How to Use Google Ads Account-Level Placement Exclusions: A Step-by-Step Guide

Stop chasing bad placements across hundreds of campaigns — centralize and control them at the account level

Managing placement exclusions campaign-by-campaign is slow, error-prone, and a major source of wasted ad spend. In 2026, with automation-heavy formats like Performance Max and Demand Gen dominating budgets, ad operations teams need a single, reliable guardrail that scales. This guide gives a practical, step-by-step walkthrough to set up Google Ads account-level placement exclusions, migrate existing campaign-level blocks, and verify that blocking is enforced across all eligible campaigns.

“Google Ads is adding account-level placement exclusions, letting advertisers block unwanted inventory across all campaigns from a single setting.” — Search Engine Land, Jan 15, 2026

Why account-level placement exclusions matter in 2026

Two industry trends make account-level exclusions essential:

• Automation-first buying: More budgets flow to Performance Max, Demand Gen, and other automated formats that span Display, YouTube and publisher networks. Those formats can scale fast — and so can unwanted placements.
• Fragmented inventory and new channels: CTV, in-app, and creator-led environments expanded in 2025–2026. The diversity of placements makes manual campaign-level blocking impractical for enterprise accounts.

Account-level exclusions give you a single source of truth for brand safety and inventory filtering, reducing manual work and the risk that a campaign slips through the cracks.

Quick overview: what this guide covers

• How to create account-level placement exclusions in the Google Ads UI
• How to migrate campaign-level exclusions to account-level (UI & bulk Editor approach)
• How to verify blocking across campaigns and measure impact
• Best practices, automation tips, and a rollback plan

Before you begin: an audit checklist (15 minutes to 2 hours)

Run this short audit so the migration is safe and reversible.

• Export current campaign-level placement exclusions (all campaigns) and save a master CSV.
• Identify priority reasons for blocking (brand safety, poor performance, policy violations).
• Tag or label placements in the CSV with the reason and first-seen date.
• Pick an initial test window (e.g., two low-risk campaigns or a single brand campaign) and a 7-14 day verification period.
• Notify stakeholders (brand safety, legal, account teams) and schedule a rollback owner.

Step 1 — Create account-level placement exclusions in Google Ads (UI)

Google rolled out account-level placement exclusions in early 2026 to apply blocks broadly across Display, YouTube, Performance Max and Demand Gen. Follow these steps to add an exclusion list that applies account-wide:

1. Open Google Ads and go to Tools & settings.
2. Select the shared exclusions area — often labeled Shared library or Placement exclusions under account settings; look for a new Account-level exclusions hub if your interface shows it.
3. Click + New exclusion list and give it a descriptive name (e.g., “Account — Brand Safety 2026” or “Blocked Apps — Q1 2026”).
4. Paste placements (full publisher domains, mobile app package names, or YouTube channel IDs) — one per line.
5. Save and confirm the list is active. You should see a confirmation that the exclusion will apply across eligible campaign types.

Tip: Use meaningful naming conventions and a version suffix (e.g., “— v1”, “— Q1-2026”) so you can track changes over time in Change History.

Step 2 — Migrate campaign-level exclusions (practical methods)

There are two reliable approaches to migrate existing campaign-level placements into account-level exclusions: the Google Ads UI (manual for smaller accounts) and Google Ads Editor bulk import (recommended for medium-large accounts).

Method A — UI migration (small accounts or spot fixes)

1. Export campaign-level exclusions: Open each campaign > Placements > Excluded placements > Export (or copy into a spreadsheet).
2. Clean and dedupe: Remove query parameters, normalize domains (e.g., remove https:// and trailing slashes), and dedupe rows.
3. Create the account-level exclusion list (use Step 1) and paste the cleaned placements into it.
4. Optionally remove campaign-level entries: After the account-level list is active and verified, you can delete redundant campaign-level exclusions to avoid maintenance overhead.

Method B — Bulk migration with Google Ads Editor (recommended)

Google Ads Editor is faster and safer for large accounts. The general flow:

1. Open Google Ads Editor and download the account.
2. Navigate to Shared library > Placement exclusion lists (or an equivalent item in Editor).
3. Export campaign-level exclusions: In Editor, select all campaigns and export excluded placements to CSV.
4. Consolidate & clean CSV: Remove duplicates, normalize domains, and add a column for List Name to group placements into the account-level list you’ll create.
5. Import as a new shared exclusion list: Use Editor’s Make multiple changes or Import CSV feature to create the account-level placement exclusion list and paste placements.
6. Post-check: Sync changes up to Google Ads, then verify in the web UI that the new account-level list is active.

Why Editor? It lets you preview updates offline, produce a single upload that affects many campaigns, and avoid accidental deletions.

Step 3 — Deduplicate and organize (best practice)

As you consolidate placements, follow this taxonomy:

• Brand safety — placements that conflict with brand guidelines.
• Low performance — placements with poor CTR/CR or high invalid traffic.
• Policy / legal — placements that violate regional rules or partner contracts.
• Channel-type — separate YouTube channels, app package names, and web domains when needed.

Maintain separate lists for different reasons when possible — this enables targeted updates and easier stakeholder approvals. For example, legal-approved brand safety blocks can be rolled out differently from performance blocks that you might revisit monthly.

Step 4 — Verify that exclusions are applied account-wide

Verification must be systematic. Use both Google Ads UI reports and a few practical checks.

1. Confirm list presence and scope

• Open the account-level exclusion list and confirm the count of placements matches your import file.
• Check the list metadata — name, applied date, creator, and applied campaign types (Display, YouTube, Performance Max, Demand Gen).

2. Run a placements report

Generate a Placement performance (or Placement report) across the last 7–30 days and filter for the blocked placements. Steps:

1. Go to Reports > Predefined reports > Placements (or create a custom report).
2. Set date range spanning pre- and post-migration (e.g., 30 days before and 7–14 days after).
3. Filter for the domains / app IDs in your exclusion list to see recent impressions or spend.

If the exclusion is active, impressions and spend for those placements should drop to zero after the list is applied (allow for a short propagation period—typically 24–48 hours).

3. Check Change History and Campaign-level Exclusions

• Open Change History and filter for “exclusion list added” to see when the account-level list was applied.
• Spot check a few campaigns and ad groups to confirm that their campaign-level excluded placements were removed (if you chose to remove them) or are superseded by the account-level list.

4. Use a test campaign for monitoring

Create a short-lived test campaign with a small budget that targets the previously-blocked placements (if feasible). If the test campaign receives impressions on those placements after the account-level list is applied, investigate immediately.

5. Set automated alerts and dashboards

• Create a Looker Studio (Data Studio) dashboard that tracks impressions and spend on the blocked placements list and updates daily.
• Set alerts in Google Ads or your BI tool for any non-zero spend on blocked placements.

Step 5 — Measure impact and iterate

Moving exclusions to the account level is not just operational work — it should improve performance and safety. Track these KPIs:

• Reduction in wasted spend — compare spend on previously excluded placements before vs after migration.
• Changes in CPA / ROAS — monitor any uplift from removing low-quality placements across automated campaigns.
• Impression quality — view CTR and viewability shifts for Display and YouTube.
• Invalid traffic and policy flags — monitor for any change in policy-related account actions.

Review these metrics at 7, 30, and 90 days to ensure the list is delivering the intended benefits without unintended reach loss.

Common pitfalls and how to avoid them

• Over-blocking: An account-level exclusion is powerful — avoid blanket domain blocks without performance evidence. Use a phased approach for high-impact lists.
• Forgetting format limitations: Account-level exclusions apply to eligible campaign types (Display, YouTube, Performance Max, Demand Gen). They won’t affect Search or Shopping; ensure campaign teams understand scope.
• No rollback plan: Keep the original campaign-level CSV export and a snapshot of account settings so you can revert quickly.
• Poor naming & governance: Use clear versioning and a change approver to prevent accidental deletions.

Advanced strategies for scale (2026 emphasis)

For enterprise ad ops teams managing hundreds of accounts, use these advanced tactics:

• Automated feeds: Maintain a secure internal spreadsheet or cloud table (BigQuery/Sheets) of flagged placements and integrate it with a scheduled job that updates account exclusion lists via API.
• Role-based lists: Create separate lists for regional requirements, brand protection, and performance optimization and apply combinations based on campaign geographic and brand rules.
• Programmatic monitoring: Use third-party verification (e.g., MRC-accredited partners) to feed detections into your exclusion workflows.
• API-driven governance: In 2026 the Google Ads API supports customer-level negative criteria — automate list creation, versioning, and audits via the API to enforce company-wide rules across all managed accounts.

Case study — How Acme Apparel saved 18% of wasted spend

Background: Acme Apparel ran 120 campaigns across North America and EMEA, with heavy use of Performance Max for prospecting and Demand Gen for catalog reach. Brand team found frequent YouTube and in-app placements that conflicted with seasonal creative.

Action:

1. Exported all campaign-level placements and consolidated into a single CSV (2,400 lines).
2. Created three account-level lists: Brand Safety, Low Performance, and App Packages — with clear ownership and review cadences.
3. Deployed lists via Google Ads Editor and verified with a 14-day placement report.

Results (30 days):

• 18% reduction in wasted spend on low-performing placements.
• 12% improvement in overall CPA for automated prospecting campaigns.
• Faster operational cycles — weekly maintenance reduced to 30 minutes from 3 hours.

Key learning: The team split lists by purpose and phased the rollout to avoid over-blocking during peak season.

Rollback plan (must-have)

1. Keep a timestamped export of all campaign-level exclusions before deleting them.
2. If performance or reach issues appear, disable the account-level list temporarily and re-apply campaign-level exclusions selectively.
3. Always test rollback on a small set of campaigns first to avoid large-scale disruptions.

Maintenance & governance (recommended cadence)

• Weekly: Run placement report for newly-served placements and flag candidates for blocking.
• Monthly: Review and approve updates to account-level lists with brand and legal.
• Quarterly: Archive old lists (versioning) and perform a deeper audit for changing inventory types (CTV, apps, emerging publisher networks).

Checklist: a one-page migration plan

1. Export campaign-level placement exclusions (CSV snapshot).
2. Clean, normalize, and dedupe placements.
3. Create account-level exclusion lists with descriptive names and reasons.
4. Deploy via Google Ads UI or Editor — apply to eligible campaign types.
5. Verify via Placement reports, Change History, and a test campaign.
6. Monitor KPIs (spend, CPA, impressions) and adjust lists.
7. Version & document every change; maintain a rollback export.

Final recommendations

Account-level placement exclusions are a foundational tool for modern ad operations in 2026. They reduce operational overhead, protect brand safety, and make automated campaign types safer to run at scale. Start small with a tested list, use Editor or API for bulk scale, and pair the rollout with measurement and governance so you don’t sacrifice reach or performance.

Take action now

Ready to stop managing exclusions campaign-by-campaign? Start with the audit checklist in this guide: export your current exclusions, create a single account-level list, and verify impact over a 14-day window. If you manage multiple accounts, automate list updates via the Google Ads API or Ads Editor workflow to keep guardrails up-to-date.

Want a migration checklist you can copy into your operations playbook? Download or copy the checklist above, and schedule a 30-minute audit with your team this week to identify the top 50 placements to block first.

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