Search Partners: The Other Box on Networks

Search Partners are other search sites in Google's network. A Search campaign can send clicks there when the Search Partners box is on. Those clicks are not Google Search.

Search campaigns are for Google Search. Search Partners is a separate box on Networks. When it is on, ads can show on partner search sites and some partner apps. Segment by Network, then read search terms and placements, before you leave the box on.

This is the partner-search leak. It is not Display, not YouTube, and not a reason to pause the Search campaign.

What are Search Partners in Google Ads?

Sites and properties that show Google search ads next to their own search results. Google Search is google.com. Partners are everyone else in that search network. The clicks look like Search in a blended report until you split Network.

Display and YouTube leaks are a different sitting. That note is Display and YouTube leaks. Search Partners can be clean. They can also be junk. You decide from the rows, not from the label.

How do you see Search Partner clicks?

Open the campaign. Segment by Network. You want Google search versus Search partners. Then open search terms and filter or sort so partner rows are visible, the same rows Google documents in its Search terms report page. Sort by cost. Read the expensive queries first.

Where ads showed can list partner sites and apps. If you see toolbar search, odd hostnames, or apps you do not recognize, that spend is not a customer typing into Google.

When should you turn Search Partners off?

Turn the box off when partner search terms are junk, when placements are junk, or when partner CPA is worse and you cannot clean it with negatives. Do it on the campaign. Then watch a week. Old partner rows stay in the date range. New ones should stop.

Keep the box on only if partner queries stay on your service and convert at a rate you will fund. There is no bonus for leaving it on out of habit.

What if partner queries look fine but placements look wrong?

Believe the placement. A query can look like your service and still come from a toolbar or an app you will not serve. Negative the junk queries, following Google's own negative keyword documentation on how a block actually matches. If the placements stay dirty, turn partners off. Do not keep paying for a clean-looking query on a dirty site.

What should you check so the box does not come back on?

Networks, every Monday. A new Search campaign created by a wizard can turn partners back on. That is one item on the Monday pass. If you meant to test partners, test one campaign with its own budget, then read the split.

Common questions

Are Search Partners the same as the Display Network?

No. Search Partners are other search sites. Display is banners and placements. YouTube is video. Check each one separately.

How do I turn Search Partners off?

Open the campaign's network settings and uncheck Search Partners. Save. Confirm in the Network segment that new partner clicks stop.

Should every Search campaign turn partners off?

No. Turn them off when the clicks are junk. Keep them on when search terms and placements stay on your service.

AdvisorPPC is an AI manager. It can flag partner-network waste and propose turning the box off. Network writes wait at the gate. Manual is the default.

See which network you actually paid. Find my wasted spend.