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Google Ads · Status at source date: Newsletter archive

AI Max adds a Branded Searches control with three serving options

Written by Paid Media Collective
IN BRIEF

Google Ads has given AI Max campaigns a dedicated Branded Searches control, surfaced by Thomas Eccel. Advertisers can now choose exactly how AI Max handles brand queries with three settings: show ads on all relevant searches (the default), control branded searches through brand inclusions and exclusions, or show ads only on unbranded searches.

Original newsletter image: AI Max adds a Branded Searches control with three serving options
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What changed

The third option addresses a long-standing concern: advertisers running a separate branded Search campaign can now stop AI Max from cannibalising that traffic. The control gives back a level of brand-query precision that the original AI Max rollout lacked.

THE COLLECTIVE PERSPECTIVE

Why it matters for advertisers

For you, this means advertisers running dedicated branded campaigns should review the new control to prevent AI Max overlap. Worth setting AI Max to unbranded-only where a separate brand campaign already covers those queries, then monitoring the shift in branded impression share.

Perspective from the original PMC newsletter.

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Original newsletter text and archive evidence

AI Max adds a Branded Searches control with three serving options

Google Ads has given AI Max campaigns a dedicated Branded Searches control, surfaced by Thomas Eccel. Advertisers can now choose exactly how AI Max handles brand queries with three settings: show ads on all relevant searches (the default), control branded searches through brand inclusions and exclusions, or show ads only on unbranded searches.

The third option addresses a long-standing concern: advertisers running a separate branded Search campaign can now stop AI Max from cannibalising that traffic. The control gives back a level of brand-query precision that the original AI Max rollout lacked.

For you, this means advertisers running dedicated branded campaigns should review the new control to prevent AI Max overlap. Worth setting AI Max to unbranded-only where a separate brand campaign already covers those queries, then monitoring the shift in branded impression share.

Source captured . No explicit first-contributor label was provided for this update.

Newsletter coverage (1)📰 🦸‍♂️ Paid Media News (Week 22) 🦸‍♀️ · 1 Jun 2026