Account-Level Placement Exclusions: What Creators Need to Know About Google Ads’ New Control

Stop chasing bad placements campaign-by-campaign — protect your brand from one place

Creators and small publishers running ad campaigns face a familiar, frustrating loop: you launch a Performance Max or Display push, check results, discover your ads drifted onto low-quality sites or the wrong YouTube channels, then scramble to patch exclusions across five campaigns. In early 2026 Google changed that workflow. With account-level placement exclusions you can now set a single, central blocklist that prevents spend on unwanted sites, apps, and channels across eligible campaigns. This isn't just a UI tweak — it’s a practical lever to protect brand-safe placements while keeping automation rolling.

The evolution of placement controls in 2026 — why this update matters now

Late 2025 and early 2026 accelerated two trends that made account-level exclusions essential for creators and small publishers:

• Automation-first buying (Performance Max, Demand Gen) expanded ad reach but reduced per-placement transparency.
• Privacy-driven identity changes forced advertisers to rely more on automated signals and less on manual targeting, increasing the need for robust guardrails.

Google's January 15, 2026 rollout lets advertisers apply a single exclusion list across Performance Max, Demand Gen, YouTube, and Display campaigns. For creators, that means fewer blindspots, less manual housekeeping, and a straightforward way to protect branded experiences like link-in-bio landing pages or swipe-first microsites from appearing next to risky inventory.

Where account-level placement exclusions apply — the practical reach

This account-level control covers the big automation formats you're probably using already:

• Performance Max — broad automation, previously hard to police placement-by-placement.
• Demand Gen — discovery-style reach across Google surfaces.
• YouTube — block specific channels, videos, or classes of content.
• Display — block domains and app inventory across the Google Display Network.

That list is game-changing for creators who rely on short, swipeable funnels and branded landing pages: you no longer have to worry that an automated placement will undermine your monetization or damage creator-brand credibility.

Step-by-step: How creators should implement account-level placement exclusions

Below is a hands-on playbook tailored for creators, influencers, and small publishers. It balances safety with reach so you protect your brand without needlessly throttling performance.

1) Start with a placement audit (30–60 minutes)

Before you block anything, know where your ads are running and what performs. Pull these reports:

• Placement performance report — top-performing placements by conversions, CPA, and viewability.
• YouTube placements — top channels and videos showing your ads.
• Site & app lists from Display campaigns — large, low-quality app placements often drive poor results.

Look for patterns: are low-engagement placements clustered in certain app categories, video channels, or geo segments? Flag placements that deliver clicks but no conversions or that show poor session duration on your link-in-bio funnel.

2) Build your account-level exclusion list (the right way)

Use a focused, tiered approach. Don't throw everything into the blocklist out of fear — that can shrink reach and raise costs. Start with two core lists:

1. Definitive blocks — domains, app IDs, or YouTube channels that are clearly unsafe for your brand (e.g., explicit content, known fraud, or competitors you don’t want showing your promo).
2. Conditional blocks — low-performing placements you’ll block for now but re-evaluate monthly.

Examples creators often include in a definitive blocklist:

• Incentivized traffic apps and link farms
• Adult or gambling domains if you run family-friendly content
• Known click-farm apps and low-quality SDK-enabled apps
• Specific YouTube channels that conflict with your audience or brand values

3) Apply exclusions in Google Ads UI — a practical walkthrough

Google's UI varies by account, but here’s a concise flow that reflects the 2026 update:

1. Sign into Google Ads and go to Tools & Settings > Shared Library > Placement Exclusions (or Account Settings > Exclusions).
2. Create a new account-level exclusion list. Name it clearly (e.g., "Creator Brand-Safe Exclusions — Q1 2026").
3. Add placements: domains, app IDs, or YouTube channel IDs. You can paste lists or upload CSVs for larger blocks.
4. Select which campaign types the exclusion applies to — confirm Performance Max, Demand Gen, YouTube, Display are toggled on.
5. Save and confirm. Google will process the list and apply blocks across eligible campaigns automatically.

Tip: Keep lists under version control. Date the list name and track why each placement was added so you can reverse decisions later.

4) Automate maintenance with scripts and the Google Ads API

If you run multiple accounts or scale campaigns across creator networks, manual maintenance gets tedious. Use the Google Ads API or simple Google Ads scripts to:

• Sync brand-safety feeds from your content ops team.
• Ingest placement lists from a tag manager or third-party verification partner.
• Auto-flag placements that exceed a negative-performance threshold (e.g., CTR high but zero conversions).

Example automation concept: run a weekly script that adds placements to a conditional exclusion list if they have >1,000 impressions and 0 conversions in the trailing 7 days. Review before auto-blocking to avoid cutting off early wins.

5) Test, monitor, and iterate (the four-week cadence)

After applying exclusions, watch these KPIs on a weekly cadence for the first month:

• Conversion rate and CPA by campaign type
• Share of impressions and impression growth
• Viewability and click-to-site quality metrics
• Psychographic or audience-level signals if available (to ensure you didn’t block your target audience)

Expect a short-term reach dip if you block many placements. Within 2–6 weeks, you should see improved conversion efficiency and fewer brand incidents. If not, re-open conditional blocks one by one to find balance.

Advanced strategies creators should use with account-level exclusions

Once you’ve implemented the basics, layer these strategies to protect your brand while maximizing monetization and link-in-bio performance.

Whitelist priority placements for key funnels

For high-value experiences — a monetized landing page, paid newsletter sign-up, or creator shop — build a whitelist of verified high-quality domains and app placements. Use the whitelist to prioritize where your ads should appear for your top campaigns, and use the account-level blocklist to keep everything else out.

Combine with content-level safety signals

Account-level exclusions block inventory, but don’t substitute for content-level controls. Use:

• Contextual targeting to align ad creative with safe content themes.
• Topic and audience signals to narrow where automated campaigns bid.
• Third-party brand safety vendors to flag risky domains automatically and feed them into your exclusion lists.

Protect link-in-bio and swipe experiences specifically

Creators often run paid social or Google campaigns driving to microsites or link-in-bio pages. Anything that undermines trust there — a placement on a click-farm app or extremist video — will hurt conversion and long-term follower loyalty. Use account-level exclusions to ensure your brand-first strides land next to vetted inventory and leverage first-party analytics (session duration, bounce rate) as quick flags for problematic placements.

Use conditional blocking, not blanket bans

Excluding entire app categories or broad geos is tempting but inefficient. Prefer conditional, data-driven blocks and re-evaluate monthly. This maximizes scale while keeping safety tight.

Common pitfalls and troubleshooting

New controls can create new mistakes. Watch for these common pitfalls and how to avoid them:

• Over-blocking: You exclude too many placements and throttle reach — monitor impression share post-rollout and relax conditional blocks if CPA spikes.
• Assuming universality: Not every campaign type respects account-level lists identically. Confirm exclusions apply to specific campaign types in the UI.
• Forgetting to version-control: Without timestamps or notes you’ll forget why a domain was blocked; always document the reason and owner for each exclusion.
• Skipping verification: Don’t assume a blocked placement is removed instantly; verify via placement reports and the blocked list dashboard.

Quick action checklist for creators (start today)

• Audit your top-performing placements and flag low-value inventory.
• Create a dated account-level exclusion list and add definitive blocks first.
• Apply the list to Performance Max, Demand Gen, YouTube, and Display campaigns.
• Set a four-week monitoring cadence and track CPA, conversion rate, and impression share.
• Automate weekly conditional blocks with scripts, but review before finalizing.

Mini case studies — creators who tightened safety without killing performance

Example 1 — Indie game creator promoting a new launch:

After applying a focused account-level exclusion list that removed incentivized ad apps and three low-performing channel clusters, the creator saw CPA fall by 28% and purchase conversion rate increase by 16% over six weeks — with only a 7% drop in impressions.

Example 2 — Lifestyle influencer driving to a paid newsletter:

The influencer blocked perceived competitor channels and low-viewability app placements at the account level. Engagement on the link-in-bio funnel improved (time on page +22%) and new-subscriber CPA dropped 19%. The influencer preserved automation by allowing Google to reallocate spend within safe inventory.

Future predictions — what to expect in creator ad strategy post-2026

We’re likely to see three connected developments through 2026 and beyond:

• Deeper integration of brand safety into automation: Platforms will offer more granular, account-level guardrails so automation can scale without brand risk.
• Shared safety taxonomies: Industry groups and verification vendors will publish standardized labels that creators can import directly into account-level exclusion lists.
• Creator-first monetization models: As publishers monetize short-form swipe experiences, creators will demand safer placements by default and easier ways to whitelist their own properties when promoting branded content.

Account-level placement exclusions are a foundational control for that future — they give creators the ability to scale paid campaigns while protecting brand integrity.

Final takeaways — protect your placements without losing momentum

Account-level placement exclusions are more than a time-saver. For creators and small publishers in 2026, they are an operational necessity: a single control point that protects high-value funnels, preserves audience trust, and keeps automated formats like Performance Max from costing you credibility. Implement with a measured approach: audit first, block decisively where necessary, automate cautiously, and monitor regularly.

Ready to act? Start with a 30-minute placement audit this week: export your top placements, build a dated account-level exclusion list, and apply it to Performance Max and Display campaigns. Monitor KPIs weekly for a month and iterate. If you want a ready-made checklist and a CSV template for common creator blocklists, download our free audit kit or book a strategy session — protect your brand and scale with confidence.

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