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Google’s ‘brand tax’: are businesses being forced to pay to protect searches for their own names?

ended 18. September 2026

Chartered Financial Planner and Rowley Turton director Scott Gallacher regularly searches Google for “Scott Gallacher Rowley Turton” to check press coverage and how he and his firm appear online.

He was therefore disappointed to discover that the search produced multiple sponsored results for financial adviser comparison and lead-generation websites before the organic results for either himself or Rowley Turton.

Gallacher said:

“I completely understand businesses advertising for generic searches such as ‘financial adviser’ or ‘IFA near me’. Everyone is competing for that potential client.

“But ‘Scott Gallacher Rowley Turton’ is very different. Someone typing my name and my firm’s name into Google is specifically looking for me or Rowley Turton.

“It is disappointing that somebody who is already searching specifically for us could potentially be diverted elsewhere before they even reach our organic search result.

“"It feels increasingly like a Google brand tax'. Businesses spend years building their name, reputation and awareness, only to find they may then need to pay Google for PPC on their own name simply to ensure that people specifically searching for them actually get there, rather than finding a competitor instead.”

Gallacher would be interested in hearing from digital marketing, PPC, competition and small-business experts on the wider issue:

  • How common is it for adverts to appear above organic results when consumers search for a specific individual or business by name?
  • Are advertisers necessarily bidding on those names, or can broad-match keywords and Google’s algorithms cause their adverts to appear?
  • Is defensive bidding on your own company and employee names now considered good PPC practice?
  • What does this typically cost SMEs, and is there evidence that competitors or lead-generation sites materially divert branded search traffic?
  • Does Google provide businesses with sufficient ability to protect searches for their own brands without having to buy advertising?
  • At what point, if any, could the wording or presentation of an advert shown against another company's branded search create consumer confusion?

Gallacher added:

“I’m not suggesting there is anything improper about businesses advertising on Google. The concern is that a business can spend years creating the reputation and awareness that causes someone to search for it by name, only to find it may then have to pay Google simply to make sure that person actually reaches them rather than being diverted elsewhere. That is why ‘brand tax’ feels like an increasingly fair description.”

5 responses from the Newspage community

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Scott GallacherVerified
Director at Rowley Turton
Having spent nearly 30 years helping to build the Rowley Turton brand, it’s incredibly frustrating to think that someone could be personally recommended to contact me, Google “Scott Gallacher Rowley Turton”, and then be met first by adverts for other firms.

Years ago, a recommendation might have meant someone being handed your business card. Today, the equivalent is often somebody typing your name into Google — yet before they reach you, they can be presented with several paid alternatives.

That’s why the idea of a Google “brand tax” resonates. Businesses spend years building the reputation and trust that creates the search in the first place, only to find they may then need to pay Google for PPC on their own name simply to make sure that person actually gets to them rather than being diverted elsewhere.
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Martin RaynerVerified
Financial Adviser at Compton Financial Services
If someone types your name and your firm into Google, they are not browsing. They are looking for you. Comparison sites and lead generators buying the slot above that result are hitchhiking on reputation you spent years building.

Google too often ranks who pays most, not who is best for the user. That is exactly where it is losing ground to AI.

Google is a free service funded by people paying to be listed. AI flips the model: the end user may pay for the service, but they get the answer they actually want.

The market is moving that way. Google will have to adapt — better for users, better for businesses, and an end to the biggest budget always winning the top spot.

Brand tax is the old way. AI and better data is the new way.
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Justin MoyVerified
Managing Director at EHF Mortgages
Well, I have just searched the same phrase, and no adverts have appeared.

Local firms could be advertising against your name; that's quite common, and there's not much you can do about it.

Read the Google Ads support pages for details on organic searches vs paid ads and positions.
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Tony SanchezVerified
Founder at Bridging Loan Directory
When someone searches for your exact business name, you’ve already done the work of getting them interested. As a business owner, I understand the frustration of potentially having to pay again to help them find you.

There’s a difference between competing for someone who is shopping around and putting another service in front of someone who has already chosen who they want to contact. That matters particularly in finance, where people should know whether they’re contacting the firm they searched for or a comparison service that will pass their details elsewhere.

I wouldn’t assume an advert proves someone deliberately targeted that business’s name. But the test for the customer is simple: is it immediately obvious who they’re clicking through to and who will receive their enquiry?
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Richard O'Connor
Director at First Mats
In search marketing, relevancy is king, especially for Google Ads. The CPC (cost-per-click) of an ad is heavily influenced by how relevant the ad is to the page the clicker will be taken to. If a competitor is trying to steal clicks directly related to your brand name, but their website doesn't talk about your brand, their CPC will be very expensive. It's like trying to sell Brown Hats with an ad about Pink Shoes. Not relevant, a poor customer experience, and a wasted click. On the other hand, because your site is relevant to your own brand, defending that position will be very cheap.

Launching ads for your own brand name might feel like a tax, but across my digital marketing career, I've always found that the value of these clicks far outweighs the cost, especially as most will be returning visitors or customers.