How I Cut Brand Search CPC by 92% Without Losing the Top Spot

A brand campaign should be the cheapest, most boring line in your account.

Most people overpay for it anyway, then post the ROAS like they discovered fire.

I took a brand campaign’s CPC from €0.26 to €0.02, a 92% cut, and the position went up, not down. Absolute-top impression share held around 97%. No hack, no trick. Just understanding the auction instead of letting “maximize conversions” overpay for traffic you already own.

Here’s the whole thing, settings included.

The short answer

Run your pure-brand campaign on Target Impression Share, set to Absolute Top, 100%, with a low max-CPC cap (here, €0.05). Because your Quality Score on your own name is maxed and nobody else is relevant for it, the auction clears far below your cap. You win the top spot for pennies. That’s it. The rest of this explains why it works, and why you must never copy it onto your non-brand campaigns.

First, what brand search actually is

Brand search is people typing your name. They already decided. It’s the warmest intent, the lowest competition, and the highest Quality Score you will ever see, literally 10/10, because it’s your name.

So the goal is not “maximize conversions.” The goal is brand defense: don’t let resellers, marketplaces, or competitors sit above you on your own brand. You’re not buying demand. You’re protecting it.

That single reframe changes how you bid.

The exact settings

• Bid strategy: Target Impression Share (tIS)
• Where on the page: Absolute Top
• Target: 100%
• Max CPC cap: €0.05 (low on purpose)

The bid cap is the whole ballgame. Without it, tIS will torch your budget chasing position at any price. With it, on brand, where nobody can outrank you, you stay pinned to the top and pay almost nothing.

Why €0.02 under a €0.05 cap

Ad Rank ≈ your bid × your Quality Score (plus relevance). In the auction, you only pay just enough to clear the advertiser below you.

On your own brand, your Quality Score is maxed and nobody else is relevant for your name, so their Ad Rank is garbage. The auction clears way under your cap. You’re not underbidding. That’s simply what the top costs when nobody can outrank you.

The receipts

This is one real account, tracked across four months:

CPC fell 92%. Position went up. Impression share pinned around 97%. Same account, same brand, just a bidding strategy that matches the auction instead of fighting it.

The caveat nobody mentions

tIS is a “dumb” strategy: it ignores conversion data and chases placement. On brand, that’s exactly what you want. On non-brand or generic terms, it’s a money fire, you’ll pay through the nose for a top spot on traffic that doesn’t convert.

So: brand only. Do not copy these settings onto your non-brand campaigns. I’ve watched people lift this verbatim, paste it onto generic keywords, and wonder why their budget evaporated.

The elephant in the room: is brand even incremental?

Fair question. A chunk of these clicks you’d get organically for free, the eBay paid-search study made that point years ago, and it’s real.

I still defend brand, for three reasons: competitors and resellers do bid on your name, the SERP real estate and sitelinks matter, and €0.02 is cheap insurance against losing your own front door.

But here’s the honesty most people skip: I do not count brand ROAS as growth. It’s defense. The real story lives in your non-brand, blended, and new-customer numbers. If brand is the headline of your reporting, the reporting is hiding something.

FAQ

What bid strategy is best for a brand campaign? Target Impression Share, Absolute Top, 100%, with a low max-CPC cap. It keeps you at the top of your own brand for the lowest possible cost.

Why is my brand CPC so high? Usually because you’re running “Maximize conversions” or “Maximize clicks” on brand. Those strategies bid up for conversions you’d win anyway. Switch to Target Impression Share with a cap.

Will a low CPC cap drop my position? On brand, no, your Quality Score is maxed and competitors aren’t relevant, so the auction clears below the cap while you stay at the top. On non-brand, yes, a low cap will cost you position.

Should I count brand ROAS as growth? No. Treat brand as defense. Judge growth on non-brand, blended, and new-customer metrics.

The takeaway

It’s not a hack. It’s understanding the auction.

Brand campaign → Target Impression Share, Absolute Top, 100% target, low CPC cap. High Quality Score means you win the top for pennies. CPC down 92%, impression share around 97%, position held.

If you’re still running “Maximize conversions” on your brand, that’s the first thing I’d change this week.

Want me to look at where your account is overpaying? Book a strategy call, I’ll show you, no pitch.

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