Google’s Branded Searches help page was rewritten without a changelog entry, a blog post, or an announcement. Three things moved in that edit: the metric now sits under a goal that can’t be added to a campaign for optimization, its default lookback window shrank, and one major campaign type disappeared from the list of what it supports. Search Engine Land reports on the rewrite; Google’s own page never says anything changed at all.
What changed in Google’s Branded Searches conversion measurement?
Search Engine Land’s reading of the edit turns on three elements, and one line on Google’s page spells out the metric’s limits:
- Goal classification: Search Engine Land’s reading of the edit puts Branded Searches under Consideration, a goal Google says “can’t be added to a campaign for optimization.”
- Default window: Search Engine Land reports the previous default was 30 days; Google’s page now lists 7, adjustable from 1 to 30.
- Supported campaign types: Google’s page now lists only YouTube and Demand Gen; Search Engine Land reports Performance Max is no longer among them.
- Bidding eligibility (current state, not a reported change): Google’s page states the metric is “currently reporting-only” and can’t be used in bid optimization.
Google’s Page Shows Only What’s Live Now
Google’s help page for Branded Searches describes the current state, not how it got there. It defines the feature as “a new conversion type that shows the number of searches users made for your brand on Google and YouTube after viewing your ads,” lists eligible campaign types, states the window, and sets the bidding restriction in one line.
“Branded searches are currently reporting-only and can’t be used in bidding optimization for your campaigns.”
Google’s page states that the Consideration goal “can’t be added to a campaign for optimization.” Search Engine Land reports that Google now formally categorizes the metric under Consideration; that the categorization is new is Search Engine Land’s reading of the edit, since Google’s page dates nothing and describes nothing as a change.
The Default Window Shrinks, and Performance Max Drops Off the List
Google’s page says branded searches track searches made “within 7 days” of viewing eligible ads, adjustable “anywhere between one and 30 days.” Search Engine Land reports the previous default was 30 days. Search Engine Land credits the find to Hana Kobzova, founder of PPC News Feed.
One campaign type has come off the list of supported types, on Search Engine Land’s account. Google’s page now lists only “YouTube and Demand Gen campaigns.” Search Engine Land reports Performance Max carried Branded Searches support when the feature was announced in 2025 and no longer appears on that list; whether the omission is permanent or a documentation gap, neither source says. Performance Max is increasingly governed per surface rather than per campaign, which Google’s separate September 2026 language-targeting change shows directly: Performance Max’s Search Network portion switches to the automatic matching used on standard Search campaigns, a different program, on a different timeline, through a different mechanism.
Branded Searches: Google’s Page vs. Search Engine Land’s Reading
| Attribute | Google’s page (current state) | Search Engine Land’s reading |
|---|---|---|
| Supported campaign types | YouTube and Demand Gen campaigns | Performance Max included when announced in 2025, no longer listed |
| Default lookback window | 7 days, adjustable 1–30 | Previous default was 30 days |
| Goal | “Can’t be added to a campaign for optimization” | Now formally categorized under Consideration |
| Bidding eligibility | Reporting-only, not usable in bid optimization | Treated as a primary conversion action but not available as a bidding optimization goal |
| Reporting column | Visible under Results and All Conversions, not Conversions | Viewable at campaign, ad group and asset levels |
What’s Not Published
Two questions have no published answer. Neither source states whether the new 7-day default applies to existing Branded Searches configurations or only to setups created from now on, so an advertiser can’t tell which basis produced any given week’s number. Neither source states whether the window is set per campaign or per conversion action. Both questions sit inside Google’s own reporting surface and stay open.
The Effect That Doesn’t Show in the Interface
A 30-to-7-day default is a different measurement basis for the same feature. Whether it reaches configurations that already exist is exactly what neither source says, so an advertiser reading a Branded Searches trend line cannot tell whether the line is built on one window or two. A comparable quiet break surfaced in GA4 in July: a diagnostic added on July 30 flags ad clicks missing their GBRAID and gad_ parameters, sessions that land as “(not set)” or organic instead of paid. There the interface eventually named the broken URLs; here the documentation carries the new window and nothing else.
Advertisers who leaned on Branded Searches as a brand-lift signal inside Performance Max have no listed support for it, since Performance Max no longer appears among the eligible campaign types on Google’s page. Everyone else keeps the number flowing into Results and All Conversions, reporting-only, on the 7-day default the page now documents.