Is My Agency Bidding on My Own Brand Name?
It’s one of the sneakiest line items in Google Ads: an agency bids on your own business name, then bills you for clicks you’d almost certainly have won free through organic search.
How to check
- Search your business name (don’t click the ad) and see if your own ad shows.
- Ask for the split of spend on brand vs non-brand terms.
- Look at how much of your “great” performance is just people already looking for you.
Run your free Google Ads audit
Kestrel flags brand-bidding waste automatically. Connect your account and Kestrel runs all 40 checks in plain English — your health score, wasted spend, and the fixes that matter. It’s read-only, free forever, and needs no credit card.
Brand bidding can be a legitimate defensive play — but you should decide that, not discover it. See the bigger picture in signs your agency is ripping you off.