This week’s question comes from Evan, who asked: “How do I prevent my PPC budget from getting eaten by branded competitor terms?”
It’s a good question, as few things frustrate advertisers more than watching transactional budgets get drained by competitor-branded searches. Marketing dollars intended for high-intent, conversion-ready audiences often get spent on clicks from users searching for competitors instead. These searches typically convert at lower rates and can produce deceptively low CPCs, creating false positives that distort performance data.
Protecting spend from competitor traffic requires a mix of negative keyword management, platform tools, and thoughtful campaign structure. Here’s how advertisers can take control and ensure their budgets stay focused on profitable intent.
Use Strategic Negatives
Negative keywords remain the most reliable way to prevent ads from serving on competitor-branded queries. Adding competitor names as phrase match negatives blocks variations of that brand name, while exact match negatives offer more precision when overlap risk is high.
However, advertisers must be careful. Some competitor names resemble valuable generic phrases. For example, if a competitor calls its business “Dog Trainer Near Me,” excluding that term could block qualified local leads. The goal is to remove competitor intent, not legitimate customer searches.
It’s also important to recognize that negative keyword limits are imposed by the ad platforms themselves. Google Ads and Microsoft Ads both restrict the number of negatives an account can include. Most advertisers can expect to cap out between 2,500 and 10,000 negatives per account, depending on structure and platform. Because of this limitation, advertisers should be selective about what they block.
The most efficient approach is to create a shared list of proven competitor negatives and apply it at the campaign or account level. This method saves space and keeps exclusions consistent across campaigns. Regularly review search term reports to identify new competitor variants and refine your list based on performance data.
Leverage Brand Inclusions And Exclusions In AI Campaigns
Advertisers running AI-driven campaign types, such as Performance Max, can use brand inclusion and exclusion controls to refine targeting. These tools allow advertisers to specify which brands their ads can or cannot appear alongside.
It’s important to understand that brand exclusions are not the same as negative keywords. A negative keyword blocks a specific word or phrase. A brand exclusion tells the system to avoid what it identifies as queries related to a particular brand. This AI-driven interpretation can reduce the need for lengthy negative lists, though close variants may still slip through.
These settings only apply to campaigns that use AI optimization, so advertisers must opt into automated formats to access them. If an account does not meet the required conversion thresholds for AI bidding, traditional negatives remain the best control option.
Assign Accurate Conversion Values And ROAS Goals
Competitor searches often look cheap on paper but cost more in practice due to lower conversion rates. A click on a competitor term may cost less, but it usually takes many more of those clicks to produce a single conversion.
To correct for this, advertisers should ensure their conversion tracking reflects actual business value. Assign different conversion values to calls, form fills, trial signups, or purchases to align with real-world outcomes. This helps automated bidding systems prioritize actions that contribute most to revenue rather than chasing inexpensive but unprofitable clicks.
On Google Ads, using Maximize Conversion Value with a ROAS target or applying cross-per-click floors can guide automation toward efficiency. Bid caps on both Google and Microsoft Ads help maintain control and prevent runaway spend on experimental traffic.
Structure Competitor Campaigns Separately
When an advertiser chooses to bid on competitor-branded keywords intentionally, those campaigns should operate in isolation. Competitor campaigns need their own budget, bidding strategy, and performance goals.
If the purpose is awareness, advertisers can remove ROAS targets and focus on visibility. If the purpose is performance, set high ROAS thresholds to ensure efficiency. The goal is to appear in competitor search results strategically, not to capture volume for its own sake.
Each competitor should live in a separate ad group with tailored creative. Avoid dynamic keyword insertion and never include competitor names in ad copy. Doing so risks ad disapprovals or account suspensions. Instead, ads should highlight what differentiates the advertiser (unique offers, service quality, or proprietary advantages) without mentioning the competitor directly.
Competitor bidding should remain limited to a short list of key rivals. A smaller, well-targeted approach allows for better creative control and clearer measurement of performance impact.
Continuously Audit And Refine
Competitor-related traffic shifts over time, and advertisers need to stay vigilant. Regularly reviewing search term reports helps uncover new variations or misspellings of competitor names that may be triggering ads. When low-performing competitor queries appear, add them to your shared negative list.
Segment performance by device, location, and audience type to find patterns. For instance, competitor clicks may be less efficient on mobile devices or in certain regions. These insights can guide bid adjustments, audience exclusions, or negative refinements that further protect the budget.
Balance Control With Opportunity
Blocking competitor-branded traffic improves efficiency, but advertisers must balance control with opportunity. Removing competitor terms completely eliminates the chance to influence potential buyers who are comparing options. This trade-off is worth making for consistently underperforming queries, but should always be intentional.
Negatives and brand exclusions create a strong defense. Accurate conversion valuation and disciplined bidding drive smarter optimization. Separate competitor campaigns allow for strategic engagement without risking broad budget leakage.
More Resources:
- Tips For Running Competitor Campaigns In Paid Search
- Should You Be Bidding On Your Brand Keywords In 2025?
- PPC Trends 2026
Featured Image: Paulo Bobita/Search Engine Journal
