If Google Ads is bringing cheap clicks but few worthwhile enquiries, check how much is going to search partners before changing your keywords or increasing spend. Keep partners enabled when the commercial evidence supports them, exclude them when the traffic is unsuitable, or consider a limited test when the evidence is incomplete. There is no useful universal rule that every business should leave them on or switch them off.
Google’s 14 October 2026 announcement introduced channel prioritisation and budget allocation as a gradual rollout. As checked on 22 October 2026, availability still varies. This guide covers Search campaigns using an average daily budget: the practical question is whether to keep, exclude or limit partner traffic.
Understand what search partners includes
Your Search campaign can reach people beyond Google’s own search results. Google’s Search Network guidance describes partner placements including search results, directories and product detail pages. It also cautions that clicks from partner sites linking to products may not always be highly targeted. Search partners and the Google Display Network are separate settings, so check both rather than treating them as one channel.
That distinction matters when discussing poor leads with an agency. Ask which network produced the activity, what was measured as a conversion and what the business received. A campaign total alone cannot answer those questions.
Separate partner spend from Google Search
Choose one Search campaign and a period that reflects your buying cycle. In its statistics table, use Segment and select Network (with search partners). Google’s segmentation documentation confirms that this separates Google Search, search partners and Display Network performance.
Build a baseline with cost, clicks, conversions and the conversion actions being counted. Then check the actual enquiries or orders behind the totals. For a service business, we would record:
- Whether the person wanted a service you offer.
- Whether the job was in an area you serve.
- Whether the enquiry was genuine, distinct and contactable.
- Whether it progressed to a useful conversation, quotation or sale.
For a retailer, compare completed orders with cancellations, returns and the margin left after fulfilment. These are suggested commercial checks, not claims about how either network will perform.
Only assign an individual enquiry to a network when your measurement supports that connection. If the CRM cannot distinguish the sources reliably, record the uncertainty. Our guide to connecting conversion reporting with qualified enquiries and sales explains how to build a more useful outcome record.
Choose between keeping, excluding and testing
Keep partners when the outcomes justify the cost
If partner activity consistently brings suitable work at an acceptable acquisition cost, keeping it is a reasonable decision. Consider the whole campaign as well: your aim is profitable business within an affordable spend, rather than a particular network split.
Write down what would make you reconsider. That could be a sustained increase in unsuitable enquiries or an acquisition cost the business cannot support. A clear review condition is more useful than leaving the setting untouched indefinitely.
Exclude partners when you have a clear reason
Exclusion is reasonable when partner traffic has repeatedly failed your agreed quality checks, or you deliberately want a Google Search-only campaign, with Display excluded separately. Google’s instructions for removing search partners let you disable Include Google search partners in the campaign’s Networks settings. Partners are included by default when creating a Search Network campaign.
Record why you made the change and the evidence behind it. Avoid presenting one poor enquiry as proof that every partner placement is worthless. Equally, you do not need to continue spending simply to produce a tidier comparison.
Test when you can afford to resolve uncertainty
A test can make sense when previous evidence is thin and the business can fund a defined learning period. Agree the maximum overall exposure you can tolerate, the outcome you will judge and who will review it. If nobody can check lead quality, repair that handover before buying more traffic.
What the new channel controls change
The new prioritisation model lets Search advertisers give Google Search, search partners and Display different priorities. High-priority channels receive funding first, within Target CPA or Target ROAS constraints where relevant, before lower-priority channels. Low-priority channels can also receive a budget allocation.
For Target CPA or Target ROAS campaigns that are not limited by budget, priority alone generally will not change the spending mix; an allocation can still apply. Therefore, choosing Low priority is insufficient if your intention is to limit partner spend.
Use the controls to express a clear business preference. For example: preserve Google Search as the main route while evaluating a smaller amount of partner activity. That is a proposed test design, not a recommendation that every account should use the same split.
Calculate the allocation before relying on it
Google’s current allocation guidance bases the percentage on the average daily budget, not actual spend. Illustratively, 10% of an £80 budget is £8, even if total spending is £40. The allocation is best effort: daily partner spend can exceed it, and it resets daily without carrying balances forward. A low-priority channel set to 0% receives no spend.
If exceeding your intended test allowance would be unacceptable, choose exclusion rather than relying on a positive percentage as a guaranteed cash ceiling. Keep checking actual spend while the test runs.
Make the change at the intended scope
Where available, open the Search campaign’s Settings, expand Channel prioritisation and choose Use campaign-level settings. Set the tiers and allocation, then save. The setup and eligibility guidance explains that shared-budget changes affect all linked campaigns. These controls do not apply to Search campaigns using campaign total budgets.
Before saving, capture the existing configuration and check:
- Which campaign or shared budget the change will affect.
- Whether the setting follows account defaults or an override.
- Whether partners and Display should each remain eligible.
- Who will check delivery and commercial outcomes afterwards.
Inspect the saved configuration again. If the new card is unavailable during rollout, use the existing partner inclusion setting for an explicit on-or-off decision; do not enable another network merely to look for the new controls.
Check Display Expansion before adopting priorities
Google’s updated Display Expansion documentation currently schedules automatic migration of affected Search campaigns from February 2027. Its stated configuration for preserving existing allocation is Display at Low priority with a 50% daily allocation. That is migration guidance, not a recommended split for every business.
The current transition rules also say adopting channel priorities before February 2027 replaces the existing Display Expansion budget behaviour immediately. If Display is enabled, review it alongside partners before saving.
A partner-spend test should not accidentally become an unreviewed Display change. Put the future migration on your review list and recheck Google’s live documentation before acting on that timetable.
Judge the result after enquiries have had time to develop
Use the same network breakdown after the change and allow your normal enquiry-to-sale process to run. Google’s Days to conversion guidance can help you understand reporting delay before judging recent activity. Do not compare a mature earlier period with a later period whose enquiries are still waiting for a response.
Keep a short change record covering the date, settings, spend and outcome definition. Avoid changing keywords, landing pages, bidding targets and network eligibility together if your purpose is to understand the network change. Otherwise, be honest that several changes contributed to the result.
Review cost per qualified enquiry or acquired customer alongside total suitable demand. Fewer recorded conversions may be acceptable if the business receives more worthwhile work. A lower cost per click, on its own, is insufficient evidence to expand the test.
When irrelevant queries are also a problem, review them separately using our guide to search terms and negative keywords. Keep the diagnosis precise enough that the next action follows from the evidence.
If you want help deciding whether partner traffic deserves budget, talk to BuzzBoost. We can review campaign settings, measurement and enquiry quality together, then agree what to keep, limit or switch off.
Featured image: AI-generated editorial artwork, not a photograph of a real BuzzBoost office, client or result.
