Why are my brand keyword CPCs going up?
Your own brand keywords should be your cheapest clicks. If their cost per click is climbing, the most common reason is that someone else has started bidding on your name. Here's how to tell, and what to do.
How brand CPCs are set
In a Google Ads auction you don't pay your maximum bid. Broadly, you pay what you need to keep your position above the next advertiser, adjusted for ad quality. When nobody else competes for your brand, there's no one to beat, so your brand clicks are cheap. When others join the auction, you have to beat them, and your price per click goes up even though nothing in your account changed.
Six reasons brand CPCs go up
- A competitor started bidding on your name. The most common cause. It raises your CPC and can push your ad down.
- Your affiliates are bidding on your brand. They compete in your auctions with your own traffic, then take a commission. See affiliates bidding on your brand.
- Lead resellers or comparison sites are targeting "brand quotes", "brand phone number" and similar searches.
- Your bidding strategy changed. Target impression share at the absolute top, or automated bidding chasing conversions, can bid more than needed.
- Broad match leaks. Your "brand" campaign may be matching generic searches that cost much more.
- Lower ad quality. Landing page changes, disapproved assets or less relevant ads can reduce Quality Score and raise prices.
How to find the cause
- Auction Insights (in your brand campaign, under Insights and reports): new domains appearing, or rising overlap and "position above" rates, mean new competitors.
- Search terms report: check that your brand campaign is really getting brand searches.
- Change history: look for bidding strategy or target changes around when CPCs started rising.
- Look at the actual results page from different cities and on mobile. Auction Insights shows domains, not ads; you need to see whether they use your name. Use the free check below, or see competitor ads in another city.
How to bring them down
- Stop the bidders you can stop: enforce your affiliate terms, ask competitors directly, and file a Google trademark complaint against advertisers who use your name in their ad text.
- Tighten match types: exact and phrase match for brand, and remove generic terms that crept in.
- Review bid strategy: a top-of-page impression share target with a sensible CPC cap usually works well for brand.
- Improve the ad and landing page: make the ad clearly yours and the landing page match the search.
- Keep monitoring. When bidders leave, CPCs fall; when new ones arrive, you'll see it in your costs a day later. Seeing it in the results page the same day lets you act first.
To estimate what competitor bidding costs you in lost customers, try the brand bidding cost calculator.
Questions
Why is my brand CPC increasing?
The most common reason is new competition: a competitor, affiliate or lead reseller started bidding on your brand, so you have to outbid them. Bid strategy changes, broad match and lower ad quality can also raise it.
How do I see who is bidding on my brand in Google Ads?
Auction Insights in your brand campaign lists the domains competing in the same auctions. It doesn't show their ad text, so check the results page itself from different cities and devices.
How do I lower my brand CPC?
Stop the bidders you can (affiliate terms, direct requests, trademark complaints when they use your name in the ad), use exact and phrase match for brand, set a sensible CPC cap, and keep ads and landing pages highly relevant.
Free check: see the ads on your brand right now
One live Google search for your brand from the US city and device you choose. Free, no account, about five seconds.