The Great Google Ads Debate: Brand vs. Non-Brand
If you’ve ever looked at your Google Ads account or spoken to a marketing person, you’ve probably heard these two terms: Brand and Non-Brand.
To a business owner in Brisbane just trying to keep the phone ringing, it sounds like more technical fluff. But here is the reality: choosing how you spend your money between these two areas is the difference between a profitable year and flushing your hard-earned cash down the toilet.
Let’s strip away the nonsense.
Brand Bidding is when you pay Google to show an ad to someone who specifically typed your business name into the search bar. For example, if someone searches for "Mick’s Plumbing Co," and Mick pays for an ad to show up at the very top, that’s brand bidding.
Non-Brand Bidding is when you pay to show up for the service you provide. If Mick pays to show up when someone types in "blocked drain plumber Brisbane," that’s non-brand bidding.
Most business owners I talk to in suburbs like Chermside or Coorparoo have the same immediate reaction: "Why on earth would I pay for my own name? I already show up first for free!"
It’s a fair question. Why give Google money for a customer who was already looking for you? On the flip side, non-brand keywords are getting more expensive every single day.
In this guide, I’m going to break down exactly where your money should go, why your competitors are trying to steal your customers, and how to stop wasting your ad budget on the wrong clicks.
---
Part 1: Bidding on Your Own Name (The "Brand" Strategy)
Let's start with the controversial one. You’ve spent years building your reputation. You’ve got the signwriting on the ute, the local sponsorships, and plenty of word-of-mouth. When someone searches for you by name, you should own that result.
Why it feels like a rip-off
If you search for your business name right now, you’ll likely see your website at the very top of the organic (free) results. It feels like Google is holding your own traffic for ransom. You think, "I've already done the work to get my name out there, why should I pay $2.00 for a click I’d get for free anyway?"The cold, hard truth: Your competitors are sharks
Here is why most Brisbane business owners end up bidding on their own name: if you don’t, your competitors will.Go ahead and search for a big national brand or even a successful local competitor. Often, the first thing you see isn't them—it's an ad for someone else saying, "Better than [Brand Name]" or "Cheaper than [Brand Name]."
If a competitor bids on your business name, they are effectively standing at your front door and trying to pull customers into their shop instead. By running a brand ad, you take up that top spot. You push the competitors down the page where they belong.
The Benefits of Brand Bidding
1. Control the Message: When someone clicks your free listing, they go to your homepage. With an ad, you can send them to a specific page about a current offer (e.g., "Mention this ad for 10% off your first service"). 2. Dominate the Screen: On a mobile phone, the first two results take up the whole screen. If you have the ad and the free listing, you own the whole phone screen. The customer doesn't even see the other guys. 3. It’s Cheap: Google rewards relevance. Because you are the business being searched for, Google charges you much less for that click than it would charge a competitor trying to steal your name. 4. Protecting your reputation: If there’s an old news article or a bad review site hanging around the top of Google, your ad sits above all of that.My Advice: If you have aggressive competitors in Brisbane who are bidding on your name, you MUST bid on your brand. If no one is bidding on you and you’re already #1, you can probably skip it—but keep a very close eye on it. Things change fast.
---
Part 2: Bidding on Services (The "Non-Brand" Strategy)
This is where the real growth happens. Non-brand bidding is how you find people who have never heard of you but need exactly what you sell right now.
If you’re an electrician in Indooroopilly, non-brand bidding is targeting terms like "emergency electrician near me," "smoke alarm installation," or "switchboard upgrade price."
The "So What?" for your business
Non-brand ads are your growth engine. They bring in new blood. Without these, you are purely relying on people who already know you exist. That’s fine for survival, but it’s not how you scale a business.The Problem: It’s Expensive
You aren't the only one wanting those customers. Every other business in your industry is fighting for those same words. This is why leads cost more than they used to.In some industries—think lawyers, plumbers, or locksmiths—a single click on a non-brand search can cost $20, $50, or even $100. If your website doesn't turn those visitors into callers, you will go broke very quickly.
How to win without losing your shirt
To make non-brand bidding work, you have to be specific. Don't just bid on "Plumber." That's too broad. You'll get people looking for plumbing jobs, plumbing apprenticeships, or DIY advice.Instead, bid on "blocked toilet plumber Brisbane Northside." It’s specific, it shows they have a problem they want to pay to fix, and it’s local to you. This is how you stop guessing and start getting calls that actually turn into money in the bank.
---
Part 3: Comparing the Two (Which one makes you more money?)
Let’s look at this through the lens of your bank account.
| Feature | Brand Bidding (Your Name) | Non-Brand Bidding (Your Services) |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per click | Very Low ($0.50 - $2.00) | High to Very High ($5.00 - $80.00+) |
| Customer Intent | They already want YOU | They want a SOLUTION (could be anyone) |
| New Customers | Mostly repeat or referrals | Almost 100% new business |
| Risk of wasting money | Low | High (if not managed properly) |
| Speed of Results | Instant | Instant (but needs refining) |
The Verdict
You need both, but for different reasons.Brand ads are your defensive play. They protect your turf. They ensure that when a mate tells someone, "Call Smithy’s Tyres," that person actually finds Smithy’s Tyres and doesn't get distracted by a big chain like Bob Jane or Jax.
Non-brand ads are your offensive play. They are how you take market share away from the big guys and grow your customer base.
---
Part 4: Common Mistakes Brisbane Businesses Make
I’ve looked under the hood of hundreds of Google Ads accounts for local businesses. Most of them are making at least one of these three mistakes that are costing them thousands of dollars.
Mistake 1: Mixing the two together
This is the biggest one. Business owners often put all their keywords into one big bucket. When they look at their reports, they see a great "average" cost per lead.But here’s the trick: the brand leads are so cheap that they are hiding the fact that the non-brand ads are actually failing. You might be paying $100 for a new customer on your service ads, but because your brand ads only cost $2, the "average" looks like $51. You need to see these separately so you know exactly what’s working.
Mistake 2: Being too broad
I see this with tradies all the time. A sparky bids on the word "lights." They end up paying for clicks from people looking for Christmas lights, hue lights for their TV, or pictures of pendant lights on Pinterest.You only want to pay for people who want to hire you. Use words like "repair," "installer," "service," or "near me."
Mistake 3: A rubbish website
If you are going to pay $30 for a click from a non-brand search, your website must work on phones and it must have a clear "Call Now" button. If the customer has to hunt for your phone number or wait 10 seconds for the page to load, they will leave. You just gave Google $30 for nothing.---
Part 5: A Practical Action Plan
If you were my mate and you asked me how to set this up for your business today, here is exactly what I’d tell you to do:
1. Check if you're being hunted. Search for your business name on Google right now. Do you see ads for other businesses appearing above your website? If yes, you need a Brand Campaign immediately. 2. Start small with non-brand. Pick your most profitable service. Not your cheapest, but the one where you make the best margin. Create an ad campaign just for that specific service in the specific Brisbane suburbs you are willing to drive to. 3. Track everything. If the phone rings, you need to know it came from the ad. Don't guess. If you can't tell which ads are making the phone ring, you are flying blind. 4. Be realistic about the budget. You can't spend $5 a day on non-brand ads and expect to see results if the clicks cost $10 each. You need enough budget to get at least 5-10 clicks a day to give the system a chance to work.
How long until I see results?
With Google Ads, the results are almost instant. Your ads can be live this afternoon. However, it usually takes about 30 to 60 days to really "dial it in." We have to see what people are actually typing in and block the words that don't lead to sales.What's a waste of money?
Bidding on your brand name if you are a tiny business that no one has ever heard of is a waste. If no one is searching for you yet, no one is going to see the ad. Focus 100% of your money on non-brand service ads until you’ve built enough of a reputation that people start searching for you by name.---
Summary: The Bottom Line
Marketing shouldn't be a mystery. It’s about putting your message in front of people who want to give you money.
Brand ads make sure you don't lose the customers you've already earned. Non-brand ads find the customers you haven't met yet.
If you balance these two correctly, you'll see more phone calls, more bookings, and more profit. If you ignore them, you're either letting competitors steal your leads or you're overpaying for customers who don't move the needle for your business.
Ready to get your Google Ads working properly? At Local Marketing Group, we specialise in helping Brisbane businesses stop wasting money and start getting results. We don't care about "impressions" or "engagement"—we care about your phone ringing.
Contact us today and let’s take a look at your current setup. We’ll tell you straight if you’re wasting money and how to fix it.