Google Ads updated its How Performance Max interacts with other campaigns in your account help document to add a new section on how “Performance Max campaigns may also filter out navigational or brand-specific search queries to prioritize serving them through dedicated Search campaigns.”This document change was spotted by Hana Kobzová who posted about this on PPC News Feed – she wrote, “Google has updated its documentation to indicate that Performance Max campaigns may filter out navigational and brand-specific searches in favor of dedicated brand Search campaigns. This change ensures that brand-related queries are managed by campaigns offering more precise control.”Here is the new paragraph that was added to the document (which was not in the archived version):
Performance Max campaigns may also filter out navigational or brand-specific search queries to prioritize serving them through dedicated Search campaigns. This ensures brand-related queries are handled by campaigns offering more precise control. To capture this traffic, ensure your dedicated brand Search campaigns have sufficient budget and high-quality, eligible ads, and consider adding Search Themes to the Performance Max campaign.
Here is a screenshot of the addition:If you want to target navigational and brand traffic, Google recommends adding Search Themes to the Performance Max campaign.Forum discussion at LinkedIn.The content at the Search Engine Roundtable are the sole opinion of the authors and in no way reflect views of RustyBrick ®, Inc Copyright © 1994-2026 RustyBrick ®, Inc. Web Development All Rights Reserved. This work by Search Engine Roundtable is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License. Creative Commons License and YouTube videos under YouTube’s ToS.source
