The new Account-Level Placement Exclusions features added to Google Ads will allow advertisers to exclude unwanted placements from all of their accounts using one control panel. This enhancement will simplify any brand safety management, along with making it easier to remove low-quality sites, applications, or channels from being placed on their sites as an advertiser.
In the past, advertisers needed to apply exclusions on an individual basis – by the campaign or ad group level, making it very time-consuming for large agencies and brands running numerous campaigns, especially when there are many ads in each campaign.
Account-Level Exclusions allow advertisers to maintain a single standard list for sites, mobile applications, and YouTube channels where they do not wish to have their ads appear.
Thereafter, as new placements are added to the standard list, Google Ads will automatically prevent the serving of ads in those placements across all campaigns within the account without any manual duplication.
Campaign Types That Support the Feature
The new control applies to several major Google Ads campaign formats, including:
- Performance Max
- Demand Gen
- YouTube campaigns
- Display campaigns
This update is especially important since formats like Performance Max are highly reliant on automated technology and previously had limited amounts of granular control available for what placements would be on.
Why is this change important to advertisers?
The rollout of this update addresses a long-standing problem for advertisers, such as managing placements across multiple systems. Because advertisers can now exclude by the account, brands can:
- Enforce the same brand-safety standards.
- Eliminate a lot of administrative burden.
- Save money budgeted for placements that perform poorly or are not related to their brand.
- Streamline campaign launches.
For agencies managing multiple clients or enterprise-level accounts, this means that they will be able to find efficiencies in how they manage their placement exclusion lists.
This update will lead to increased efficiency. However, advertisers need to exercise caution when migrating or expanding current exclusion lists. Adding too many wide exclusion rules at the account level could cause issues with reach and performance across multiple campaigns without realizing it. It is a good practice to audit existing placement data before consolidating exclusion lists.
The first person to notice the change was Aleksejus Podpruginas, a Google Ads professional who posted about it on LinkedIn. Since then, Google has rolled out the change to many advertisers’ accounts.
The update appears to be a simple change in interface; however, it is a significant step forward in how an advertiser can control ad placement in an increasingly automated Google Ads ecosystem.
Coming to an end, by centralizing exclusion at the account level, Google provides advertisers with a much simpler means of protecting the brand’s reputation and controlling spend—all while maintaining efficiency.
