Brand search
guides.
Competitor ads, trademark policy and better spending decisions.
Competitor ads
5 guidesA competitor advertises on your brand name
Record a competitor’s brand-search ad, check the destination and distinguish normal competition from a policy or partner-agreement concern.
Can you stop competitors bidding on your brand?
What you can do when competitors bid on your brand: assess policy concerns, check partner agreements and adjust your own advertising.
Your brand name in another advertiser’s ad
Identify your brand in an ad’s headline, description, business name or URL. Check Google’s policy and collect evidence before reporting it.
Affiliate ads on your brand terms
Check affiliate ads on your brand terms. Trace the destination, verify the partner relationship and assess commission against programme rules.
Why did your brand CPC rise?
Diagnose a rise in brand CPC. Compare search mix, auction competition, bids and eligibility before deciding what to change.
Trademarks and policy
4 guidesIs competitor brand bidding legal?
Separate Google’s ad policy from trademark law, advertising law and contracts when assessing competitor brand bidding.
Trademark keywords versus ad copy
The keyword that matched a search is not the same thing as the text the searcher sees. Record the visible fields before making a trademark complaint.
Google Ads trademark policy
Google’s trademark policy is a platform review process. It is not a legal opinion about whether advertising infringes rights.
Report trademark misuse in Google Ads
Prepare a Google Ads trademark complaint with the ad, advertiser, trademark rights and relevant countries. Understand what Google reviews.
Brand ad management
4 guidesShould you bid on your own brand?
Use search evidence and a controlled test to decide when brand ads add value. Compare organic rank, competing ads, sales and advertising cost.
Build a brand ad management plan
A practical workflow for branded search: record competing ads, verify advertisers, choose an advertising response and measure the result.
Negative keywords for brand control
How negative keywords control your own brand ads, which matching rules matter, and how to check changes without blocking the wrong searches.
Monitor your brand search results
Compare search checks, Auction Insights and account reporting. Choose locations, devices and a schedule that fit your brand monitoring needs.