Type your restaurant's name into Google: sometimes the first ad is not yours. Booking platforms, gift-voucher resellers, experience sites or restaurant listings can bid on your name. The guest who wanted to book with you clicks their ad, and you lose control of the relationship (and, depending on the case, you pay a commission). The standard answer is a Google Ads campaign on your brand keyword, properly set up and properly measured.
This guide explains how to protect your restaurant's name in Google Ads: a brand campaign, negative keywords, assets (formerly extensions), Performance Max versus Search, and booking tracking. Google Ads screens change regularly, so we describe the logic and stable settings, and flag what may change as of writing (November 2026).
Why aggregators bid on your restaurant's name
Google Ads works by auction: any advertiser can choose keywords, including your venue's name. According to Google's trademark policy, using a trademark as a keyword is not restricted. What Google regulates is the use of the trademark in the ad text: a trademark owner can file a complaint against an identified advertiser, subject to the policy's conditions (demonstrated rights, country, industry).
In practice:
- You cannot prevent someone from bidding on your name, as long as their ad complies with the policy.
- You can report ads whose text uses your brand in a confusing or misleading way, through Google's form. The outcome is not guaranteed and requires you to demonstrate your trademark rights. Check the current policy before starting.
- You can occupy the space: if your own ad is at the top of the page, the guest sees your official website first. That is the job of the brand campaign.
Even if your site leads the organic results, a competing ad can appear above it. Hence the point of not leaving that space empty.
Creating a Google Ads campaign on your restaurant's name
A brand campaign is a Search campaign with keywords tightly focused on your name. Here is a step-by-step method.
- A campaign dedicated to the brand, separate from your other campaigns. You control its budget and measure its results without mixing them with prospecting.
- Precise keywords: the exact name of the restaurant, its common variants (with or without "restaurant", with the city), and frequent misspellings. Google distinguishes three match types: broad (default, includes related searches), phrase (in quotes) and exact (in square brackets). For a brand campaign, favour phrase and exact, which give more control; broad match extends delivery to queries that no longer relate to your name.
- Ads that repeat the name with a clear benefit: "Book online", the address, the type of cuisine. A responsive ad lets you supply up to 15 headlines and 4 descriptions, which Google combines into different versions.
- A destination URL that leads to booking: the home page with a very visible button, or straight to the booking page if the mobile journey is clear.
- A budget consistent with the volume of searches on your name. You can test it, then adjust according to the impression share you obtain.
If your restaurant belongs to a group, create one campaign or ad group per venue, with the right landing page each time.
Note: the goal is not to bid on every possible keyword, but to protect queries that contain your name. Generic queries ("Italian restaurant Paris") follow a different prospecting logic.
Negative keywords: excluding searches that bring nothing
Negative keywords stop your ads from appearing on searches containing a given term. In a brand campaign, they avoid paying for useless clicks, for example from people looking for a job rather than a table.
The basic rules, according to Google's help:
- Broad (default): the ad does not show if the query contains all the negative terms, in any order.
- Phrase: only if the terms appear together, in the same order.
- Exact: only if the query is exactly that term.
- No close variants: a negative does not automatically cover plurals or synonyms. Add them separately.
How to find the right negatives:
- Open the "Search terms" report (under Insights and reports). It lists the queries that triggered your ads.
- Tick the terms to exclude and click "Add as negative keyword". By default, Google adds them as exact match for a Search campaign. Change the type with the symbols if needed.
- Example candidates: "job", "recruitment", "internship", "payslip", depending on the queries you actually see. Do not copy a ready-made list: decide from your own data.
Stay measured: too many negatives shrink your audience. Review the report regularly, for example monthly.
Assets (extensions): taking up more space in the results
Assets are additional pieces of information that enrich the ad. According to Google's help, they are free to add (you pay for clicks, including on interactive assets such as calls), and they only show if Google predicts they improve performance and the ad's rank is high enough.
For a restaurant, the most useful are:
- Sitelinks: menu, book, private dining, directions. Each link points to a specific page.
- Callouts: short mentions such as "Terrace", "Seasonal cuisine", "Online booking".
- Call asset: a phone number for phone bookings.
- Location assets: the address and map, linked to your business listing (see our guide on Google Business Profile).
- Structured snippets, price, promotions: useful depending on your offer (menu, set menu, event).
These assets take up screen space and push competing ads lower. Check that they are approved (a disapproved asset does not show) and remove obsolete ones (a past seasonal menu, an expired offer).
Performance Max or Search campaign in Google Ads: which to choose?
A Search campaign on the brand gives you control. You choose the keywords, the ads and the landing page. Performance Max, for its part, serves across several channels (Search, Maps, YouTube, Display, etc.) from assets you provide, with less control.
The risk with Performance Max: if you do not frame it, it can capture searches on your brand that you would have got anyway, and pass those conversions off as the campaign's result. Your figures then look better than reality.
Three levers to know, according to Google's help:
- Priority of identical exact keywords: when a search could trigger both a Search campaign and a Performance Max campaign, identical exact-match keywords in the Search campaign take precedence. A brand campaign in exact match therefore helps you keep control.
- Brand exclusions: in Performance Max, you create a brand list and apply it to the campaign. Exclusions cover Search inventory, Shopping and YouTube search. Path as of writing: campaign settings, "Additional settings", then "Brand exclusions". For Search campaigns, Google is moving these settings into the AI Max panel: check your screen.
- Negative keywords in Performance Max: they apply to Search and Shopping inventory. You can set them at account level, or for a campaign from the negative keywords tab.
For a single restaurant, a common-sense rule: a brand Search campaign to protect the name and, if you use Performance Max for prospecting, an exclusion of your own brand so you can measure what it brings on top. For the choice of campaign type in your situation, an audit of your account beats a general rule.
Tracking bookings and avoiding common mistakes
A brand campaign only makes sense if you measure what it protects. Three levels of tracking, from simplest to most complete.
- Google Ads conversions: define the confirmed booking as the conversion (confirmation page or event). Avoid counting a mere click on the "Book" button.
- Enhanced conversions: they add hashed customer data (SHA256) to your tracking to better link the conversion to the ad. They require proper consent.
- Offline conversion import: useful to send Google what happens after the booking (visit, bill) using the click identifier (GCLID). According to Google's help, from 15 June 2026 these imports go through the Data Manager API. Have this setup checked with your provider.
To compare your share of visibility with other advertisers, use the Auction insights report. It shows, among other things, impression share and overlap rate with other advertisers. It shows no data when your impression share is below 10%. It tells you who appears on your name.
To go all the way to the covers actually paid, read our guide on the ROI of restaurant advertising.
Fictional example: if your brand campaign costs €90 over a month and generates 30 confirmed bookings, its cost per booking is €3. Compare that figure with what a booking taken through a third party would cost you. These figures illustrate the calculation; they are not a real result.
Common mistakes to avoid:
- Leaving broad match on the brand: you pay for clicks unrelated to your name.
- Never reading the search terms report.
- Mixing brand and prospecting in one campaign: impossible to analyse.
- Sending traffic to an unclear page instead of booking.
- Letting Performance Max capture the brand with no exclusion or separate tracking.
- Counting the click as a booking instead of measuring the confirmation.
- Forgetting assets (menu, book, call) and leaving room for competitors.
Google Ads and a restaurant's brand: frequently asked questions
Can an aggregator bid on my restaurant's name?
Yes. Google's policy does not forbid using a trademark as a keyword. It regulates the use of the trademark in the ad text, and a trademark owner can file a complaint under conditions.
Do I need a Google Ads campaign on my restaurant's name?
It is the way to control what appears when people search your name. It is up to you to measure the cost and the visibility share obtained (Auction insights report) to decide whether it pays off for your venue.
How do I stop Performance Max from using my brand name?
Create a brand list and apply it as a brand exclusion in the campaign settings. A brand Search campaign in exact match also takes priority on the same exact keywords.
How do I know whether my brand campaign generates bookings?
Define the confirmed booking as a Google Ads conversion, then follow it in your reports. To go further, link it to the covers actually paid in your booking tool.
Need help protecting your brand on Google Ads?
An aggregator taking the place of your website is a booking that may cost you a commission. māhie supports 90+ restaurant and hospitality venues, and our Google campaigns (Search, Maps, YouTube) are tracked all the way to the booking. Concretely, we can:
- define the media strategy and the right budget on the right platform;
- create ads adapted to Google;
- set up booking tracking, to connect every euro to covers;
- deliver clear reporting: what works, what we cut.
Discover our Ads services or contact māhie and we will look at your account together.
