[Boston, MA, July 6, 2026] — I am sharing that Traffic Think Tank has officially joined the Search Engine Land family, creating more opportunities for search marketers like us to connect, collaborate, and keep learning through one of the industry’s most established professional communities.
I want members to know that Traffic Think Tank will continue operating as a private Slack community. It will remain a trusted place where we can exchange ideas, validate strategies, solve real marketing challenges, and stay current on search engine optimization, paid media, artificial intelligence, and related marketing topics.
As part of this relationship, I see Search Engine Land supporting the community’s continued growth by increasing visibility across its editorial and marketing channels while preserving the collaborative environment members already value.
“For years, Search Engine Land has represented the marketing community through its contributor network in a way few other sites have,” said Kyle Morley, Head of Sales and Marketing at Third Door Media, parent to Search Engine Land. “Launching a community like Traffic Think Tank feels like a natural extension of our identity, and I’m thrilled we now have more opportunity to connect with marketers in our space.”
I am also noting that David Broderick has been appointed Lead Community Manager and will oversee the day-to-day community experience. He will be supported by Liz Dougherty, who will take an active role in encouraging member engagement and helping guide the community’s continued growth.
Beyond ongoing peer-to-peer discussions, I expect members to benefit from expanded community programming and discussions, increased visibility through Search Engine Land and Third Door Media channels, exclusive discounts on Search Marketing Expo events and training, and new opportunities to connect with search marketers across the industry.
For me, Traffic Think Tank fits naturally with Search Engine Land’s mission of helping marketers stay informed and succeed in a rapidly evolving search landscape. Together, the publication and community give us access to trusted journalism, practical education, live events, and an active peer network for ongoing professional development.
Old search marketing tools give way to a faster, connected future, with data streams, AI icons, and a glowing search hub symbolizing SEO innovation and community growth.
I view Search Engine Land as a leading publication for news, insights, and education covering search engine optimization, paid media, artificial intelligence, and digital marketing. Through editorial coverage, events, training, and professional resources, Search Engine Land helps marketers stay ahead of industry change.
About Traffic Think Tank
I see Traffic Think Tank as a private community for search marketers that connects professionals through expert discussions, peer collaboration, and practical knowledge sharing. Members use the community to exchange ideas, solve challenges, validate strategies, and stay current on what’s working across search engine optimization, paid media, and artificial intelligence.
I’m seeing Google Ads roll out a redesigned All Campaigns selector, and the goal is clear: make it easier to move through large, complicated account structures without wasting time hunting for the right campaign.
What’s happening is that Google is refreshing the All Campaigns selector across Google Ads with a cleaner layout and better navigation tools. For advertisers who manage bigger accounts, this should make day-to-day campaign work feel more organized.
The selector has also been moved to a new location in the interface, which means I’d expect some advertisers to need a short adjustment period before the new placement feels familiar.
The biggest improvement I notice is the new expandable hierarchy view. Campaigns now appear in a structure that makes campaign groups and nested setups easier to browse, especially when an account has grown beyond a simple list of campaigns.
Google has also added search inside the selector, which should help advertisers quickly find specific campaigns or campaign groups instead of manually scanning through long account lists.
Why I care: this update could save meaningful time for anyone managing large Google Ads accounts. When campaigns are split across multiple groups or complex organisational structures, faster navigation can make daily optimization work less frustrating.
The bottom line is that Google’s redesigned All Campaigns selector is meant to streamline campaign management with a clearer hierarchy and built-in search, helping advertisers navigate complex accounts more efficiently.
The update was first spotted by performance marketer Vivek Gupta on LinkedIn. Since the rollout is gradual, I would not expect it to be available in every Google Ads account immediately.
I know competitive brand bidding is now a common PPC tactic, but that does not mean I treat it as harmless background noise. When competitors, affiliates, coupon sites, or misleading advertisers show up on branded searches, they can inflate CPCs, divert high-intent traffic, and confuse people who were already looking for my brand.
I have seen how much difference visibility can make. Industry examples show that brands often uncover meaningful CPC inflation once they start tracking competitor bidding, affiliate activity, and trademark misuse. In documented cases, brands reduced branded CPCs by 25% to 75% after identifying infringing advertisers and enforcing their policies.
In this guide, I walk through how I monitor branded keywords, identify who is advertising on them, and decide what actions may be available based on the evidence I find.
Choosing Keywords So I Do Not Miss Hidden Activity
When I want to find out who is using my brand in search ads, I start by deciding which keywords I need to monitor.
The biggest mistake I try to avoid is watching only my exact brand name. That is a useful starting point, but it rarely shows the full picture. Some advertisers deliberately target brand-related coupon, discount, review, or alternative queries because those searches often come from high-intent users and attract less scrutiny.
For example, someone searching for “Brand coupon” or “Brand discount code” may be much closer to buying than someone searching for the brand alone. Those queries often attract coupon affiliates, loyalty sites, and unauthorized advertisers trying to intercept branded traffic.
I also pay attention to searches that include terms like “reviews” or “alternatives,” because those queries can bring in competitors and comparison sites that position themselves directly against my brand.
Misspellings matter too. Some advertisers target spelling variations because they are less likely to be monitored and may face less competition.
For a solid monitoring setup, I include my core brand name, “official page” and “login” variations, coupon and promo-code searches, review and alternative searches, commercial terms such as “buy,” “order,” and “sign up,” common misspellings, and localized versions of my brand name.
If I am using Bluepear, its built-in AI assistant can generate keyword suggestions from this kind of list and help me expand coverage faster.
The number of terms I monitor depends on the size of the brand portfolio, including trademarks, local branches, and product names. For many small to medium-sized brands, I would start with about 20 keywords and then expand as new risks, markets, and opportunities appear.
Choosing Locations and Monitoring Frequency
I do not rely on a single search from my office, on my device, at one moment in time. Search results are too dynamic for that. Two people searching the same branded keyword can see completely different ads and organic listings depending on their location, device, timing, and other variables.
I also assume that some advertisers may be trying to hide their activity. A fraudster or an affiliate violating my PPC policy might run ads outside normal business hours to reduce the chance of being caught. If I only check manually during the workday, I may never see those ads.
When I monitor branded search results, I look across the countries and markets where my brand operates, regional differences within those markets, mobile and desktop results, different times of day, and weekday versus weekend activity.
Frequency matters just as much as coverage. Some violations appear briefly and then disappear. Running checks multiple times throughout the day gives me a better chance of capturing activity that would otherwise go unnoticed.
Tracking all of these variables manually can become tedious, especially when a brand operates across multiple markets. Bluepear accounts for locations, devices, time zones, and redirects that can obscure the true destination of traffic. I can set the parameters once and gain continuous visibility without turning monitoring into a weekly time sink.
Reviewing Search Results and Recording Evidence
I do not assume every advertiser bidding on my branded keywords is breaking a rule. Competitors may be allowed to bid on branded keywords if they do not use my trademark in their ad copy. Affiliates may also be authorized to promote my brand under specific program conditions.
Still, I need to know when an advertiser’s behavior crosses the line from legitimate brand bidding into trademark misuse, policy violations, or customer deception.
The first signal I investigate is trademark use in ad copy. If the ad mentions my brand name in the headline or description, and my trademark rules or affiliate policies restrict that use, I treat it as a possible compliance issue.
I also look for misleading claims. Phrases that imply the advertiser is “official,” references to exclusive offers, or language that suggests authorization when none exists can confuse users and deserve review.
Coupon and discount promotions need special attention. I verify whether the advertised discount, promo code, or offer is legitimate, because some affiliates use expired, misleading, or fabricated offers to win clicks.
I also watch for impersonation signals. Some ads and landing pages are designed to resemble a brand’s official website. Even if the advertiser does not directly claim to be my company, that kind of presentation can still confuse users and divert branded traffic.
Because advertisers can change ad copy, pause campaigns, or remove landing pages at any time, I collect evidence quickly. I record the ad copy, SERP position, triggering keyword, location, URLs, redirects, landing page content, and timestamps.
Bluepear can handle this automatically by compiling a report with the relevant details, which makes follow-up easier when I need to contact an affiliate, review a competitor’s behavior, or escalate a trademark issue.
Identifying Who Is Behind the Activity
Sometimes I cannot immediately tell whether an advertiser is a competitor, an affiliate, a coupon site, or something riskier. Branded search results often include multiple participants with different motivations, so I need to understand who I am dealing with before I decide what to do next.
I look for patterns. A direct competitor domain usually points to competitor bidding. A coupon or cashback page may indicate an affiliate, coupon site, or loyalty site. Affiliate network tracking links often suggest affiliate activity, although they can also appear in more questionable setups. Product comparison pages often point to competitors or comparison publishers.
Other signals raise the risk level. If an ad uses my trademark, claims to be “official,” sends users through multiple redirects, promotes coupon codes I cannot verify, or lands on a page that imitates my brand’s design or messaging, I investigate more carefully.
No single signal gives me a definitive answer. I combine multiple pieces of evidence before drawing conclusions. Once I know who is advertising on my brand terms, I can move beyond detection and decide whether their activity aligns with my policies and business goals.
What I Do Next
After I identify who is advertising on my brand terms and review their ads, the next step is choosing the right response.
Competitor Brand Bidding
Not every competitor bidding on my branded keywords requires immediate intervention. Before acting, I ask how often the competitor appears, which keywords they are targeting, whether they are using trademarked terms in ad copy, and whether they are sending users to comparison content or direct offers.
In many cases, I monitor the activity and evaluate its business impact over time. Documenting patterns helps me establish a baseline, which can support future compliance reviews or legal conversations if escalation becomes necessary.
Affiliate Violations
If an affiliate is bidding on restricted branded keywords or violating program rules, I gather evidence and contact the affiliate or network. My workflow is straightforward: document the violation, verify the affiliate ID, share the evidence, request removal or corrective action, and apply program enforcement measures if needed.
Screenshots, timestamps, and redirect data make those conversations much easier because I can show exactly what happened, where it happened, and when it was detected.
Trademark Misuse
Trademark-related issues require careful review. I look for unauthorized trademark use in ad copy, ads that create confusion about brand affiliation, impersonation attempts, and misleading claims that the advertiser is an official brand representative, partner, or reseller.
The right response depends on the circumstances, internal policies, and applicable laws. In many jurisdictions, competitors are generally allowed to bid on trademarked keywords. However, ads that confuse users about the advertiser’s relationship with my brand may raise trademark or unfair competition concerns, depending on the facts and local law.
The advertising platform’s policies matter too. Google allows advertisers to bid on trademarked keywords, but it may restrict trademark use in ad text when a valid trademark complaint is submitted. Google also prohibits ads that use trademarks in a confusing, deceptive, or misleading way.
Before I take action, I collect as much evidence as possible, including screenshots, detection timestamps, URLs, redirects, and landing page content. Once the facts are documented, I may contact the advertiser directly, submit a trademark complaint to the advertising platform, send a cease and desist letter, or escalate through legal channels if necessary.
Why I Keep Monitoring Brand Search
The main lesson is that branded search protection is not a one-time audit. Affiliates can activate and pause campaigns throughout the month. Some violations appear only on weekends, outside business hours, or in specific markets. An advertiser that disappears today may return next week with new ad copy, a new domain, or a different affiliate account.
That is why I treat brand protection as an ongoing process. Occasional searches are not enough. I need consistent monitoring and a repeatable investigation workflow that shows who is appearing on my brand terms, how they operate, and whether action is warranted.
If I want easier visibility into my branded search landscape, Bluepear helps identify issues earlier, respond faster, and make more informed decisions about protecting traffic and advertising investments.
I know LinkedIn Ads has a reputation for being expensive, and at first glance, the data backs that up. Across the client accounts I analyzed, LinkedIn’s average CPC was $11.12, compared with $5.45 on Google Ads.
But that simple comparison misses the more useful story. When I compare the cost of reaching new, high-intent B2B buyers, the gap gets much smaller. Non-branded Google Search campaigns averaged a $12.48 CPC, while comparable LinkedIn prospecting campaigns averaged $13.94.
To understand how LinkedIn CPCs really compare with Google Ads across campaign types and industries, I reviewed more than $700,000 in LinkedIn ad spend and compared it with CPC data from the same accounts on Google Ads.
What I included in this analysis
I focused on CPC and performance data from clients that had active campaigns on both LinkedIn Ads and Google Ads over the past year.
The main questions I wanted to answer were straightforward: What CPCs are we actually seeing? Do CPCs change by ad objective and industry? And how do those costs compare with Google Ads?
For LinkedIn Ads, I analyzed more than $700,000 in spend across 63,000+ clicks and 8.1 million impressions.
The clients fell into two main business categories: B2B SaaS, which represented approximately 97% of spend, and professional services.
I looked at LinkedIn CPCs by ad set objective and business category. For Google Ads, I pulled CPC data from the same client accounts across branded search, non-branded search, Demand Gen, and display campaigns.
Client names are withheld. The date range for this analysis was May 2025 through May 2026.
LinkedIn looks more expensive, but the comparison needs context
LinkedIn’s blended average CPC across all objectives was $11.12. Google’s blended average CPC across all campaign types was $5.45. On the surface, LinkedIn costs about twice as much per click.
There is an important caveat. In Google Ads, a large share of those lower-cost clicks came from display campaigns, which averaged $0.89 per click, and branded search, which averaged $1.71 per click. Both are naturally less expensive because display generally reaches lower-intent audiences, while branded search captures people already looking for your company.
When I narrow the comparison to the cost of reaching new, high-intent audiences, the difference becomes much less dramatic.
Google Ads non-branded search averaged a $12.48 CPC across the clients in this study.
LinkedIn prospecting campaigns, excluding retargeting and using lead generation, website conversion, or website visit objectives, averaged a $13.94 CPC.
I used those LinkedIn objectives because they most closely represent high-intent direct-response campaigns, which makes the comparison with non-branded search more useful.
When I compare the cost of reaching a new audience, LinkedIn is still more expensive, but it is not twice as expensive. In practical terms, I am looking at roughly $12 CPCs on Google and $14 CPCs on LinkedIn.
LinkedIn CPCs change a lot by objective
One of the clearest findings in this data set is how widely LinkedIn CPCs vary by campaign objective.
Website visits: $6.75
Brand awareness: $8.34
Website conversions: $4.84
Engagement: $4.45
Lead generation: $31.29
Video views: $71.43
Lead generation campaigns, where LinkedIn lead gen forms capture contact information directly inside the platform, cost nearly five times more per click than website visit campaigns.
That higher CPC can still make sense because these campaigns often convert at much higher rates than ads that send people to a website or landing page.
Here is the full breakdown of CPCs by campaign objective:
The number that jumps out most is video views. CPCs for those campaigns look extremely high, but cost per view is the more relevant metric there, so CPC alone can be misleading.
If I were planning a LinkedIn campaign focused on click volume or site traffic, I would budget for CPCs in the $6-$8 range. For lead gen ads, which in my experience often produce stronger conversion rates and better lead quality, I would plan for $30+ CPCs.
LinkedIn CPCs also change by industry
The two business categories in this analysis showed noticeably different CPC profiles on LinkedIn.
B2B SaaS: $11.02 average CPC on $681,000 in spend
Professional services: $15.25 average CPC on $23,000 in spend
I would be careful not to overstate that comparison because the spend levels were very different. B2B SaaS had a much broader mix of campaign types, which likely affected the average CPC. The professional services campaigns also used very specific targeting, which may have pushed CPCs higher.
B2B SaaS CPCs by campaign objective:
Professional services CPCs by campaign objective:
One interesting twist is that lead gen CPCs in professional services were lower than website visit CPCs. Lead gen CPCs were also much lower for professional services than they were for B2B SaaS.
If I were budgeting for a professional services firm on LinkedIn, I would factor in $15-$20 CPCs. For B2B SaaS, I would plan for a wider range, roughly $7-$35, depending on the campaign objective.
How this compares with Google Ads
The pattern is fairly consistent across channels. Professional services had higher CPCs than B2B SaaS in this data set. Even when I compare only non-branded search between the two industries, the CPCs are closer, but professional services still comes out higher.
Here is the breakdown of Google CPCs by campaign type:
What I would budget for LinkedIn Ads
Your targeting will have a major impact on CPCs and budget needs, but I use this data as a practical planning framework.
Minimum viable budget: $3,000-$5,000 per month
Below this level, I would not expect enough traffic to drive meaningful lead volume or conversions. You may still be able to get started, but trend-spotting will be slow, and you will probably be limited to one or two campaigns.
Testing and learning: $5,000-$10,000 per month
At this level, I would expect enough budget to run two or three objectives, launch more campaigns, test creative and audiences, and generate more meaningful lead volume.
Scaling: $10,000+ per month
With this budget, I can run always-on brand awareness and thought leadership campaigns alongside lead gen and website visit campaigns. I can also support event registrations, test more advanced list-targeted campaigns, and use retargeting without starving direct-response efforts.
For B2B SaaS or professional services companies with an ACV above $20,000, I would rarely recommend starting LinkedIn with less than $5,000 per month. A single closed deal worth $30,000-$50,000 in ACV can justify meaningful investment, even at a $500+ CPL, as long as the pipeline quality is there.
The B2B channel mix I recommend
For most B2B clients, I do not see LinkedIn and Google as either-or channels. I use them for different jobs.
Use Google Ads and Microsoft Ads for intent capture
Non-branded search reaches buyers who are actively researching. Branded search and remarketing are lower-cost and essential. If someone is searching for your category keywords, I want your brand to be visible.
I also use Demand Gen and Performance Max where they make sense to fill gaps and support brand awareness.
Use LinkedIn Ads for audience-led demand generation
If the ideal customer profile is highly specific, such as VP-level decision-makers at mid-market SaaS companies, LinkedIn’s targeting is hard to replace. No other platform gives me the same ability to reach that kind of professional audience at scale.
Run both channels in parallel
The strongest setup is to run both channels together. Google captures existing demand. LinkedIn helps create new demand and keeps the brand visible to the exact buyers I want in the pipeline.
Why I still think LinkedIn is worth the higher CPCs
LinkedIn is more expensive than Google on a raw CPC basis. But when I compare the platforms more fairly, with both reaching cold, qualified B2B buyers, the gap narrows significantly.
Higher CPCs can still be worth paying if they put the brand in front of the right customers earlier in the decision-making process. Over time, that can be more valuable than relying only on high-intent keywords after buyers have already narrowed their list of options.
The best scenario is for the brand to become an active part of the buyer’s decision, shaping the narrative before competitors do it instead.
My take is simple: I use LinkedIn Ads to build intent and tell the story, and I use Google Ads and Microsoft Ads to capture intent. The right budget depends on targeting, but I want enough spend to generate at least 100 clicks per month. Anything less usually means spending money without giving the system enough data to learn from.
I have seen traditional competitor campaigns turn into expensive click traps. When someone searches for a competitor’s brand, they are often already close to buying, which means my ad can become little more than a brief detour on their way to converting somewhere else.
That does not mean I have to give up on competitor-aware audiences. Instead of relying only on competitor brand bidding, I can use Demand Gen campaigns and negative-intent keywords to reach those buyers more efficiently, often at a lower cost.
Demand Gen: Reaching the right audience for less
Before I focus on negative-intent keywords, I like to look at Demand Gen because it gives me another way to reach people who may not know my brand yet but are already showing signs of interest in my market.
For Demand Gen to work well, I need two things: strong targeting and strong creative. Within that targeting, custom audience segments and lookalike audiences are essential.
Custom segment targeting lets me reach people who have searched for specific terms on Google or who show certain interests and purchase intentions. It is also one of the most practical ways I can get in front of users researching my competitors without paying the higher price of a search click.
When I create a new audience inside a Demand Gen campaign, custom segments are one of the first targeting options I see, right after the audience name.
From there, I choose the option for People who searched for any of these terms on Google and add as many relevant competitors as I can. This helps me reach a highly relevant audience across Google’s inventory at a lower cost than a traditional search network click.
If I am not sure which competitors to include, I start by typing my main product or service into Google Ads and reviewing who appears. Those businesses are usually my primary competitors, and depending on the networks I opt into, my ads can appear across YouTube, Discover, and Gmail.
Designing conquesting landing pages for Demand Gen
When I use Demand Gen for conquesting, I need a landing page built specifically for that audience. I want to highlight my key differentiators, show social proof, and make it obvious why my product or service deserves consideration.
The click is only the first step. Once someone lands on my page, the offer has to be clear, specific, and aligned with the ad they just clicked. I need to explain the value thoroughly and guide the visitor toward a call to action that matches the promise I made in the ad.
But Demand Gen is not always the right starting point. If I do not have strong image or video assets, I may be better off staying closer to the search network.
Because high-quality creative tends to perform best across Demand Gen placements, search can make more sense when those assets are not available. That is where negative-intent conquesting becomes useful.
Most advertisers understand traditional competitor search campaigns, but many overlook the people who are not simply searching for a competitor. They are searching for alternatives, comparisons, cheaper options, or signs that another company can solve the problem better.
I often see this happen during the consideration phase. A user may search for terms like “companies like X,” “companies cheaper than X,” or, for branded products, “dupe for X.” Not every variation will have enough volume to bid on, but these searches reveal where serious comparison research is happening.
Building campaigns around competitor pain points
If I know a competitor has a reputation for poor customer service, I might test keywords such as “customer service complaints for [competitor].” I would keep this focused in a single ad group with closely related keyword variations.
In the ad copy, I would focus on what makes my customer service stronger, faster, or more helpful. Because of trademark policies, I would avoid naming the competitor directly in the ad text and instead emphasize the benefit I can prove.
Traditional competitor campaigns focus on bidding against a brand name. Negative-intent conquesting focuses on the weakness behind the search. The audience already knows the competitor, but they are actively looking for a better option.
I can also pair this approach with a separate custom audience, which lets me reach people searching for these alternatives across Google’s networks.
For this to work after the click, the landing page matters just as much as the keyword and ad. If my ad promises a better solution to poor service, high prices, or another competitor weakness, the landing page has to validate that claim and present a unique value proposition that directly addresses the concern.
Target competitor audiences before the decision is made
The biggest challenge with traditional competitor campaigns is not always the competitor. It is timing.
When someone searches for a competitor’s brand name, they may have already narrowed their options and moved close to a decision. That is why competitor keyword campaigns can become expensive and hard to scale profitably.
Demand Gen and negative-intent conquesting help me approach the same audience from different angles. Demand Gen lets me reach potential customers before they commit to a brand, while negative-intent conquesting reaches them when they are actively questioning their current options.
My goal is simple: I want to reach potential customers when they are most open to considering a different choice. If I can do that with the right targeting, message, and landing page, competitor traffic becomes much easier to win without overspending on traditional brand bidding.
