you can do the same.

You can accomplish this one of two ways:

1. Optimize for “competitor” + “alternative(s)” — Here you create pages specifically designed to target search users looking for alternatives to your competitor by optimizing for their brand names and “alternative” (e.g. “picasa alternative,” “photoshop alternative,” etc.). This way, your brand will begin to show up when people go to search for their name.

Below is an example of how Lawn Doctor compares itself to several competitors.

1. Optimize for competitor weaknesses — In some cases, search users may be considering a competitor, but also seeking choices.

For example, say you are a project management software looking to position yourself against Trello, a highly recognized competitor. You could try creating content that aims to rank for keywords such as “trello issues.”

Be warned: snatching a top search engine ranking using this approach is highly unlikely without some investment in aggressive link building tactics. But, this approach will undercut your competitor in the following ways:

• They will lose long tail organic search traffic.
• Awareness of your product will increase within their customer and prospect base.
• You will convert new business opportunities from prospects who were not initially considering your brand as a solution.

Final Thoughts — Consult Your Legal Team

Please note: we recommend you consult your legal team to assess risk before trying the more aggressive tactics listed above. Keep in mind that there are times where using terms and phrases — specifically trademarked words, branded words — could have some legal implications.

What ends up happening in situations like this is that – whether mediated expensively through attorneys or done from President to President – a truce is called.  The downside is that it needs to be brokered with each competitor as it can’t be done through the search engines (other than if there’s a legitimate trademark complaint to be filed).

SERPs can make or break your brand so make sure you are taking the necessary measures toward protecting them. Starting with a great defense (owning real estate and top ads on your name) is the best offense.  Ultimately, though, it’s your brand, and only you can decide how to solidify your place in Google search.

Key Takeaways About Targeting Competitor Brand Names

• Using a competitor’s brand name is a common and permitted practice in digital marketing, barring misleading usages.
  
• Competitors using your brand name in their Google Ads or SEO campaigns can divert potential customers.
  
• Trademarking your brand name allows you to request that Google disallow competitors from using it in their ads.
  
• Optimizing content for brand alternative keywords can help prevent competitors from ranking high for your brand name.
  
• Running ads on your own name is one line of defense for your brand.
  

This article was updated to add additional information on April 7th, 2025.

Get Paid Search Advertising Services

If you’re interested in learning how you can drive better results with search engine marketing and our paid search advertising services then please schedule a digital marketing consultation. Or, to get more information on this topic, contact us today for a free consultation or learn more about our status as a Google Partner Agency before you reach out.

Need SEO or PPC services for your B2B business? Learn more about why we are The Best Digital Marketing Agency For B2B Businesses.

The post Catch A Competitor Bidding And Ranking For Your Brand? Here’s Your Options. (Updated 2025) appeared first on Direct Online Marketing.

The use of third-party trademarks in Google Ads campaigns is always a risky endeavor. In some cases, like when you have approved retailers or licensed resellers of your products that are encouraged to sell your product online on your behalf, setting them up with trademark approval in Google Ads can be critical to their success.

If their campaigns aren’t set up for success correctly when they launch, getting the best ROI on your approved retailer, licensed reseller, or certified partner campaigns could suffer inconvenient delays. Ensuring that your Google Ads trademarks are properly implemented and approved is critical in making sure the campaign goes off without a hitch. 

Below, we’ll talk about how to navigate approving the use of your Google Ads trademarks to third parties so they can use your legally registered names, words, and symbols in their Google Ads campaigns. If you’ve got a reseller looking to launch a campaign, this guide to trademarks in PPC advertising is a great place to start.

What You Need to Know About Google Ads Trademark Policies

Before we get started, it’s worth taking a look at Google’s Trademarks policies.  According to the policy, Google abides by local trademark laws, but also recognizes that third parties can use trademarks in certain situations, like when a reseller is describing trademarked products. Given how prevalent this type of situation is within Ecommerce, this is great information to have whether it’s your first or thousandth advertising campaign.

There are a few important overarching things to keep in mind when using third-party trademarks in your Google Ads:

1. You can’t use someone else’s trademark in your ad text unless you have their permission.
2. You can’t use someone else’s trademark in a way that would confuse people about who the ad is from.
3. You can’t use someone else’s trademark in a way that would suggest you’re endorsed or sponsored by them if you’re not.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at some specific scenarios where you might need to use a third-party trademark in your Google Ads.

Getting Approval To Use Client Trademarks In Google Ads As An Advertiser

Case studies. Success stories. Use cases. Our work.

Whatever service providers call this type of content on their website, showing off their efforts is an important way to build trust and provide social proof in industries that are rampant with snake oil salesmen.

In situations where service providers want to highlight their work with a trademarked brand in their search advertising, they will need to acquire the approval of the trademark owner to use client trademarks. To avoid any sticky situations, the owner of a trademark will have to fill out and submit a 3rd Party Authorization Request on your behalf to Google.

Keep in mind that it will generally take 5-7 business days for the trademark approval in Google Ads to come through, so build that time into your planning phase if possible when launching new campaigns.

Getting Approval To Use Trademarks In Google Ads When You’re A Reseller

If you sell products or services from other companies, you’ll likely need to use their trademarks in your Google Ads. For example, let’s say you’re an online store running paid search ads in Google and Microsoft for a brand of fire protection supplies. In this case, searches for the brand name and product surpass non-branded products, so you have a higher likelihood of selling through your inventory running ads for branded terms (“zurn double check detector”) than you do running ads for non-branded terms (“backflow prevention detector”).

In this case, you’ll need to use the Zurn trademark in your ad text in order to let people know that you carry that particular product. However, you can’t use the Zurn trademark in PPC advertising in a way that would suggest you’re endorsed or sponsored by the brand.

The landing page needs to clearly provide a way to buy the Zurn fire protection supply that you’re talking about, as well as display commercial information about the product. This marks it as a reseller ad, and makes it clear that you’re not advertising for an informational site.

One thing you’re absolutely not allowed to do is use a brand’s trademark in a competitive way to sell, say, an alternative brand. This will get your ad disapproved and have possibly worse repercussions for your account’s status.

What Happens If You Get Caught Using Trademarks In Google Ads Without Approval?

If you’re caught using unauthorized trademarks in your Google Ads, the consequences can be pretty severe. The following consequences are the most common, so you may want to consider what would happen if:

1. Your ad could be disapproved
2. You could even lose your ads account entirely

More than one hefty suspension has been handed down over trademark infringement complaints in Google Ads.

So, it’s important to make sure you’re only using trademarks that you have the rights to use. If you’re not sure whether or not you have the right to use a trademark in your PPC campaign, whether on Google Ads or another platform, it’s always best to err on the side of caution and get permission from the owner before using it.

What to Do When Another Company Is Using Your Trademark Without Permission

Protecting your brand is important. After all, it’s something you’ve spent countless hours building and refining and empowering, so to have a competitor or some other company out there misusing it can be absolutely infuriating.

Of course, Google has, well, a bit of a spotted history when it comes to protecting the trademarks of brands.

What Do We Do If A Company Is Using Our Trademark In Their Google Ads?

If you believe another company is using your trademark without permission in their Google Ads, you can fill out a Trademark Complaint Form.

Keep in mind that this isn’t a guarantee that the ads will be removed, but it’s worth doing if you believe your trademark is being used without permission in someone else’s ad campaign.

There are times when Google will determine that the third party complies with Google’s policy in their use of your trademark. In that case, there’s not much you can do other than to file a trademark infringement lawsuit against the advertiser.

Keep in mind that the Google Ads trademark violation policy only applies to the use of those trademarked terms within the ad copy. Branded keywords aren’t protected, and it’s perfectly okay for competitors to target your branded keywords as much as they like as long as they aren’t using your trademark in their ad creative.

To be honest, though, we don’t necessarily think it’s a great practice.

Key Considerations for Compliance with Google Trademark Policies

Understanding Google Ads’ trademark policy means going deeper than simply knowing what’s allowed on the surface. It’s about protecting brand equity while also recognizing the leeway Google gives advertisers to compete fairly. We’ve seen too many accounts trip over these distinctions—not because of bad intentions, but because they missed key nuances.

• Keywords vs. Ad Text
  Google will let you bid on trademarked keywords in most cases, but using that trademark in your actual ad copy? That’s where the guardrails go up fast—unless you’re authorized or fall into very specific exemptions.
• Resellers and Informational Sites
  These get some breathing room. But they have to be explicit: show you’re selling the trademarked product or providing genuinely helpful content. Transparency matters here, and Google’s not forgiving if you’re trying to sneak around that.
• Using a Competitor’s Name to Get Clicks
  Dangerous territory. Comparative ads are fair game, but you need to be accurate and avoid any implication of endorsement. Otherwise, you’ll get flagged—and possibly penalized.
• Landing Page Relevance
  If it doesn’t match the promise of the ad or misrepresents the brand relationship, that can trigger the same violations as your ad copy. Google isn’t just looking at what you say; they’re looking at what you deliver.

And just when you thought you’d addressed everything, policies evolve. Google’s search algorithm is constantly changing to serve up a better experience, and so, too, do Google policies change in light of novel situations and new product offerings. We keep a close eye on updates to avoid surprises—and so should anyone running serious campaigns.

Need Help Navigating Google Ads Trademark Policy?

At DOM, we have some of the brightest and most experienced Google Ads experts on the planet. After all, we didn’t get to be named one of Google’s top 3% Premier Partners without knowing our stuff.

If you’re struggling with navigating trademark approval in your Google Ads campaigns, or if you just don’t want to have to deal with that sort of thing, our PPC specialists will do it for you. We’re a one-stop digital marketing shop that knows Google Ads and digital advertising best practices like the back of our hand, and we have the numbers to prove it.

Contact us today for a free consultation and learn why Direct Online Marketing is the best digital marketing agency for you.

Frequently Asked Question about Using Trademarks in Google Ads

This article was updated to add additional information on March 31st, 2025.

The post Want Approval For Resellers And Partners To Use Your Trademark In Google Ads? (March 2025) appeared first on Direct Online Marketing.

In this blog post, we break down the key updates, explore optimization opportunities, and look to the future of Performance Max campaigns.

Table of Contents

Here’s what this Performance Max update is about:

• Performance Max (PMax)
• Common Challenges with PMax
• PMax Updates for Greater Advertiser Control

Here’s what we’re doing with Google’s PMax updates:

• Campaign-Level Control Enhancements
• Enhanced Reporting Features

Here’s what we see for the future of Google’s PMax updates:

• Increased Advertiser Control
• Improved Transparency
• Enhanced Efficiency

Key Takeaways on Google’s Performance Max Updates

Here’s what this Performance Max update is about:

Performance Max (PMax)

PMax aims to optimize ad performance across Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail, and Discover. This AI-powered campaign type claims to simplify cross-channel advertising by automating tasks that once were manual.

And it does make things easier. With PMax, Google’s AI suggests ad copy, keywords, and imagery based on your landing page. However, with greater AI involvement has come less visibility into and control of key targeting settings. Cue the excitement for Google’s newest PMax updates.

Common Challenges with PMax

Thus far PMax has been plagued by these downsides:

Demographic exclusions and bidding: Advertisers often couldn’t exclude specific age groups or other demographics, leading to wasted ad spend.

Keyword traffic transparency: Lack of clarity on which keywords were driving traffic and leads left advertisers guessing.

Negative targeting limitations: It has not been possible to exclude irrelevant or low-performing terms like “free” or “cheap.”

Google’s recent updates to PMax address these pain points. The result should be more control and better reporting tools in the hands of advertisers.

PMax Updates for Greater Advertiser Control

Advertisers will find themselves with a new and improved toolkit with the updates to PMax:

• Negative Keywords
  You can now input negative keywords with PMax campaigns; this allows you to cut spend on irrelevant queries and those that just don’t convert. 
• Improved Reporting
  New reports on the performance of specific assets (such as individual headlines, descriptions, and images), as well as on search themes, provides improved transparency.
• Expanded Exclusions & Customization
  Brand exclusions and URL-based targeting rules have become available, offering more flexibility to divert competitor traffic and drive people to specific groups of pages on your website.

Here’s what we’re doing with Google’s PMax updates:

Campaign-Level Control Enhancements

As a Premier Google Partner, we were able to whitelist clients into some of these features when they were in beta.  Now we’re putting the newly rolled-out capabilities of PMax to the test for our clients more broadly. 

Negative Keywords
We’re negating keywords so that ads don’t show with irrelevant terms. Specifically, we are testing the effect of negating competitor terms for clients who do not see a benefit from running on such terms. We’re also negating a client’s brand altogether from other campaigns when a branded campaign is already in place. 

It’s also a quick win to negate searches that signal little intent to actually make a purchase, like “how to” and “cheap.” This will help with our bottom-of-funnel campaign goals.

New Customer Acquisition Goals with “High-value Mode”
We’re digging into the new “high-value mode” setting, a conversion goal option that has just become available with these PMax updates. This promises to prioritize reaching users with a higher likelihood of converting, maximizing that return on ad spend (ROAS).

Brand Exclusions for Search and Shopping Ads
The ability to exclude brand terms at the campaign level for specific ad formats is a welcome addition. 

We’re testing this feature with an exterior design client to be sure their ads appear for generic searches related to their services, but not necessarily their brand name. (There’s a dedicated campaign for capturing branded traffic. Plus their SEO brings in the vast majority of their branded traffic organically to the site.)  

URL-based Rules for Better Targeting
This change to PMax essentially allows us to run dynamic search campaigns within PMax.

This tactic allows advertisers to send people to the most relevant pages on their site, while also taking advantage of Google’s AI to present users with headlines and descriptions tailored to their query right in the moment of searching.  

Upcoming Beta Features
As mentioned above, Google regularly tests new features in Google Ads, some of which eventually make it to the broader advertising public. As a Premier Partner agency of Google, we get access to these beta opportunities first. That means our clients get early access to try out the latest ad tactics from Google before their competitors.

Demographic and device targeting may be coming down the pike as beta features in PMax.

Enhanced Reporting Features

Google’s PMax updates include new reporting features. We’re jumping on these to surface insights for further optimization of campaigns. 

Search Themes
Google is beginning to paint a picture of how any search themes added to a PMax campaign are impacting performance. Previously, search themes were a black box. (Like much about PMax.)

This reporting moves toward giving advertisers the kind of control in PMax campaigns that was previously only available in Search campaigns. Being able to adjust PMax search themes is a bit like being handed a scalpel when you were working with a sledgehammer before. 

Usefulness Indicator
A new feature popping up in PMax is a measure of how useful search themes have been in driving traffic themselves, beyond the influence of the text or URL associated with a PMax campaign.

The usefulness indicator is one more lever advertisers now have to pull in PMax. This greater control means better campaign refinement.  

Granular Asset Group Metrics
Metrics by device, time of day, and conversion action are starting to appear in PMax asset groups.

We’re using this data to craft campaigns that reach people how and when they are most engaged. The more precise the PMax reporting, the more efficient we can be with ad spend for our clients. 

Here’s what we see for the future of Google’s PMax updates:

Increased Advertiser Control

We expect to see a significant increase in advertiser control and flexibility. The new PMax tools and report will empower us to fine-tune campaigns with greater precision, ensuring ads reach an engaged audience and achieve business-relevant results.

Improved Transparency

The enhanced reporting features will make PMax campaigns less of a black box and more like the transparent Search campaigns that advertisers have employed to great advantage for years. A clearer understanding of what’s driving results will empower data-driven decisions. 

Enhanced Efficiency

PMax updates that meld AI insights with human input should allow for faster, more effective account optimization. This will likely free up account managers to focus on higher-level strategy planning, rather than being continually pulled into the weeds of campaign maintenance. 

Key Takeaways on Google’s Performance Max Updates

• Google’s updates introduce negative keywords, enhanced reporting, and expanded exclusions into PMax campaigns.
• The new “high-value mode” setting prioritizes high-converting users, thereby boosting ROAS.
• Updates to URL-based targeting and search theme reporting bring the kind of customization and visibility to PMax that were once only available in Search campaigns. 
• Granular asset group metrics — including device and time-of-day insights — provider advertisers with new ways to refine campaigns for maximum engagement and efficiency.
• Further evolutions of Performance Max campaigns are likely as Google responds to advertiser demand for greater control and transparency.

The post Google’s Performance Max Updates — What You Need to Know appeared first on Direct Online Marketing.

You might as well admit that you’re addicted to video [to the tune of Robert Palmer’s Addicted to Love] and so is everyone else. I started this post to dive into many platforms within this single post. However, after getting through YouTube, I thought maybe I should chunk this up into bite-size pieces. As such, here is the first installment of Video Marketing in 2015. Stay tuned each week as we explore a new platform.

Why Video Marketing in 2025

First, a little background on why video marketing is so important this year. Because it’s hot! Duh! Need proof? What if I told you that 59% of U.S. internet users are viewing video from their desktop or laptop, a slight decrease from 62% in 2013? Not surprisingly, there’s been an increase in viewership on tablet and mobile devices, as well as smart TVs. Tablets account for 27%, smartphones for 23% and smart TVs for 13% (HUB Research, 2014).

To put those percentages into perspective, according to comScore, almost 196 million Americans watched online videos from their desktops in December between home and work. YouTube.com ranked at the top with almost 164 million unique viewers…..in just one month! (Keep reading to learn how you can capitalize on this.)

What else do you need to know? Perhaps that video ads watched on each device can vary. Not surprisingly, mobile phones are used for watching shorter video content, whereas tablets and desktops both show similar habits for longer-form content (Ooyala, 2014).

This last bit becomes important for knowing where to place your video ads. According to FreeWheel, users were more likely to watch video ads on smartphones and desktops 70-71% of the time while watching video content that was less than 20 minutes in length. However, that number drops to 43% when viewing shorter content on tablets.

While I’ve not outlined everything that you need to know about video, let this serve as your starting point for an online video marketing strategy. As a marketer, what are you doing to reach these viewers, sharers and consumers of video content? If you said nothing, you are wrong.

Best Platforms for Video Advertising

Outlined in this and subsequent posts are a few of the top platforms for video advertising and marketing this year to help you get rolling. But remember, not every platform is perfect for every brand. Consider your audience and follow them. This is not exactly a build it and they will come era anymore.

YouTube

A Google property. Need we say more? But we will…..

Quick Stats

• 1 billion unique visit each month
• 6 billion hours of video are watched each month
• 100 hours of video are uploaded every minute
• More than a million advertisers use Google ad platforms, the majority of which are small businesses

YouTube advertising is fairly simple to start, especially if you already have a Google AdWords account. Go to the Campaigns tab, click New Campaign and choose Online Video. Once inside this section, you’ll be able to link AdWords to YouTube.

YouTube Targeting:

Advertisers have many of the same options as Google AdWords Display offers. You can segment by age, gender, topics, user interests, specific placements and retargeting lists, as well. One great benefit is that retargeting lists will automatically be created on users who view your videos. You can easily segment them based on the different content they’ve watched. As with most AdWords campaigns, you can also target by geography and keywords. Overlaying targeting can create a refined audience. Just be careful you don’t get too refined or you’ll limit your exposure.

YouTube Video Formats:

Here we’ll delve into the two different kinds of TrueView video ads, as well as video ads created from the Ad Gallery. With TrueView, videos are pulled from your YouTube account so there’s no need to create new content. Advertisers only pay when a user clicks on the video or continues watching when the video loads while they’re browsing content on YouTube.com. TrueView video campaigns run on a CPV – Cost per View – basis where you bid for each time the video is viewed or continues playing when it first loads.

In-Stream:

• Ads are shown on YouTube Watch pages or the GDN before short- or long-form videos
• Can be skipped after 5 seconds
• Advertisers are only charged when the viewer watches 30 seconds or more of the video or at the end of the video if less than 30 sec. This means advertisers can have free views if the user leaves before hitting the end of the 30 sec. mark. This also means your best content / CTA should be upfront so you’re capturing their attention quickly.

In-Display:

• Ads are shown next to YouTube videos, as part of a search result or on pages of the GDN
• Advertisers are charged when the user clicks the ad to play the video

Ad Gallery:

The Ad Gallery can be very beneficial if you don’t have a graphic designer or are limited on resources for creating ads. This option can be found within the Ads tab of your account.

• Ads are shown on the GDN and have the same targeting options as a regular Display campaign.
• Bidding can be on CPC, CPM or CPV basis

YouTube Ad Spend In 2025:

There is no minimum spend and you can set your budget at whatever you want. Nice, huh! This makes it appealing even to businesses that need to want to capitalize on video advertising but have a restrictive budget.

YouTube Reporting In 2025:

When you link your AdWords and YouTube account, you’ll get a deeper level of reporting. This is my favorite part. Beyond costs and clicks, you can see:

• the percentage of users who viewed 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% of the video
• Impression Share and Conversion data
• Earned Action data, such as earned views, subscribers, playlist additions, likes and shares

Going another step further, Google will automatically change the columns to suit your goals. Click Columns and you’ll get a drop down to select your columns or choose your goals, such as Views, Audience, Branding and Conversions. Advertisers can also segment data by format, network, device, click type, time and conversions. There’s so much data! It’s great for making changes on the fly and working toward reaching your goals.

Lastly, these video ad views DO count toward your overall video views, thereby increasing the number of views on your YouTube channel.

While this may all seem daunting, please understand that you don’t have to take film classes and become a video guru to make video advertising successful for you. Most smartphones now have cameras that are better quality than the old-fashioned camcorders that sat perched on your shoulder. No, these need to be good quality, but what’s more important is that they need to be consistent with your brand and speak the truth. Users will know a bogus message when they see it. Stay truthful to your message, your brand and your audience. With any luck- and some great optimization –perhaps your commercial will be the next viral video!

Go out. Get started. And, if you’re already doing this, share your experiences below.

Stay tuned. Next week I’ll be covering Facebook video advertising.

The post Addicted: Video Marketing in 2025 appeared first on Direct Online Marketing.

Performance Max campaigns in Google Ads promise to simplify your online advertising efforts and maximize reach by automating various aspects of your pay-per-click campaigns. While this sounds great on paper, some businesses have encountered an irritating downside: bad-quality leads. These leads can drain your resources and time, ultimately impacting your return on investment. Let’s dive into PMax campaigns and explore how you can improve the quality of your leads from this highly touted Google Ads campaign type.

Table of Contents

• Understanding Google Ads Performance Max Campaigns
• Common Issues Leading to Bad-Quality Performance Max Leads
• Misalignment of Google Ads Targeting Settings
• Over-Reliance on Automation in PMax Campaigns
• Poorly Defined Google Ads Bidding Strategies & Conversion Goals
• Identifying When Performance Max Ads Aren’t Working
• Strategies to Improve Performance Max Lead Quality in Google Ads
• Tools & Techniques for Better Performance Max Campaigns in Google Ads
• Utilizing Advanced Analytics Tools
• A/B Testing Different Ad Creatives and Messages
• Regularly Reviewing and Optimizing Campaign Settings
• Experience the DOM Difference
• Key Takeaways

Understanding Google Ads Performance Max Campaigns

Performance Max campaigns are designed to streamline your advertising by combining all Google Ads channels into one comprehensive campaign. Instead of managing separate campaigns for Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail, and Discover, Performance Max handles everything. This automation leverages Google’s machine learning to optimize your ads across multiple channels, aiming to achieve your conversion goals.

These campaigns offer several benefits to advertisers, including simplified management, broader reach, and the potential for better performance through Google’s vast data and machine learning capabilities. However, Performance Max might not be working right for you if you aren’t giving the campaigns the necessary scrutiny. As with anything in the data world, garbage in results in garbage out.

Common Issues Leading to Bad-Quality Performance Max Leads

Misalignment of Google Ads Targeting Settings

One of the most common culprits in PMax ad lead quality is misaligned targeting. If your targeting settings are too broad, your ads may reach an audience that is not relevant to your business. This can lead to an influx of leads that don’t convert into customers.

Over-Reliance on Automation in PMax Campaigns

While automation can save time, relying on it without regular oversight can be problematic. Automated systems may not always understand the nuances of your target audience, resulting in irrelevant traffic.

Options within PMax campaigns in Google Ads to let Google write ad copy may save advertisers time, but the ad copy that Google spins up might not be directing users to take the kinds of actions that truly matter to your business.

So take the time to review any text that PMax drafts through AI. Auto-generated ad copy is an okay play to start in creating an ad; it’s a horrible place to finish. Use Google’s AI as a writing partner in PMax.

Read about AI in Marketing: Where Machine Intelligence Meets Human Creativity

Poorly Defined Google Ads Bidding Strategies & Conversion Goals

If your bidding strategy or conversion goals are not clearly defined, Google’s machine learning might optimize for the wrong actions. For example, optimizing for clicks instead of meaningful engagements can attract users who have no intention of becoming customers.

As you start up a PMax campaign, you often need to start with a more general bidding strategy, such as aiming at impressions or clicks. You need to begin campaigns on this kind of a setting so that Google’s algorithm can get a critical mass of data from many interactions with your ads.

Once your PMax ads have made it through the learning period on an impression-based or click-based bidding strategy (usually about 2 weeks), then you can refine your bid strategy to focus on conversions or conversion value.

Skipping right to these more-focused bid strategies can lead to campaign stagnation. A PMax campaign that starts out on such a down-funnel goal may never get enough traffic for Google’s algorithm to learn what kind of people are really searching for what your business does.

Running in parallel to this concern with what bid strategy a PMax campaign is set to is selecting the appropriate Google Ads conversion goals. This requires that you examine the campaign settings to ensure that a particular PMax campaign has the right conversion goals selected.

For instance, phone calls are often a conversion goal that is present in Google Ads accounts. However, a phone call isn’t always the point, or even a useful interaction, of a campaign. You may need to define a new goal through the Google interface or through Google Tag Manager to set your PMax campaign up for success.

A poor-quality Performance Max campaign may be salvageable with a few tweaks to the bidding strategy and conversion goal.

Identifying When Performance Max Ads Aren’t Working

To determine whether you are receiving bad-quality leads from Google Performance Max, monitor these things:

• High Bounce Rates — A high bounce rate indicates that users are leaving your site quickly, suggesting that your ads are not reaching the right audience. In the context of a PPC ad, you can think of bounce rate as the ratio of clicks to conversions. If people are clicking but rarely filling out the form on your landing page or making a purchase, it may be time to test a variation.

• Low Engagement — If users are not engaging with your content, it could mean that your ads are not resonating with them. This would be reflected in people not even clicking on your ads. So if you are getting a good bit of impressions but few clicks, you should try out new PMax ad copy and images.

• Irrelevant Inquiries — Receiving inquiries that are unrelated to your products or services is a clear sign of poor lead quality. When you are inundated with inquiries that don’t show intent to buy, you can try increasing the friction in the customer journey. This may sound like an extreme option. Indeed, we usually advise removing as much friction as possible from the user journey. But when spam vastly outweighs true inquiries, and when you are paying for all those useless clicks, it’s time to make a substantial change. For instance, you can make more fields required on a contact form. You can code the email field to reject spammy domains, like @hotmail or @geocities. You can require both an email address and phone number. Making more fields required generally filters out users who aren’t serious about your product or service.

Strategies to Improve Performance Max Lead Quality in Google Ads

Fine-Tuning Audience Targeting: Refine your audience settings to ensure your ads are shown to people who are more likely to be interested in your offerings. Use detailed demographics, interests, and in-market segments to narrow down your target audience.

You can adjust these settings within the Audience Signal of PMax campaigns.

Adjusting Bidding Strategies: Review and adjust your bidding strategies to align with your business goals.

At a high level, consider whether you want to go after conversions themselves or the value they drive for your business.

Setting Clear and Precise Conversion Goals: Define specific conversion actions that matter to your business. This could be form submissions, purchases, or phone calls. Ensure these goals are accurately tracked to provide the machine learning algorithms with the right data.

Remember, you may need to complete a custom implementation of a goal through Google Tag Manager to track an action that isn’t provided within the default options in Google Ads.

Using Negative Keywords Effectively: Implement negative keywords to prevent your ads from showing for irrelevant searches. This helps in filtering out traffic that is unlikely to convert.

You may be annoyed with spammy traffic to your PMax campaign at the moment. You can take learnings away from this rocky period and improve your campaign. Search queries that are coming into your PMax campaign that don’t signal the right intent and the perfect ones to negate.

Once you clear away that noise, the signal should start coming through clearly in the form of conversions with the right intent.

(Get more insights into the latest in pay-per-click advertising from the DOM blog: Top PPC Tips for Dominating Sales in 2024)

Tools & Techniques for Better Performance Max Campaigns in Google Ads

Utilizing Advanced Analytics Tools

Employ tools like Google Analytics and third-party analytics platforms to gain deeper insights into your PMax campaign performance. These tools can help you understand user behavior and refine your strategies.

For example, you can look into Google Analytics 4 to see commonalities among people who convert on your website, no matter how they found you. Then you can take that demographic information and refine your PMax ads to speak to the concerns and values of the broader group that does take action on your website.

DOM provides Google Analytics Services to surface actionable insights for your business.

A/B Testing Different Ad Creatives and Messages

Test various ad creatives and messages to see which ones resonate best with your audience in PMax campaigns. Continuous testing and optimization can lead to better results.

Try ads that call out the benefits of your products, rather than merely describing them. So pointing out that your accounting SaaS will save dozens of hours leading up to April 15th may be more effective than listing the tools that help with payroll and generating W-2s. That is, trying articulating the significance of the tool; don’t merely state what the tool is. People need to know why your product matters, what it can do for them, beyond just what it is.

Regularly Reviewing and Optimizing Campaign Settings

Make it a habit to regularly review your PMax campaign settings and performance data. Adjustments based on data-driven insights can significantly improve lead quality over time.

This might mean focusing your barber shop ads to only serve to men, should you find that women rarely convert on your ads. Or you might exclude people under 40 from your life insurance ads, if you find that the younger cohort just never takes the action your ads intend.

Experience the DOM Difference

Struggling with bad-quality leads from your Performance Max campaigns can drain your resources and impact your ROI. Identifying and fixing the weak points in your ad strategy requires expertise and a keen eye for detail.

At DOM, our seasoned professionals can help you optimize your PMax campaigns to ensure your ad spend drives the right kind of traffic. Let us provide you with a free PPC audit, analyzing your current strategy and offering tailored recommendations to enhance your lead quality.

Reach out today to unlock the full potential of your digital advertising efforts.

Key Takeaways

• Performance Max campaigns in Google Ads simplify online advertising but can result in bad-quality leads if not properly managed.
• Misaligned targeting and over-reliance on automation are common issues leading to irrelevant traffic and low-quality leads in PMax campaigns.
• Properly defining conversion goals and adjusting bidding strategies is crucial for attracting meaningful engagements and potential customers.
• Monitoring high bounce rates, low engagement, and irrelevant inquiries helps identify when Performance Max ads aren’t working effectively.
• Fine-tuning audience targeting, using negative keywords, and regularly reviewing campaign settings can significantly improve lead quality in Performance Max campaigns.

The post Are You Getting Bad-Quality Leads From Performance Max? appeared first on Direct Online Marketing.

• Introduction
• Evolving Trends in PPC for 2024
• Embracing the Shift to Voice and Visual Search
• The Rise of Hyper-Personalized Ads
• Mastering Keyword Strategy: Beyond the Basics
• Harnessing AI and Automation in PPC
• Creative Mastery in Ad Design
• Synergizing PPC with Other Marketing Channels
• Conclusion

It’s a new year. Some people love to make New Year’s resolutions, like going to the gym more often or eating better. But you didn’t come to this blog for lifestyle tips, so let’s get to business with what matters: your company’s bottom line. 

You absolutely do not want December to roll around again and find yourself wondering why the competition is cutting ribbons and fat bonus checks while your sales are sagging and your bottom line is flagging. 

Let’s get into it: our top tips for making your digital ad conversion dreams come true this year. 

Evolving Trends in PPC for 2024

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is like a chameleon, constantly adapting and changing colors. As we step into 2024, several key trends have emerged, redefining how we approach digital advertising. These aren’t just fleeting fads but harbingers of a new era.

Embracing the Shift to Voice and Visual Search

Search behaviors are evolving, with voice and visual searches becoming more prevalent. This shift demands a reevaluation of keyword strategies and ad formats. 

To stay ahead, consider how your target audience might use voice assistants for queries or how image recognition technology could influence their purchasing decisions.

Voice Search

When people use voice search, they tend to use longer, more conversational queries. They may also ask questions that are open-ended or difficult to phrase in a way that would yield relevant results. This means that keyword strategies for voice need to be different from traditional search.

For example, instead of targeting keywords like “buy shoes,” you might target phrases like “where can I buy running shoes?” or “what are the best running shoes?” You also need to make sure that your website is optimized for voice search by including structured data and making your content easy to understand.

Visual Search

Visual search is still in its early stages compared to other methods, but it has the potential to revolutionize the way people shop. Visual search could make it easier for people to find the products they’re looking for, and it could also help them discover new products that they might not have otherwise found.

To stay ahead of the curve, businesses need to start considering how visual search can be used to reach their target audience. Our two favorite suggestions to help you accomplish that are:

1. Create high-quality images of your products and then optimize these images for visual search. 
2. Use visual search tools to track how people are finding their products, and then use this data to improve their marketing campaigns.

The Rise of Hyper-Personalized Ads

Gone are the days of one-size-fits-all advertising. 

In the past, advertisers would create a single ad campaign and then target it to as wide an audience as possible. This approach isn’t as effective as it used to be, as consumers are bombarded with advertising messages and are more likely to ignore or even block ads that are not relevant to them.

Hyper-personalization is the new gold standard in PPC. Using data analytics, AI, and machine learning, advertisers can tailor their ads to speak directly to individual needs and preferences. This makes ads more likely to be seen and clicked by potential customers.

For example, a retailer might use data analytics to track website visitor browsing history. This information can be used to create targeted ads that are tailored to the specific products that a visitor has shown interest in. At that point, AI and machine learning can also be layered on for advanced personalization. 

Hyper-personalization is not just about creating more relevant ads. It can also help to improve the user experience. When users see ads that are relevant to their interests, they are more likely to have a positive perception of the brand. This can lead to increased brand awareness and loyalty.

Mastering Keyword Strategy: Beyond the Basics

Keywords are the cornerstone of PPC, but in 2024, it’s about going beyond the basic search terms and diving into the psyche of your audience.

Think about your target audience and what they are likely to search for. 

What are their pain points? What are they looking for when they search online? 

Once you have a good understanding of your target audience, you can start to identify the keywords that they are likely to use.

Here’s three ways we see the best digital advertisers going beyond the basics to master their keyword strategy in 2024.

Finding the Balance

The key to effective keyword research is striking a balance between popular and niche keywords. Popular keywords are those that are searched for frequently, while niche keywords are those that are searched for less frequently but are more specific. A good keyword strategy will include a mix of both popular and niche keywords.

Popular keywords are important because they can drive a lot of traffic to your website.However, bidding to advertise your products and services for those terms is expensive and competitive – so make sure you budget for higher CPCs.. 

A better option for your campaigns may be niche keywords. 

Niche keywords are less competitive, making cost per clicks cheaper and the intent behind the search stronger.. However, niche keywords also drive less traffic. And if you get “too niche” with your keywords, the algorithms may not show any ads simply because the volume is so low.

The best approach is to find a balance between popular and niche keywords. Include the popular keywords, but make sure you are including long-tail keywords in your campaigns to be more efficient with your budget..

Predictive Keyword Analysis

Leverage predictive analytics to anticipate emerging trends and consumer

behaviors. By staying one step ahead, you can capture market segments before

your competitors even get wind of them.

Predictive analytics uses historical data to identify patterns and trends that can be used to predict future outcomes. This information can be used to make informed decisions about marketing campaigns, product development, and pricing strategies. 

By staying one step ahead of the competition, you can capture market segments that your competitors are not even aware of.

Seasonal and Real-Time Bidding

Seasonal trends and real-time events can have a significant impact on keyword performance. 

By adjusting your keyword strategy to reflect seasonal trends, you can ensure that your PPC campaigns are reaching relevant audiences and driving valuable conversions when demand is at its peak. 

You should also consider real-time events when developing your keyword strategy. For example, if there is a major news story, sporting event, or annual tradeshow happening in your industry, people are likely to search for related topics. 

By including these terms in your keyword list, you can reach potential leads and buyers who are actively looking for event information.

Harnessing AI and Automation in PPC

Automation is a critical component in modern PPC strategies. AI and machine learning can transform your campaigns, making them more efficient and have a lot more impact.

Smart Bidding Strategies

Leverage AI-driven smart bidding strategies to optimize your ad spend. These systems analyze vast amounts of data in real time, adjusting bids to maximize returns on your advertising investment.

Smart bidding strategies can also help you save money on your ad spend. By automatically adjusting bids, these systems can help you avoid overpaying for clicks that are unlikely to lead to conversions.

If you’re looking for a way to optimize your ad spend and get the most out of your advertising investment, consider using a smart bidding strategy. These systems can help you reach more qualified leads, generate more conversions, and save money on your ad spend.

Predictive Customer Insights

Use AI to gain deep insights into customer behavior and preferences. These insights enable you to craft campaigns that resonate deeply with your audience, leading to higher engagement and conversion rates.

Automating Ad Creatives

AI can also assist in creating and testing ad creatives. By analyzing performance data, AI tools can suggest modifications to your ads, from imagery to copy, ensuring they are primed for maximum impact.

Caveat: please don’t use AI image generators like Midjourney or DALL-E to generate images for your ads. Those can be useful in the very earliest stages of prototyping graphical ideas for your marketing message, but they’re no replacement for an actual human artist.

Audiences are more savvy than ever and can tell when an AI has created the ad they’re seeing. They will make you look too cheap to hire an actual graphic designer, and that cheapness will permeate your entire brand. Don’t be tempted! 

Speaking of graphic design…

Creative Mastery in Ad Design

In the ocean of digital ads, only the most captivating and innovative creatives capture attention. This year, the emphasis is on creating ads that aren’t just seen – but remembered.

Storytelling Through Ads

Transform your ads into compelling narratives. A good story resonates more than any sales pitch. Incorporate elements that evoke emotions, connect with experiences, or inspire curiosity.

Designing for Multiple Formats

Embrace the diversity of ad formats, from standard banners to interactive videos. Each format offers unique opportunities to engage your audience. Ensure your message is tailored to fit its format seamlessly. 

Whether it’s a quick, impactful message for a banner or a detailed story for a video, the more formats you have available, the more impressions your brand can expect to generate.

Continual A/B Testing

You know how much we love A/B testing. 

Never settle for the first draft. Regular A/B testing of your ad creatives helps refine messages, visuals, and CTAs. This iterative process is key to discovering what truly resonates with your audience.

Synergizing PPC with Other Marketing Channels

In 2024, PPC isn’t an island but a part of a comprehensive digital marketing archipelago.

Integrated Marketing Strategies

Your PPC efforts should complement your SEO, social media, and email marketing strategies. This holistic approach ensures consistent messaging across all channels, reinforcing your brand and amplifying your reach.

Leveraging Social Media Insights

Use insights from your social media channels to inform your PPC campaigns. The engagement data from social platforms can provide valuable information on audience preferences and behaviors.

Cross-Channel Attribution

Implement cross-channel attribution models to understand how your PPC efforts contribute to the broader marketing ecosystem. This understanding helps in allocating budgets more effectively and in creating more cohesive marketing strategies.

Conclusion

Remember, dominating sales in 2024 requires more than just following trends; it demands innovation, adaptability, and a deep understanding of the evolving digital landscape. Embrace these tips, and you’re not just chasing sales – you’re building a legacy in the digital world.

Ready to take your PPC strategies to the next level? 

Direct Online Marketing is here to help you with expertise and innovative solutions. We’ve been doing this for a long time, and we’ve helped a lot of businesses just like yours clobber their digital ad conversion goals. 

Let’s make 2024 a year of unprecedented growth and success for your company. Reach out to us today.

Key Takeaways

• Adapt to Emerging Trends: Stay ahead in PPC by embracing evolving trends like voice and visual search, ensuring your campaigns resonate with current user behaviors.
• Hyper-Personalization is Key: Utilize data analytics, AI, and machine learning for hyper-personalized ad campaigns. Tailored ads increase relevance, engagement, and, ultimately, conversions.
• Advanced Keyword Strategies: Go beyond basic keywords. Balance popular and niche keywords, and use predictive analytics for capturing emerging market segments.
• Leverage AI and Automation: Employ AI-driven smart bidding and predictive customer insights to optimize ad spend and create more impactful campaigns.
• Innovate with Ad Creatives: Storytelling in ads and continual A/B testing are crucial. Design ads for multiple formats to engage audiences effectively.
• Integrate PPC with Other Channels: Enhance PPC effectiveness by aligning it with your SEO, social media, and email marketing strategies for a unified digital marketing approach.
• Stay Agile and Informed: The digital marketing landscape is constantly evolving. Keep learning and adapting to maintain a competitive edge in PPC.
• Choose Expert Guidance: For advanced PPC strategies and implementation, consider partnering with experts like Direct Online Marketing to achieve your digital advertising goals.

The post Top PPC Tips for Dominating Sales in 2024 appeared first on Direct Online Marketing.