Performance Max may skip people searching for your name

Someone types your business name into Google. They already know you. They are ready to call, book or buy.

If Performance Max is your only Google Ads campaign, your ad may not be there to greet them.

What happened

Google added a paragraph to its help page "How Performance Max interacts with other campaigns in your account." Search Engine Roundtable reported it on November 3. The change was first spotted by Hana Kobzová of PPC News Feed.

We opened Google's page. Here is the new paragraph, in Google's words:

"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."

A "navigational" search is someone looking for a specific place or business: your name, your name plus a town, your website. A "brand-specific" search is your name, or a product name only you sell.

The same page already explained the general rule: "A Search campaign with a keyword that exactly matches or is spell-corrected to a person's query will be preferred over Performance Max." When no keyword matches exactly, Google says "the campaign with the higher Ad Rank will serve."

Note the wording. Google says Performance Max "may" filter these searches. It does not say it always will, and it does not say how often.

Source: Search Engine Roundtable, Nov 3

What it means for your business

Many local businesses run one Google campaign, and often it is Performance Max. It is easy to set up, and it covers Search, Maps, YouTube and more from one budget. Until now, a lot of owners assumed it also covered people searching their own name.

Google's new line says that assumption may not hold. Performance Max may step back from those searches, so a brand Search campaign can take them. If no brand Search campaign exists, nobody on your side steps forward.

Brand searches are usually your cheapest, warmest traffic. These people chose you before they typed. If a competitor bids on your name, their ad may now sit above your listing while yours does not show at all.

Picture a family dental office in a busy suburb. A patient searches the practice name to find the phone number. The first thing they see is an ad from a newer practice down the road offering a new-patient special. Your organic listing is still there, lower down. Some people will click the first thing they see.

The people searching your name already chose you. Don't make them walk past a competitor to find you.

What to do this week

Most of this is looking, not spending.

1. Search your own business name on a phone

   Search your name, and your name plus your town. Do it on mobile data, not your office Wi-Fi. Note who shows up first: you, an ad from you, or an ad from someone else.

2. Check whether you have a brand Search campaign

   In Google Ads, look at your campaign list. If the only campaign is Performance Max, you do not have one.

3. If not, start a small one

   Create a Search campaign with your business name, your location names and common misspellings as keywords. Write ads that match what people want when they search your name: phone, hours, booking, directions.

4. Keep it funded

   Google's own advice is to make sure brand Search campaigns "have sufficient budget." A brand campaign that runs out of money by noon leaves the afternoon open.

5. Or add search themes, if you want Performance Max to keep this traffic

   Google says to "consider adding Search Themes to the Performance Max campaign" to capture brand traffic there. Pick one approach on purpose, so the two campaigns are not left to sort it out.

Running several locations? Search each location's name and town. One location may be fully covered while another has a competitor sitting on top.

Google keeps expanding where your ads can appear. If you want the bigger picture, read Google will show your ad in the follow-up question.

This is part of What You Missed, our weekly read on the marketing news that matters to business owners. See the full week: /blog/what-you-missed-week-of-november-2-2026

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Sources

• Google Ads Help, "How Performance Max interacts with other campaigns in your account," accessed November 8, 2026. support.google.com
• Search Engine Roundtable, "Google Ads PMax Campaigns May Filter Out Navigational & Brand Queries," Barry Schwartz, November 3, 2026. seroundtable.com