Can You Use Competitor Brand Names in Google Ads?

While the idea of showing up in your competitors’ search results is appealing, there are several factors to consider before jumping in. From Google’s policies to potential legal issues, knowing when and how to bid on another company’s name is crucial for success.

Today, we’re breaking down the dos and don’ts of bidding on competitor names in Google Ads. You’ll learn how to do it the right way—and how to protect your own brand if someone’s targeting you.

What are Google Analytics Annotations and why are they important? ​Annotations is a feature in GA4 that allows you to add notes to your reports that will then be shown on the timeline. This feature was in Universal Analytics but GA4 didn’t have annotations until recently. We love using annotations because they provide context to your data and improve collaboration among your team. What should you annotate? Here are some ideas: Holidays Important events such as product or campaign launches Changes to marketing campaigns, such as Google Ads optimizations Tracking core algorithm updates for SEO Changes or improvements in GA4 or your tracking configuration Conversion rate optimization tests Anything else that makes sense! There are two ways to add annotations in GA4. Add an annotation directly on a Report: When viewing any report, click the Note icon (at the top right) and click Create annotation. If you already see annotations in a report, you can click that as well to open the annotation sidebar. Enter your annotation: Title (required) Description Date or date range Select a colour Click Create annotation. You can also add (or edit) annotations in the admin by going to Admin > Data display > Annotations. If you have lots of annotations, there isn’t an easy way to import them yet—it requires use of the Google Analytics API. I am hoping they add something in the admin in the future! I recommend putting together some rules to ensure that your annotations stay organized: Establish a naming convention. For example, we start all our KP Playbook annotations with the category it falls under, like Speaking, Podcast, or Post. Assign a colour to specific categories. We use brown for speaking, teal for posts, green for GA4 configuration or event changes, and red for issues (such as potential site spam). If you’re comfortable with code, check out this really useful script that Thomas Geiger put together, that will automatically annotate GA4 whenever a new version of Google Tag Manager is published. I am honestly really excited that annotations are back! It’s one of the best ways to ensure that your GA4 account isn’t just a data repository, but that it also helps people on your team understand what the data is reflecting.

Dana DiTomaso (she/her) Marketing Manager ​dana@kpplaybook.com​

🧠 5 AI insights from Google Search Central Live in Madrid on April 9, 2025

At Search Central Live in Madrid, Google confirmed that AI-generated content gets the lowest quality rating from human reviewers, even if it ranks for now. Aleyda Solis unpacks this and four other key takeaways, including how AI Overviews work, what you can block with nosnippet, and why SEO fundamentals still hold strong.

​Get the full breakdown →​

📌 People are Googling questions about your brand. Here’s how to find every single one

Steve Toth shares a practical regex filter you can use in Google Search Console to find every question people are asking about your brand. These queries are often high intent and can highlight missed opportunities for helpful, targeted content.

​See the full walkthrough →​

⚖️ Google quality raters now assess whether content is AI-generated

In a quiet but important update, Google told its quality raters to give the lowest score to AI-generated content that lacks originality or usefulness. It’s another signal that E-E-A-T can’t be faked—you can’t just add a few surface-level changes and expect Google to see your content as credible.

​What Google really wants →​

🔮 Hocus pocus shift your focus. When will SEO’s start thinking beyond the website?

Chantal Smink asks a question a lot of us should be asking: why are SEOs still acting like everything starts and ends on a website? In a world where people discover brands on social media, in AI tools, or through third-party platforms, it’s time to zoom out and rethink where we’re focusing our efforts.

​Shift your focus→​

📣 AI is still seemingly unable to properly understand the context between a "THING" and "THINGS"

Daniel Foley Carter breaks down how AI struggles with nuance, like the difference between an SEO agency and an SEO consultant. His advice is to focus on building visibility through verifiable facts, structured data, and credible citations from trusted sources like Clutch or rating directories. It’s less about chasing rankings, and more about being the kind of source an AI would cite.

​Read the full post →​

🎯 Why is the PPC industry divided over Performance Max?

Because it depends on what you value more: scale or control. Mark Sansum explores why some advertisers lean into PMax’s automation and cross-channel reach, while others are frustrated by limited visibility and targeting options. He also explains how your spot on the adoption curve might shape your comfort level with any kind of hands-off campaign structure.

​See how your approach stacks up →​

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Strategies for Analytical Thinking

Dana recently joined Katherine Watier Ong on the Digital Marketing Victories podcast to talk about digital marketing analytics in a privacy-first world. They discussed the shift from being “data-driven” to “data-informed,” the importance of context and critical thinking when interpreting data, strategies for communicating results to different audiences, tips for streamlining requests, and how to navigate challenges like privacy regulations, cookie restrictions, and tracking limitations.

​Learn strategies for analytical thinking →​

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