What changed
Google help page now says Performance Max may filter out navigational or brand-specific queries in favour of brand Search campaigns; AI Overviews appear in the right column for many brand searches
When
PMax wording reported November 3, 2026; AI Overviews placement reported November 2, 2026
Who it affects
Google Ads (help article 13810170), spotted by Hana Kobzova and reported by Barry Schwartz at Search Engine Roundtable
What to do
Fund a dedicated brand Search campaign, check its budget-lost impression share, and review how AI Overviews describe your brand

Key takeaways

  • Google's help page now says Performance Max may filter out brand and navigational searches so brand Search campaigns serve them.
  • A capped brand Search campaign is now the main risk: brand clicks are cheap, convert well and cost about 5% more than last quarter.
  • AI Overviews have replaced the brand panel on many US desktop searches, so check what Google says about your brand.

Google brand search changes, autumn 2026

  1. AI Overviews on 5 of 98 brand names (Ahrefs)

  2. AI Overviews on 63 of 100 brand names

  3. Alphabet: search ad growth slows to 12%

  4. Brand AI Overviews move to right column

  5. PMax may filter brand searches, help page says

  6. Black Friday, peak brand search demand

What Google changed on the Performance Max page

The help article on how Performance Max interacts with other campaigns already said an exact keyword match in a Search campaign beats PMax. The new section goes further: PMax may also filter out navigational or brand-specific queries so they are served through dedicated Search campaigns. Google's advice on the same page is to make sure brand Search campaigns have enough budget and eligible, high-quality ads, and to consider adding Search themes to the PMax campaign.

Note the word may. Google does not say PMax always drops brand queries, does not mention brand exclusions, and does not say what happens to a brand search when no brand Search campaign exists. Google made no announcement; the change was spotted on the page itself. For many Shopify brands, PMax has quietly been the main catcher of brand traffic, which is why the wording matters.

AI Overviews now sit where the brand panel was

Search Engine Roundtable showed desktop searches for Apple, Zillow and Coca-Cola where an AI Overview fills the right column that used to hold the knowledge panel. PPC Land cited Ahrefs data finding AI Overviews on 63 of 100 brand names by September 30, 2026, against 5 of 98 on July 1. It also flagged an accuracy risk: in the Zillow example the AI text gave a different founding year from the fact row beside it.

Brands cannot edit that summary directly. It is built from what the web says about you, which is the work covered in our brand mentions in AI search explainer.

Search budgets are under review at the same time

Digiday interviewed 18 media buyers on November 2. One put the contested share at 10% to 20% of Google budgets, another said 10% to 30% of search budgets are being reallocated, and a third expects the questioned share to rise to 20% to 30% around Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Alphabet's search ad revenue grew 12% in the third quarter, its slowest pace this year, and Tinuiti told Digiday branded keyword cost per click rose 5% in the quarter, roughly in line with non-brand terms.

Put together, brand traffic is getting more expensive, is being moved out of PMax's automatic reach, and is being answered on the page by an AI summary. A brand that does nothing could see the change only as a dip in PMax conversions it cannot explain.

So what: the money at risk

Brand searches are usually the cheapest, highest converting clicks an online store buys, so they flatter PMax's reported return. If PMax hands them back and your brand Search campaign is capped by budget, those searches are either lost to the organic result or won by a rival bidding on your name. The risk is not the clicks moving, it is the clicks moving into a campaign that cannot afford them.

Worked example with illustrative numbers

These numbers are invented to show the math. A Shopify brand gets 4,000 brand clicks a month at $0.60, or $2,400. Brand clicks convert at 12% with a $60 order, so they bring 480 orders and $28,800. Until now PMax caught most of them. The brand Search campaign has a $40 daily budget, about $1,200 a month, half of what the traffic needs.

If PMax filters those searches and the Search campaign loses 50% of impressions to budget, the brand misses 2,000 clicks, 240 orders and about $14,400 of revenue a month, all to save $1,200 of spend. With branded clicks up 5%, the real need is closer to $2,520. Raising the brand budget is the cheapest fix in the account, and the Google Shopping ads team usually checks it first.

Brand search check before Black Friday

  • Brand Search campaign exists
  • Exact and phrase brand terms
  • Lost IS (budget) under 5%
  • PMax brand conversions tracked
  • Blended Google return reported
  • Desktop brand result screenshotted

What sellers should do this week

  • PPC manager: in Google Ads, confirm a dedicated brand Search campaign exists with exact and phrase match brand terms. Metric: brand queries in its search terms report.
  • PPC manager: open the brand campaign's Search lost impression share (budget) column for the last 14 days. Metric: under 5%.
  • PPC manager: in PMax insights, compare brand search category conversions this month against October. Metric: any drop matches a rise in the brand Search campaign.
  • Finance lead: report PMax return with and without brand traffic, so a lower PMax number is not read as a failure. Metric: blended Google return per dollar, not per campaign.
  • SEO owner: search your brand on desktop and screenshot the right column; fix wrong facts at the source pages Google cites, using the AI search optimization guide. Metric: summary matches your About page.
  • Marketing lead: watch for rivals on your name, which gets easier if your brand campaign is capped. Metric: auction insights overlap rate on brand terms.

When this does not apply

If you already run a well funded brand Search campaign, little changes beyond reporting. Brands with very low brand search volume, or that sell mainly on Amazon, should look at Amazon brand defence first; our branded keyword bidding guide covers it. The AI Overviews examples were US desktop results, and Google may change both behaviours without notice.

Where PPC Spider helps

We set brand and non-brand budgets from margin after fees and report blended return, so moves like this one do not hide in a campaign split. Follow the Shopify ecommerce news channel for updates, or ask for a free Amazon audit if your brand also sells on Amazon.

Sources

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