Microsoft Advertising is rolling out brand lists for Performance Max campaigns. "Brand lists allow greater control over brand image and ad visibility, including the brands you don't want your ads to be associated with," Microsoft wrote in its help documentation.
Anu Adegbola first covered this at Search Engine Land and wrote, "Brand lists allow advertisers to exclude their ads from appearing alongside specific brands, potentially improving ad relevance and return on ad spend (ROAS)."
She also posted this really small screenshot of this in the Microsoft Advertising console:
You can apply brand lists to your campaigns to help ensure that traffic, such as ad impressions, clicks, and conversions, on search queries for specified brands aligns with your advertising needs. There is a note on the document that says "Not everyone has this feature yet. If you don't, don't worry—it's coming soon!"
Here is what Microsoft says are the benefits of using brand lists:
- Mitigate risks associated with the brands your ads appear alongside. By choosing brand exclusion, you can determine how you want your ads to appear on the Microsoft Advertising Network.
- Display your ads with relevant content. Ensure that your target audience sees your ads in a context that's appropriate for your brand.
- Optimize your return on ad spend (ROAS). Maximize your budget by managing the contexts and placements where your ads appear to suit your brand needs.
- Cover for misspellings. Brand lists take into account potential brand misspellings, so you only need to provide the correct brand name. We'll identify potential brand misspellings which might occur within search queries that trigger the ad.
There are more details in the help document on how to set these up.
Forum discussion at X.
