It’s one of the oldest questions in PPC: should you bid on your own brand name? Some swear by it. Others call it a waste of money. In 2025, with CPCs creeping higher and competition growing fiercer, the debate is back—and more relevant than ever.

Let’s break it down without the fluff.

Why Might Bidding on Your Own Brand Be a Waste?

You’ve already done the hard work. Someone searches your brand name, clicks the top organic result, and converts. Clean, free traffic.

So why pay for a click you were probably going to get anyway?

If you’re ranking #1 organically and there’s no competition on your brand, bidding on it might be pointless. Especially if Google’s putting your ad above your own organic listing—essentially charging you to cannibalise your own traffic. That stings when CPCs are climbing past £2, £4, or even £10 in some industries.

When Does Bidding on Your Brand Name Make Sense?

But here’s the other side of it: competitors aren’t playing nice.

In many industries, rivals will bid on your brand name. And Google allows it (as long as they don’t use your name in the ad copy). That means they can appear above your organic listing when someone’s looking for you. Not great.

Bidding on your brand is how you defend your turf. It’s cheap—branded CPCs are usually a fraction of non-brand. And it lets you control the message. You can test different headlines, link directly to promos, or highlight USPs that your organic listing doesn’t.

It’s also a way to boost quality score and relevance across your account. Branded traffic tends to convert better. That improved conversion data can feed into your smart bidding strategy and help optimise the rest of your campaigns.

How Can You Test If Branded Search Ads Are Worth It?

If you’re on the fence, test it. Run a split test: pause branded campaigns for two weeks, then turn them back on. Track total conversions—not just the ones through paid.

If conversions drop, your ads were adding value. If they stay the same, you might be overspending.

Also look at impression share. Are competitors bidding on your brand? Are your branded ads serving more impressions than expected? That’s a signal you might need to defend.

My Advice? Don’t Go All or Nothing

Here’s how I usually approach it with clients:

• If your brand is weak or new, run branded ads. You need the visibility.
• If competitors are bidding on you, defend your position with branded campaigns.
• If you’re well-established and dominate SERPs, test going organic-only—but monitor it like a hawk.

Bidding on your brand isn’t always about clicks. It’s about control. And sometimes that control is worth the spend—even if it feels a little annoying.