Google has introduced a new conversion metric for advertisers: Branded Searches. Quietly launched after being teased at Google Marketing Live 2025, this new feature allows marketers to measure how their upper-funnel campaigns spark brand interest across Google Search and YouTube. It’s a long-awaited capability that offers tangible insight into the awareness stage, traditionally one of the most difficult areas to quantify.

This new reporting layer adds clarity to how video and Discovery-based campaigns influence consumer behaviour, particularly when users don’t convert immediately but take a meaningful step forward: searching for your brand.

Why Branded Searches Matter

Historically, brand lift measurement has been the domain of survey-based tools or custom lift studies. These methods are often resource-heavy, slow to deploy and siloed from everyday campaign reporting. Branded Searches brings that intelligence directly into the Google Ads interface, offering a lightweight, always-on signal of consideration intent.

The value is straightforward. If someone sees your ad on YouTube, Gmail or Discover and later searches for your brand on Google or YouTube, that’s a strong indicator that your campaign has made an impact. You may not get the click or conversion immediately, but you’ve moved the user further down the funnel.

How Branded Searches Work

Branded Searches use view-through conversion attribution and track when a user searches for your brand on Google or YouTube within a chosen attribution window (anywhere from 1 to 30 days, with 7 days as the default). The last eligible ad the user sees before making that branded search will be credited.

The feature is available for the following campaign types:

• YouTube

• Performance Max (serving on YouTube, Discover and Gmail)

• Demand Gen (serving on YouTube, Discover and Gmail)

You can find branded search data in your Google Ads account under:

• Conversions Summary (under the Consideration goal)

• All Conversions and Results columns in campaign, ad group and asset-level reports

However, note that branded searches are reporting-only for now. They do not yet support bidding optimisation and will not appear in the standard Conversions column (which only includes actions used for automated bidding).

A Practical Example

Imagine a brand running two campaigns:

• Campaign A is focused on a flagship product

• Campaign B is a broader brand awareness campaign

A user sees both ads, but the last one viewed is from Campaign A. If the user then searches for the brand or product name, the branded search conversion will be attributed to Campaign A, even though both campaigns contributed to building awareness.

This model allows advertisers to compare how different creative, messaging strategies and campaign objectives influence branded interest, even when a user doesn’t click or convert immediately.

Benefits for Marketers

For advertisers investing in video or upper-funnel media, Branded Searches help close the gap between exposure and engagement, providing clearer ROI signals across multiple touchpoints.

1. Measure Brand Consideration

Branded Searches serve as a proxy for brand lift, letting you quantify awareness in behavioural terms. You can now answer the question, Did this campaign increase interest in our brand? with more confidence.

2. Inform Budget Allocation

Seeing which campaigns drive the most branded interest helps marketers allocate spend more effectively across channels, audiences and creative formats. For example, if a Performance Max campaign is generating more branded searches than a standalone YouTube campaign, you may decide to reallocate resources accordingly.

3. No Heavy Setup Required

Unlike traditional brand lift studies, Branded Searches are baked into the Google Ads reporting ecosystem. Once brand mapping is complete, data starts flowing automatically. There’s no need to launch a separate experiment or request a custom report.

4. Always-On Tracking

Because the feature is always active, advertisers can use it continuously without relying on isolated campaign windows or limited sample sizes. That enables more consistent measurement over time.

Set-Up and Requirements

To start using Branded Searches, advertisers must first configure brand mapping. This process ensures that Google understands which terms qualify as branded queries for your business.

Once brand mapping is in place (which typically requires working with a Google sales representative), Branded Searches will automatically populate in your campaign reports and conversion summary page.

Eligibility is currently limited to:

• YouTube campaigns

• Performance Max campaigns on YouTube, Discover and Gmail

• Demand Gen campaigns across the same properties

Branded Searches will appear under the “All conv.” and “Results” columns, but not in the “Conversions” column, which is reserved for actions used in bidding strategies.

Strategic Takeaway

For senior marketers focused on brand growth, Branded Searches offer a much-needed bridge between upper-funnel reach and lower-funnel action. They give you behavioural data that reflects interest and intent, not just impressions or views.

This is especially useful in today’s multi-touch, non-linear customer journeys where the first sign of success might not be a click, but a search for your brand days later.

While the metric can’t yet be used for automated bidding, its value as a diagnostic and planning tool is immediate. Used alongside engagement metrics, survey lift and traditional conversions, Branded Searches provide a richer picture of campaign effectiveness across the funnel.

As advertisers continue to invest in video and Discovery formats, tools like this will be essential to justify budget decisions and refine campaign strategy.