Should You Be Bidding On Your Brand Keywords In 2025?

Paid hunt advertizing has galore arms.

Marketers walk years crafting strategies to thrust results done Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, and more.

Of these galore strategies adopted by brands and agencies, successful my acquisition implicit the past 15 years, 1 taxable that sits crossed each paid hunt strategy is marque bidding.

What Is Brand Bidding?

Brand bidding, successful its truest form, relates to targeting keywords that subordinate to your (or your clients) business.

For example:

Screenshot for hunt for [new balance], Google, November 2024

The astir communal keyword marketers volition see successful their strategy is the institution name. But depending connected hunt demand, determination whitethorn beryllium further keywords that are included.

Such as:

• Brand keyword + product.
• Brand keyword + ‘address’.
• Brand keyword + ‘customer service’.
• Brand keyword + ‘returns’.

There is besides an constituent of marque bidding focused connected products/services that whitethorn not incorporate the institution name.

Think Apple and the “iPhone” oregon Converse and the “Chuck Taylor.” These presumption are astir surely marque keywords, conscionable without the institution name.

From a tactical standpoint, whether brands bid connected their keywords oregon not is simply a determination made betwixt the stakeholders involved.

However, since Google Ads was birthed in October 2000, this taxable has been precise arguable for several reasons.

Why Is Brand Bidding A Controversial Topic?

The contention is rooted successful a question that galore brands oregon agencies volition apt person been asked oregon person asked themselves, “Why should we wage for postulation that we tin get for escaped done organic?”

This is simply a wholly justified position connected marque bidding, and if brands could warrant that the Google hunt motor results leafage (SERP) would service a azygous integrated effect – and nary rival ads erstwhile a marque word is searched – it would marque the determination for and against overmuch much straightforward.

However, times person changed, arsenic person Google Ads campaign types and the mode successful which the SERP is delivered and utilized by searchers.

Brand bidding should beryllium treated connected a case-by-case basis, considering arsenic galore situational factors arsenic possible, specified as:

• Competition.
• Market penetration.
• Keyword contextuality (a communal lawsuit being a precocious measurement generic keyword arsenic portion of your institution name, e.g., “The Next Day Flower Company”).
• Search demand.
• Resellers.
• Budgets.
• Organic rankings.

It’s not ever wide which way to take, but determination are a big of reasons for and against.

What Are The Benefits Of Brand Bidding?

Strengthened Visibility

Serving a branded text ad connected the SERP alongside your integrated listings provides an further nexus for searchers to click done to your site.

Let’s accidental you fertile presumption 1 organically for your institution name, person the cognition sheet displaying your institution information, a substance advertisement serving sitelinks alongside your reappraisal rating, and your institution telephone number. The existent property you are maximizing connected the SERP volition service arsenic an authorization for your brand.

Brand Protection

Being connected the receiving extremity of competitor bidding is simply a communal crushed for marketers and agencies to activate their ain marque campaigns.

Brands are escaped to bid connected rival institution names and/or related keywords crossed Google, Bing, etc. This is simply a communal strategy utilized by brands and agencies worldwide.

There are restrictions that forbid brands from including trademarked institution names wrong advertisement copy, but extracurricular of this, brands person escaped reign.

In my experience, determination are a fewer reasons (among others) for wherefore brands follow this strategy:

• Reactiveness – when a marque spots a rival bidding connected their marque presumption to get their marque backmost to presumption 1 arsenic soon arsenic possible.
• Exploration to spot whether the results-driven are successful enactment with KPIs and if the incremental worth is worthwhile.
• Necessity arsenic rival bidding is communal practice, and bidding connected a marque is simply a request to guarantee users tin find your marque instantly successful a engaged SERP.

Messaging And Control

The integrated listing served for marque queries contains a customizable title tag and meta description.

However, Google’s guidelines authorities that it volition lone usage this if it is close and volition often rewrite these and service organic sitelinks.

By serving a branded hunt ad, the advertiser is fixed implicit power implicit the messaging.

This is utile successful galore scenarios:

• Poor integrated rankings (e.g., not serving an integrated listing for branded search, incorrect leafage ranking supra the homepage).
• To instantly service bespoke messaging for your branded ads (e.g., promotions, updates).
• Combatting rewritten rubric tags and/or meta descriptions.
• Creating bespoke sitelinks to nonstop users to antithetic landing pages.

Click Costs

Context aside, marque cost-per-click (CPC) is apt cheaper than non-brand (generic keywords) arsenic determination is little competition, and your quality score volition beryllium strong.

Each manufacture (market and vertical) volition person a antithetic script successful presumption of however overmuch a branded click costs.

Take Nike, for example. Its marque presumption volition beryllium incredibly competitory arsenic resellers, marketplaces, and affiliates volition service ads connected the institution name. However, a tiny ecommerce store mightiness not person anyone bidding connected its marque name.

With the typically cheaper click costs, bidding connected branded keywords tin beryllium seen arsenic a cost-effective strategy, but each different factors indispensable beryllium considered – a cardinal 1 being the interaction connected integrated performance.

Incrementality

This refers to driving amended results wide by bidding connected branded keywords than you would without, and is simply a precise blistery taxable successful PPC.

As with astir each arguments for and against marque bidding, the incremental gains driven done this strategy disagree by brand.

Among different methods, turn-off experiments are communal practice.

This is wherever marketers intermission marque bidding for a attraction radical portion maintaining visibility for the power radical to observe the interaction of bidding connected branded keywords.

Studies person shown that turning disconnected marque campaigns tin effect successful little wide show versus having marque ads live.

Others person shown hardly immoderate interaction overall, with integrated picking up the income oregon leads that would person been driven done ads.

What is the champion mode to find out? Give it a test.

What Are The Drawbacks Of Brand Bidding?

Budget

Context plays a immense relation (size of business, level of demand, market, etc.).

But speech from immoderate incrementality investigating – successful a budgeting script astatine the precise apical level – spending wealth connected marque presumption that (to immoderate degree) volition beryllium picked up done integrated tin beryllium seen arsenic an inefficient usage of spend.

It’s not uncommon to spot companies with immense levels of marque hunt request chopped their marque spend. eBay did this implicit a decennary ago, and much businesses person followed suit since.

Freeing up this fund volition interaction brands with sizeable online demand. For smaller brands with little hunt demand, it’s truly a lawsuit of weighing up the savings and seeing however acold this could spell if it were to beryllium reinvested into non-brand caller lawsuit acquisition.

Impact On Organic

If a searcher is looking for your institution sanction and you person integrated listings serving connected Google, the chances are they cognize who your institution is and volition sojourn your institution website (among different reasons).

By activating marque ads, the magnitude of traffic, sales/leads, and wide integrated engagement volition beryllium impacted erstwhile the advertisement serves supra the integrated listing.

It truly depends connected the brand, team, goals, and key show indicators (KPIs) successful question to measurement up the interaction of moving marque ads connected organic, and a bully spot to commencement is incrementality testing.

Existing Customers

In astir cases, caller and existing customers should beryllium targeted separately for marque search.

Take ASOS, for example. Its marque postulation volition beryllium a premix of caller searchers, existing customers looking to shop, existing customers looking to log successful and nonstop returns, talk to lawsuit service, and more.

By not accounting for this wrong your strategy, efficiencies could beryllium missed, and the fund could beryllium spent connected driving users to instrumentality actions that are not aligned with KPIs.

Different Takes On Performance Reports

Brand show volition astir ever beryllium stronger than postulation driven for searchers who are not alert of your brand.

Over the past 15 years, I’ve seen galore accounts that blend unneurotic marque and non-brand show successful reporting, including shopping and Performance Max campaigns, which besides service marque queries.

In immoderate cases, this is the lens that stakeholders privation to see. But if a marque drives a ample percent of revenue/leads for a tiny percent of spend, the overarching presumption of show whitethorn look much preferable than it is from a caller lawsuit acquisition constituent of view.

Relationships (Particularly Resellers)

Brands who merchantability done resellers/marketplaces tin often person a competitory auction for marque terms.

Mutual agreements tin beryllium a mode to enactment operation successful place, agreeing to not bid straight connected the institution sanction with the state to bid connected marque + presumption (e.g., marque + product), for example.

However, these agreements tin beryllium hard to negociate arsenic galore parties tin beryllium progressive (resellers with in-house teams, caller agencies onboarded into resellers, etc.).

As a result, the auction tin go competitive, which will, successful turn, thrust up click costs and little efficiency.

What Else Do You Need To Consider With Brand Bidding?

Performance Max

PMax is simply a consolidated run benignant offered by Google and Microsoft. This afloat automated run serves crossed aggregate networks, 1 being Google search.

This run tin (and will) service branded queries. I’ve seen brands study beardown PMax show galore times nether the presumption that it’s non-brand when, successful fact, a precocious percent of sales/leads are driven done their ain marque searches.

There are controls successful spot to region marque from PMax (account-level antagonistic keywords, campaign-level antagonistic keywords added via Google Support, etc.). However, if you privation control, I’d urge creating a marque hunt run and removing marque from PMax.

Broad Match

This Google Ads keyword lucifer type allows your ads to service connected searches related to the meaning of the keywords you’re bidding on.

With this, arsenic your marque falls nether this category, the chances of your ads entering auctions for marque queries contempt your keyword not containing your institution sanction are high.

As with PMax (but a small easier to implement), you tin region your marque presumption from your wide lucifer campaigns with the usage of antagonistic keywords.

Alternatively, you could people marque queries done wide lucifer with a broad antagonistic keyword strategy to guarantee you are lone allocating fund to brand.

The Semantics Of Your Brand Name

Let’s accidental your marque sanction contains a connection + the merchandise you sell, specified arsenic “123 decorator handbags.”

When bidding connected marque terms, you whitethorn spot competitors successful auction insights matching done wide and/or PMax for the word “designer handbags.”

This whitethorn interaction your click costs, which tin fluctuate implicit clip depending connected concern (e.g., brands expanding budgets crossed PMax during highest months).

Competitors whitethorn inactive bid connected your marque presumption directly, but others whitethorn prime these queries up done PMax oregon Broad, a cardinal information for budgeting and planning.

So, Should You Be Bidding On Your Brand Keywords?

There isn’t a close oregon incorrect answer, and claims that determination is volition apt beryllium rooted successful idiosyncratic experiences.

Knowing which way to instrumentality yet comes down to context, and this way volition alteration implicit time.

For agencies managing aggregate clients, each marque should beryllium treated connected a case-by-case basis, and humanities discourse is surely needed.

For in-house selling teams, the aforesaid logic applies but you apt person less brands to marque the determination for.

The arguments for and against are determination to usher you successful your strategical decision-making.

The champion spot to commencement is by listing each considerations and questions, specified arsenic “What is our integrated positioning similar for brand?”, “How galore resellers bash we person and what marque presumption are they bidding on?”, and “Do we person the budget?”

From here, whether you presently bid connected marque and privation to trial incrementality, oregon if you’re funny successful moving a abbreviated stint and haven’t utilized this strategy before, guarantee reporting is robust and that you are ever testing.

More resources:

• Tips For Bidding On Holiday Season Trending Keywords
• Choosing Your Keyword Champion: Setting Yourself Up For Success In the Auction
• PPC Trends 2025

Featured Image: Sammby/Shutterstock