A multi-location orthopedic group in the Midwest was running a branded campaign targeting their practice name and their surgeons' names. CPL: $21. Account-level blended CPL with their non-branded campaigns: $68.
When Practice Growth Co audited the account, the branded campaign was inflating the account's apparent performance significantly. The non-branded campaigns, the ones actually driving new patient discovery, were running at $112 CPL for orthopedic procedure terms. That was the number that mattered.
More importantly: a search on Google for the practice's name showed no competitors bidding on it. The orthopedic group was not in a market with aggressive competitor bidding. They were spending $800 per month to capture patients who were already searching for them by name, who would have found the organic listing immediately if no ad had appeared.
The branded campaign was making the account look better than it was and providing negligible protection against a threat that did not exist in their market.
Branded vs. Non-Branded Keywords in Healthcare Google Ads: What Each Actually Does
The difference between branded and non-branded campaigns is a difference in patient intent, and that difference determines what each campaign is actually accomplishing.
Non-branded campaigns target patients who are searching for a solution without specifying a provider: "plastic surgeon near me," "knee replacement surgeon [city]," "Botox [city]," "dental implants near me." These patients do not yet have a provider relationship. They are in discovery mode, evaluating options. Appearing in their search results is how the practice acquires new patients from paid search.
Non-branded campaigns are the growth engine of a Google Ads account. They are why the account exists.
Branded campaigns target patients who are searching for the practice by name or searching for specific providers at the practice: "[Practice Name] plastic surgery," "Dr. [Surgeon Name] rhinoplasty," "[Practice Name] appointment." These patients already know the practice. They were referred by a friend, saw an ad elsewhere, or are existing patients returning for additional care.
Branded campaigns do not generate new patient discovery. They intercept patients who were already going to find the practice, either through the organic listing or through a direct website visit.
“From the Field: The worst thing that happens when you run a branded campaign in a market where no competitors are bidding on your name is that you pay Google $18 to show an ad to someone who would have clicked your organic listing for free. The best thing that happens is you get a slightly richer snippet appearance on the branded search. In most healthcare markets, that trade-off does not justify the budget.”
When a Branded Healthcare Google Ads Campaign Is Actually Necessary
Branded campaigns are not always a defensive necessity. Whether one makes sense depends almost entirely on the competitive landscape for the practice's branded terms.
Run a branded campaign when:
Competitors are bidding on your practice name. If a competing practice is running ads that appear when patients search for your practice by name, those patients may click the competitor's ad rather than your organic listing. This is a genuine problem, you are losing patients who already intended to come to you. In competitive markets (large metro areas, categories with aggressive digital competitors), this happens regularly.
The practice has multiple providers and name confusion exists in the market. If there are two practices in the market with similar names, or if a high-profile surgeon has left to join a competitor practice, branded searches may produce ambiguous results that warrant ad protection.
The practice is running significant awareness advertising off-platform. If the practice is running TV, radio, or Meta Ads that generate brand search behavior, protecting that branded traffic from competitor interception makes sense. You are creating the awareness; you should capture the resulting search.
Do not run a branded campaign when:
No competitors are bidding on the practice name. Search the practice name on Google yourself, in incognito mode, from the practice's market geography. If no competitor ads appear, there is nothing to protect against. The organic listing is capturing the traffic that branded paid ads would show to.
The branded campaign budget is a meaningful percentage of the total Google Ads budget. For many healthcare practices, an unnecessary branded campaign consumes 15 to 25 percent of total budget, budget that would produce significantly more new patient acquisition if applied to non-branded procedure and service campaigns.
The practice is in a low-competition specialty or market. Orthopedic groups in mid-size markets, surgical specialists with established referral networks, and practices in smaller markets rarely face competitor bidding on their brand names. Always check before assuming the campaign is necessary.
Non-Branded Healthcare Keywords: Where Patient Acquisition Actually Happens
Non-branded keywords are where the work of healthcare Google Ads actually happens. A practice that runs only a branded campaign is not running patient acquisition, it is running a defensively priced organic listing replacement.
The Keyword Structure That Produces New Patients
Non-branded healthcare Google Ads keywords cluster into three intent levels, each with its own conversion characteristics:
Service + location terms ("rhinoplasty [city]," "dental implants near me," "knee surgeon [city]"): the highest-intent non-branded queries. The patient has identified both the solution and the location. These terms have the best consultation and treatment conversion rates of any keyword category. They are also the most competitive and expensive.
Specialty + location terms ("plastic surgeon [city]," "orthopedic surgeon near me," "med spa [city]"): moderate intent. The patient is searching for a type of provider, not a specific procedure. Useful for practices with multiple service lines, but conversion rate is lower than service-specific terms because the patient may still be deciding which specific service they want.
Problem + solution terms ("shoulder pain treatment," "missing teeth options," "weight loss doctor"): earlier intent. The patient has identified a problem and a rough solution category, but may not have settled on a specific procedure. Lower CPL, lower conversion rate, useful for building funnel volume.
The most effective non-branded campaign structure puts the majority of budget in service + location terms, uses specialty + location terms as secondary volume, and tests problem + solution terms carefully with conversion data guiding budget allocation.
For the full campaign structure framework covering intent-tier isolation, ad group organization, and landing page alignment, the Google Ads for healthcare practices pillar covers those mechanics in full.
How Branded Campaigns Distort Healthcare Google Ads Performance Data
Branded campaigns almost always produce lower CPL than non-branded campaigns, sometimes dramatically lower. This creates a distortion in account-level reporting that can mislead practices about how their non-branded campaigns are actually performing.
A practice running a branded campaign at $22 CPL alongside a non-branded procedure campaign at $110 CPL will report a blended account CPL of $58 if spend is equal between the campaigns. The $58 number looks acceptable. The $110 non-branded CPL, which is the number that reflects actual new patient acquisition cost, may be at or above the practice's threshold for acceptable performance, but it is hidden behind the blended average.
This matters for budget decisions. A practice that sees a $58 blended CPL may not feel urgency to optimize the non-branded campaign. A practice that sees the non-branded campaign clearly at $110 knows exactly what new patient acquisition costs and can make an informed decision about whether that number justifies the procedure revenue.
What to do: Report non-branded and branded campaigns completely separately. Never blend them into an account-level CPL figure for strategic decision-making. The branded campaign should be reported as a defensive utility with its own small fixed budget, not as part of the growth campaign performance picture.
| Campaign Type | Typical CPL | What It Measures | Budget Guidance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Non-branded (service terms) | $70-$200+ | New patient acquisition | 75-85% of Google Ads budget |
| Non-branded (specialty terms) | $45-$120 | Category discovery | 10-15% of Google Ads budget |
| Branded (practice/provider name) | $15-$35 | Defensive capture | $250-$500/mo fixed, if warranted |
Source: Practice Growth Co campaign data across healthcare Google Ads accounts, 2025-2026.
FAQ: Branded Keyword Questions from Healthcare Practices
How do I know if competitors are bidding on my practice name?
Search your practice name and your lead surgeons' or providers' names on Google in an incognito browser window from your market geography. If competitor ads appear above or alongside your organic listing, a branded campaign is warranted. Do this check every few months, competitor bidding behavior changes, and you may find protection is needed only during certain competitive periods.
Is it ever worth bidding on a competitor's practice name?
Competitor name bidding is technically permitted by Google, though it has restrictions on how the competitor's name can appear in ad copy. It typically produces higher CPL and lower conversion rate than service-specific non-branded campaigns because the patient is explicitly looking for a specific competitor, not for your practice. The exception: if a competitor has closed or significantly downsized and their brand still has search volume in the market, that residual branded traffic can be high-intent. For most practices, non-branded service and procedure terms are a better use of budget than competitor name bidding.
What budget should a branded campaign have?
If a branded campaign is warranted, fix the budget at $250 to $500 per month for most practices. This should represent no more than 10 percent of total Google Ads spend. A branded campaign that consumes 20 to 30 percent of budget is almost certainly over-funded relative to its value. Branded campaigns do not need to win every impression, they need to be competitive enough to appear when a patient searches the brand name.
Should my branded campaign include competitors' names as negative keywords?
Your non-branded campaigns should include your own practice name and provider names as negative keywords, so that branded searches are routed to the branded campaign (if you have one) rather than the non-branded campaigns. Competitor name negative keywords in your non-branded campaigns are worth testing if you are bidding on broad-match terms that might be matching to competitor queries, but this is a refinement rather than a foundational setup.
The decision to run a branded Google Ads campaign should be based on a clear-eyed audit of your competitive landscape, not on the assumption that brand protection is always necessary. Practice Growth Co audits both branded and non-branded campaign structure for healthcare practices and allocates budget toward the campaigns that produce real patient acquisition. Book a Strategy Call →
Mike Funkhouser is the founder of Practice Growth Co, a healthcare-focused patient acquisition agency specializing in Google Ads, Meta Ads, SEO, and AI search optimization for specialty medical practices. He has helped plastic surgery groups, orthopedic clinics, med spas, and specialty practices build scalable, measurable patient acquisition systems across the US.
Sources and Citations
- Google Ads Help — Keyword Matching and Targeting — Google documentation on keyword match types, search query matching, and branded keyword behavior
- Google Ads Help — Trademark Policy — Google policy on use of competitor brand names in ad copy and keyword targeting
- Practice Growth Co — Branded vs. Non-Branded Campaign Performance Data Across Healthcare Accounts — Proprietary Practice Growth Co campaign data, 2025-2026