Google Ads placement exclusions for B2B: a working checklist
How B2B advertisers use Google Ads placement exclusions: account-level lists, mobile apps, content suitability, the placement report and a weekly review routine.
Placement exclusions stop Google Ads from showing your ads on sites, apps, YouTube channels and videos you choose. For B2B they are essential, because Display, YouTube and Performance Max otherwise spend heavily on mobile games and low-quality sites. Start with account-level exclusions, restrict app inventory, set content suitability, and review the placement report weekly.
Why B2B needs exclusions more than most
A consumer brand selling snacks can tolerate a wide spread of placements. A B2B company selling compliance software to finance teams cannot. Its buyers are a narrow group, mostly reached during the working day, and an impression on a children's game or a site built only to show ads is pure cost.
Two other reasons make exclusions urgent:
- Smart bidding chases cheap conversions. If your conversion is a shallow form fill, automated campaigns may find placements that generate accidental clicks or low-quality leads.
- Retargeting budgets are small. When you retarget target accounts with company audiences, a few bad placements can take a large share of the budget.
The exclusion tools Google gives you
| Tool | Where | What it blocks | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Account-level placement exclusions | Account settings | Websites, apps, YouTube channels and videos across all campaigns, including Performance Max | Up to 65,000 per account (Google Ads Help) |
| Placement exclusion lists | Shared library | The same, as reusable lists you attach to campaigns | Up to 20 shared lists per account (account limits) |
| Campaign and ad group exclusions | Campaign settings | Placements for one campaign | Useful for tests |
| App category exclusions | Display placements | Groups of apps by store category | Reduces, but may not fully remove, app inventory |
| Content suitability | Account settings | Sensitive content, content types and inventory types | Applies across video and display inventory |
| Negative keywords and topics | Campaign | Content themes | Blunt on Display; use with care |
Manager accounts can also create exclusion lists that linked accounts inherit, which helps agencies and multi-brand teams keep one standard.
Mobile apps: the biggest leak
Mobile app placements are the most common source of waste in B2B Display. Accidental taps inside games and utilities look like clicks but rarely produce engaged visits.
For years advertisers excluded all apps with a single placement, adsenseformobileapps.com. Google retired that option in 2018, so it no longer works. What you can do today:
- Exclude app categories. Exclude the store categories that make no sense for your buyers, such as games, entertainment and kids. This removes much of the inventory but, in practitioners' experience, not always all of it.
- Exclude individual apps that appear in your placement report.
- Split by device if needed. Running a separate campaign for mobile lets you set lower bids or tighter exclusions there.
- Check the results. Review the "Where ads showed" report after each change rather than assuming the exclusion worked.
Not every app is bad. Business apps and news apps can perform. Let your own data decide.
Content suitability settings
Google's content suitability settings, available at account level, let you choose how much sensitive content your ads can appear next to, and exclude content types such as embedded videos, live streams, or content labelled for children and families where applicable. For most B2B brands, a conservative setting is the right starting point.
Content suitability is about context, not quality. A perfectly safe site can still be a made-for-advertising site with no real audience. That is why you need placement exclusions as well.
A starting exclusion list for B2B
Build a shared list before your first Display or YouTube campaign. Typical categories to exclude:
- Games and children's content: app categories, kids' YouTube channels and family content.
- Made-for-advertising sites: pages with many ad slots, auto-playing slideshows and little original content.
- Parked and error domains.
- Unrelated consumer content: recipes, celebrity, horoscopes, wallpapers, unless your data shows they work.
- Placements in languages you don't sell in.
- Your competitors' own sites and your own site, so you don't pay to show ads to people already there.
Some teams also start with an inclusion list instead: a list of trade publications and business sites where ads may show. Inclusion lists give tight control but limit reach. For ABM retargeting, a hybrid works well: broad reach with strong exclusions for company audiences, inclusion lists for brand awareness campaigns.
The weekly review routine
Exclusions are never finished. New sites and apps appear every day.
- Open the placement report ("Where ads showed") for all Display, YouTube, Demand Gen and Performance Max campaigns.
- Sort by cost, then by impressions.
- Flag placements with spend but no engaged visits. Use your analytics or company identification to check whether visits from that placement stayed, read pages or came from target companies.
- Add clear waste to the account-level list so it applies everywhere.
- Note good placements. Business publications that send engaged accounts are candidates for an inclusion campaign.
- Repeat weekly for the first two months, then every two weeks.
Judging placements on clicks alone misleads in B2B. A placement with a high CTR and no time on site is usually accidental clicks. A placement with few clicks that brings visitors from target accounts may be your best.
Performance Max needs the same care
Account-level placement exclusions apply to Performance Max. Add your list before launching, and add brand exclusions and account-level negative keywords where they apply. Then compare Performance Max with your other campaigns on engaged accounts and pipeline, not on the leads it reports.
How IntentBid helps
IntentBid creates Display, YouTube and Gmail campaigns in your own Google Ads account with 0% fee on media spend. Campaigns are created paused and run through compliance checks before you approve them, so you can review targeting and exclusions before any spend. Because the pixel identifies visiting companies, you can see which placements bring target accounts and which only bring clicks. See ABM display ads and company engagement reporting.
FAQ
How many placement exclusions can I add in Google Ads?
Google allows up to 65,000 account-level placement exclusions per account, plus shared exclusion lists. Limits change, so check Google's account limits page for the current numbers.
Can I exclude all mobile apps from Google Display?
Not with a single setting any more. The old adsenseformobileapps.com exclusion was retired in 2018. Exclude app categories, specific apps and, if needed, run mobile in a separate campaign.
Do placement exclusions work for Performance Max?
Yes. Account-level placement exclusions apply to all campaigns in the account, including Performance Max.
Should B2B advertisers use inclusion lists?
For brand awareness on trusted business sites, yes. For retargeting target accounts, broad reach with strong exclusions usually works better, because you want to follow the account wherever it browses.
How do I know a placement is bad?
Look past CTR. Check whether visits from that placement stay on the site, view several pages, or come from companies that match your ICP.
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