Heads upGoogle · Search & AI Max · Mon, Nov 2, 2026

Performance Max may now hand brand and navigational searches to your brand Search campaign instead of serving on them

What changed

Google updated its Help Center page on how Performance Max interacts with other campaigns. It now says Performance Max campaigns "may also filter out navigational or brand-specific search queries to prioritize serving them through dedicated Search campaigns," so brand queries are handled by campaigns with tighter controls. Google tells advertisers to give dedicated brand Search campaigns enough budget and high-quality, eligible ads to capture that traffic, and to consider adding Search Themes to Performance Max. The wording is conditional ("may"), Google hasn't announced it on a blog, and it doesn't say how filtered queries show up in PMax search-term reports.

What to do

Before Black Friday, check your brand Search campaign: budget not limited, impression share on your brand terms near the top, and ads and sitelinks current for your BFCM offer. If you don't run a separate brand Search campaign and rely on PMax to cover brand terms, watch PMax brand traffic and conversions over the next two weeks; if they drop, consider launching a small exact- and phrase-match brand campaign. Don't read a drop in PMax ROAS as a real decline without checking whether brand conversions simply moved to Search.