Google PMax: New Security Plan

Google is taking active steps to improve the brand safety of Performance Max (PMax), following the incriminating report from Adalytics.

According to the report, published last month, the search engine was accused of serving ads on inappropriate non-Google websites through the Search Partner Network (SPN). Google denied the allegations but began offering advertisers to opt out of the SNP a week later.

Google is considering new security controls

Ads risk appearing next to inappropriate content that doesn't reach their target audience and can damage their brand reputation.

Google's advertising relations manager, Ginny Marvin, confirmed that new security controls are being considered as a solution to this problem.

Existing security controls at Google

As Google considers adding more brand safety controls, you currently have tools at your disposal that can manage the type of content your PMax ads can appear in Search, Shopping, Display and Video inventory:

Search & Shopping eligibility checks

New PMax campaign-level brand exclusions prevent your ads from appearing for specific brand queries in Search & Shopping.

Count-level negative keywords prevent your ads from appearing for these queries in Search & Shopping.

Conclusion

As digital marketers, we should continue to monitor the development of this issue, and take advantage of the tools Google offers to protect our brands in the meantime.