Placement Exclusion Builder: stop wasting spend on apps and sites
Turn your placement report into an exclusion list: apps, games, kids' channels and sites that waste spend.
- Free to use
- Runs in your browser
- No sign-up
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Upload or paste your placement report, or try the example: a gym in Pune.
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About the Placement Exclusion Builder
Upload or paste the "Where ads showed" report from Google Ads, or the Performance Max placement report. The tool sorts every website, app and YouTube channel or video into placements to exclude, each with its reason, placements to keep and placements without enough data yet. It flags spend with no conversions, a very high CTR with no conversions, games, kids' content and utility apps (our checklist), and builds the list in the format Google Ads accepts when you paste placements. Nothing is uploaded.
How it works
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Step 1
In Google Ads, open Campaigns › Insights and reports › When and where ads showed, choose the "Where ads showed" tab, pick a date range and download the table as CSV. For Performance Max, use the placement report in Report editor.
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Step 2
Drop the file here or paste the table. Add your target CPA, change the thresholds if you like, and choose which of our flags to use: games, kids' content and utility apps.
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Step 3
Untick anything you want to keep and copy the list. In Google Ads, open Tools › Content suitability › Advanced settings › Excluded placements and paste it.
Where the exclusions go
Account-level placement exclusions live on the Content suitability page in Google Ads, under Advanced settings › Excluded placements, where you can paste a list. They apply to every campaign in the account, including Performance Max, and since March 2024 to Search partner sites too. An account can hold up to 65,000. Websites go in without "www.", iPhone apps as mobileapp::1- and the App Store ID, and Android apps as mobileapp::2- and the package name.
How the tool decides
A placement is marked to exclude when it spent your target CPA, or ₹300 if you give none, with no conversions; when its CTR is at least twice the report's and 1% or more, from 10 clicks with no conversions, a possible sign of accidental clicks; or when its name points to a game, children's content or a utility app. All of these are our own checklist, not Google rules. Placements that converted are kept, and those that cost more than twice your target per conversion are listed unticked for you to judge.
What this tool cannot do
It only sees your report. Google says placement reports are not a complete list of where ads ran and do not match billing exactly, and the Performance Max placement report shows impressions only. The tool cannot see your Content suitability settings or judge what a site shows, and it never signs in to Google Ads.
Frequently asked questions
How do I exclude placements in Performance Max?
Performance Max uses your account-level placement exclusions, and placement exclusion lists from a manager account. Add them in Tools › Content suitability › Advanced settings › Excluded placements. To see where Performance Max ads showed, open the Performance Max campaigns placement report in Report editor; it shows impressions only, and Google says it is for brand safety, not for judging performance.
How do I exclude a mobile app in Google Ads?
Enter mobileapp::1- followed by the App Store ID for an iPhone app, which is the number at the end of its App Store URL, or mobileapp::2- followed by the package name for an Android app, from its Play Store URL, for example mobileapp::2-com.example.ludochampion. This tool turns App Store and Play Store links into that format for you.
Can I stop my ads showing on kids' YouTube channels?
Yes. On the Content suitability page, under Advanced settings, Google has an excluded content theme called "Content suitable for families", which covers Made for Kids videos on YouTube. You can also exclude single channels and videos by pasting their URLs. Google says it cannot guarantee that every related placement is blocked.
Why can I not exclude youtube.com?
Google reports YouTube ads that did not run on a watch page, such as ads in the Home feed, as "youtube.com", and you cannot exclude all of youtube.com as a placement. Exclude single channels and videos instead, or use the Content suitability settings, such as the inventory type and excluded content themes.
Should I exclude every placement with no conversions?
No. A placement with little spend has not had a fair chance yet, so the tool lists those as "not enough data" until they reach your threshold. Our suggestion is to check the report every month, exclude in small steps and keep an eye on your conversions after each change.
Related reading
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