Should your CSS partner appear on brand searches?

Be clear about which kind of brand search you mean

“Brand traffic” can mean several things. A search for your shop’s name suggests different intent from a search for a manufacturer whose products you stock. A generic category search contains neither. Treating them as one permission can restrict useful product discovery or allow activity your programme did not intend.

For a fictional retailer called Willow Home selling Northline cookware, “Willow Home saucepan” includes the retailer name; “Northline saucepan” includes the manufacturer; “stainless steel saucepan” is generic. These are illustrative distinctions, not a rule that every search in a category has the same value.

Product ranges, sub-brands, retailer-owned labels and names shared with ordinary words can complicate the boundary. Give the partner real examples and explain what you want to protect rather than relying on the instruction “no brand bidding”.

• List your store’s name, sub-brands and relevant name variations.
• Separate manufacturer names and retailer-owned product brands.
• Provide examples of permitted, restricted and ambiguous searches.

Bring PPC and affiliate permissions into the same agreement

The PPC team may want to reserve retailer-name demand for its core campaigns. The affiliate programme may impose separate paid-search rules or require explicit CSS approval. Resolve both before activation: a favourable commercial case does not override programme restrictions.

GMVLY Managed CSS adds a separate, GMVLY-funded Shopping route alongside your core activity. Discuss where that route should compete, which products and markets it covers, and how any permissions are documented. Manufacturer searches may be commercially relevant for a multibrand retailer, but permission and product fit still need checking.

Choose an owner who can approve exceptions and changes. Record the agreed scope and effective date, especially where multiple teams or networks are involved. Confirm how a change in programme terms reaches the people operating the campaigns.

• Check the affiliate programme’s Shopping and paid-search permissions.
• Agree the retailer-brand policy with the PPC owner.
• Your affiliate manager owns programme permissions; agree exceptions with the PPC owner and communicate the campaign scope to GMVLY.

Match the restriction to the control being applied

Shopping campaigns use product information rather than positive keywords to target ads. Google provides negative keywords to restrict matching searches. Their behaviour depends on match type, so an exclusion needs a defined term and scope rather than a general expectation about all brand-related traffic.

GMVLY’s operator tools support advertiser-level negative-keyword lists with exact, phrase and broad match types, applied to the relevant GMVLY Google Ads accounts. Ask the team to confirm the agreed list and its application to the channels in scope. Saving a requirement and verifying its application are distinct checks.

Google explains that negative keywords do not expand to all close variants. Review relevant variations and ambiguous terms with the team. A broad exclusion can also remove useful demand, particularly when a brand name is an ordinary word. These controls do not guarantee that your core ad will always outrank another ad or establish that all campaign overlap has disappeared.

• Agree each restricted term, match type and reason for the restriction.
• Confirm which managed accounts and markets the list covers.
• Ask who verifies application and handles changes or discrepancies.

Evaluate contribution rather than judging from attribution alone

A partner can receive credit for an order without proving that the business gained an additional sale. That matters when reviewing retailer-name traffic, but it is also true for manufacturer and generic searches. Conversely, seeing two routes promote the same catalogue does not prove that the second route adds no value.

Google’s CSS auction guidance says a merchant is not second-priced against itself. That addresses how another CSS bid for the same merchant affects auction pricing. It does not settle search permissions, commission economics or whether an attributed sale would otherwise have happened.

Review completed sales, commission, returns and the contribution retained by the business. Use a consistent period and product scope. If the decision depends on incremental growth, agree an appropriate evaluation method and data access; a branded sale or a before-and-after revenue increase alone cannot answer that question.

• Separate attributed orders from approved sales and reversals.
• Check contribution after commission and relevant variable costs.
• Record what the available evidence can and cannot establish about additional sales.

Agree the boundary, then keep it under review

Use this worksheet before launch and when permissions change. Keep the answer practical: the search categories allowed, the restrictions required, the owner of the decision and how concerns will be investigated.

If you spot an unexpected appearance, capture the search, date, market and visible advertiser details. Share them with the campaign owner so the team can check the account, current restrictions and matching behaviour. An isolated search observation is a useful investigation prompt, not a complete performance assessment.

• Which retailer, manufacturer and generic searches are permitted?
• Which programme rules or written approvals support those permissions?
• Which exclusions have we agreed, and who confirms they are applied?
• Who can approve a change, and how will the operators be informed?
• What commercial outcome and review period will guide our decision?
• What information should we provide if an appearance concerns us?