How to exclude placements?

How to Exclude Placements in Google Ads

Excluding placements in Google Ads allows you to prevent your ads from appearing on specific websites, apps, YouTube channels, or videos that are not performing well or are irrelevant to your business. This helps you improve ad performance, reduce wasted spend, and maintain brand safety. You can exclude placements in the Display Network, YouTube campaigns, and Performance Max campaigns (with some limitations).

Steps to Exclude Placements in Display or Video Campaigns

1. Sign in to your Google Ads account.

2. Click on “Campaigns” or “Ad groups” — choose the campaign or ad group where you want to exclude placements.

3. In the left-hand menu, click on “Content.”

4. Click on “Placements,” then click on the “Exclusions” tab.

5. Click the blue pencil icon (+) to add exclusions.

6. Choose what type of placements to exclude: websites (URLs), YouTube channels, YouTube videos, mobile apps, or app categories.

7. Enter or paste the URLs or placements you want to exclude.

8. Select whether to apply these exclusions at the campaign level or ad group level.

9. Click “Save.”

Example: You run ads for luxury watches and see that your ads are showing on irrelevant sites like gaming blogs and children’s YouTube channels. You decide to exclude:

• www.kidsgames123.com

• youtube.com/channel/UCabc123XYZ (kids-focused channel)

• The entire “Games” app category

You follow the steps above and enter these under exclusions to prevent future wasted spend.

How to Exclude Placements Using the Placement Report

1. Go to “Placements” in your campaign, then click on “Where Ads Showed.”

2. Review the list of placements where your ads appeared.

3. Filter or sort by performance to find placements with low CTR, poor engagement, or no conversions.

4. Select the underperforming placements.

5. Click “Edit,” then choose “Exclude from Campaign” or “Exclude from Ad Group.”

This method allows you to exclude poor-performing placements based on real-time data.

Exclude App Categories Completely (Optional)

If you notice that most of your Display campaign spend is going to mobile apps without results, you can block apps altogether.

1. In the “Placements” section, click on “Exclusions.”

2. Select “App categories.”

3. Choose either specific app categories like Games, Social, or Entertainment — or select all categories.

4. Click “Save.”

Excluding Placements in Performance Max Campaigns

Manual placement exclusions are not fully available in Performance Max campaigns. However, you can still take some actions to control where your ads appear:

• Use account-level placement exclusion lists for YouTube channels and websites (submit through a Google Ads representative).

• Apply brand safety settings to avoid sensitive or controversial content.

• Use negative keywords to prevent irrelevant searches that could trigger your ads.

Best Practices for Placement Exclusion

Review your placement report regularly — at least once a week for active Display or Video campaigns. Block placements that are irrelevant, controversial, or produce high spend without conversions. Exclude all mobile app categories if your product isn’t suitable for app-based traffic. Create an account-level placement exclusion list to avoid repeating the same exclusions across multiple campaigns. Test new placements and ad formats, but be ready to pause or exclude underperformers quickly.

Conclusion

Excluding placements in Google Ads is essential for optimizing your ad spend and improving your campaign’s return on investment. By removing irrelevant or underperforming websites, apps, and YouTube content, you ensure your ads appear in the right places — to the right audience — at the right time.