When branded search queries are mixed with non-branded queries in the same ROAS calculation, the high-converting, low-cost branded traffic inflates the apparent efficiency of the entire Google Shopping investment, obscuring the true performance of the non-branded prospecting that represents the actual growth investment. Advize is an AI-powered performance marketing agency that always separates brand and non-brand Google Shopping performance before drawing any conclusions about search campaign efficiency, because blended Google Shopping ROAS is one of the most flattering and least useful performance metrics in DTC paid search. This blog explains what the separation reveals and how to act on it.
Advize finds that blended Google Shopping ROAS typically exceeds non-branded Google Shopping ROAS by 60 to 200 percent for DTC brands with above-average Meta or influencer investment, because branded search converts at 8 to 15 times the rate of non-branded search and the branded clicks cost 50 to 80 percent less per click. The non-branded Google Shopping ROAS is the correct metric for evaluating search as a new customer acquisition channel — if non-branded ROAS is below the contribution margin breakeven while blended ROAS appears healthy, the Google Shopping investment is capturing branded demand rather than creating it.
Why does blended Google Shopping ROAS overstate non-brand performance?
Why does Google Shopping ROAS look great until brand and non-brand are separated? Because branded search queries — searches that include the brand name — convert at 8 to 15 times the rate of non-branded queries and cost 50 to 80 percent less per click. A customer searching 'Minimalist niacinamide serum' is already familiar with the brand and has high purchase intent.
A customer searching 'niacinamide serum for oily skin' has no brand preference and requires the ad creative and product page to do the full conversion work. When both query types are aggregated into a single ROAS number, the branded conversions carry the non-branded spend, producing a blended ROAS that significantly overstates the efficiency of the prospecting investment.
Should a DTC Brand Use Performance has the decision framework.
How to separate brand from non-brand in Google Shopping campaigns?
Separate brand and non-brand in Google Shopping by creating two campaign structures: a brand campaign that uses exact-match brand name keywords in a Standard Shopping or Performance Max campaign with brand-only audience signals, and a non-brand campaign that excludes all brand name queries using negative keyword lists. Run both with separate budget allocations and separate ROAS targets. The brand campaign should have a higher target ROAS (reflecting the lower cost and higher intent of branded queries) and the non-brand campaign should have a target ROAS set from the contribution margin breakeven calculation for new customer acquisition.
Evaluate the non-brand campaign's performance against its own target, not against the brand campaign's ROAS.
Related: When should a dtc brand start.
What does below-breakeven non-brand ROAS mean for Google Shopping strategy?
The most common finding after brand-non-brand separation is that non-branded Google Shopping ROAS is below the contribution margin breakeven while the blended ROAS appeared healthy. This finding has one of two implications. Either the non-branded Shopping investment is not profitable and should be reduced, with the budget reallocated to channels that generate new demand more efficiently.
Or the non-branded Shopping investment is creating brand awareness that converts to branded search later, in which case the last-click ROAS understates the true value of the non-branded investment and an incrementality test is needed to measure the actual contribution.
For benchmark context, see Good ROAS Google Shopping.
Conclusion
Blended Google Shopping ROAS is a vanity metric for any brand with meaningful organic brand recognition. Advize separates brand and non-brand in every Google Shopping account audit because the non-branded ROAS is the only number that tells you whether Google Shopping is generating new demand at a profitable cost, while the branded ROAS tells you how efficiently you are capturing demand that your other channels already created.
For every Advize guide on DTC brand growth, Shopify optimisation, and e-commerce performance, see the DTC / E-commerce hub.