The biggest lie in PPC reporting right now? Blended ROAS. Every day, I see brand
By Michael Erickson Facchin ยท April 22, 2026 ยท Curated by George's Blog
The biggest lie in PPC reporting right now?
Blended ROAS.
Every day, I see brands and agencies patting themselves on the back for a 10x ROAS or a 10% ACoS. The reports look beautiful. The executives are happy.
But when you actually lift the hood? 90% of those conversions are coming from branded search terms.
Here is the hard truth: ๐๐๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐๐ข๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐๐๐ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ก ๐๐จ๐ง๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐ ๐ญ๐๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐๐ข๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ง ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฎ๐ฉ.
Branded keywords are just harvesting demand. Those customers already knew who you were. They were influenced by your organic social, a podcast, or word of mouth.
Your PPC ad just caught them at the bottom of the funnel.
Non-branded keywords are where the actual trenches are. That is where you are acquiring net-new customers, stealing market share from competitors, and driving ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ growth.
If you are dumping branded and non-branded keywords into the same campaignsโor reporting on their blended averageโyou are lying to yourself.
Your cheap branded conversions are simply subsidizing your wildly unprofitable non-branded campaigns, and your blended reporting is blinding you to the bleed.
๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ข๐ฑ ๐ข๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ๐๐๐ฒ:
1. Segment your branded and non-branded campaigns immediately.
2. Set different KPIs for each. Accept a lower ROAS for non-branded because it is an acquisition play, not a retention play.
3. Ruthlessly audit your search term reports to make sure branded terms aren't sneaking into your non-branded ad groups via broad match.
Stop letting vanity metrics mask poor account structure.
Are you actively separating your branded and non-branded reporting, or are you still looking at blended averages?
Let me know in the comments.