Search Partners and Display Expansion in Google Ads: Should You Turn Them Off?
- Jesse Heslinga
- Aug 3
- 8 min read
When you create a Search campaign in Google Ads, two settings are turned on by default: Search Partners and Display Network Expansion. Most advertisers leave them on because they look harmless. They are in a section of campaign settings that most people never scroll down to.
In practice, for lead-gen service businesses, these two settings often send a portion of your budget to places that produce very few real inquiries. Not always, and not in every account, but often enough that checking them is one of the first things I do in any audit.
Both settings can be evaluated with data and turned off in minutes if the data says to. The default should not be "leave it" just because Google left it on.
The Short Answer
Search Partners extends your ads to Google's search partner network: sites like Ask.com, AOL search, and hundreds of smaller search engines. Lead quality from these is often lower than from Google Search itself.
Display Network Expansion (also called "Google Display Network" in campaign settings) shows your text ads on display inventory when Google thinks you might get a conversion. For lead-gen, this rarely works as intended.
Both settings are on by default and are easy to miss.
For most lead-gen accounts, the right call is to turn them off, check the data, and only turn them back on if you have clear evidence they are producing real leads.
Turning them off does not hurt Quality Score and does not require rebuilding the campaign.
What are Search Partners?
Search Partners is a network of websites that show Google search ads alongside their own search results. It includes properties like Ask.com, AOL search, and thousands of smaller search engines and directories. When you run a Search campaign with Search Partners enabled, your ads can show on all of these sites in addition to Google.com.
Google shows Search Partners data in your campaign performance but does not break it out by default. You have to segment the data specifically to see how much of your spend and how many conversions came from Search Partners versus Google Search itself.
For some accounts, Search Partners work fine. E-commerce advertisers with broad reach goals sometimes find incremental volume there. Shopping campaigns can get decent return from partner sites.
For lead-gen service businesses, the pattern I see more often is: Search Partners getting 5-20% of impressions and spend, with a conversion rate lower than Google Search and lead quality that does not match what comes in from the main search network. The partner sites attract different intent and different audiences than someone searching directly on Google.com.
Keep in Mind: Search Partners and Google Search cannot be bid-differentiated at the campaign level in standard Smart Bidding setups. If you keep Search Partners on, Google bids for both networks with the same target. You cannot say "bid X for Google Search and Y for Search Partners." Separate campaigns are the only way to control this, which adds complexity most accounts don't need.
What is Display Network Expansion?
Display Network Expansion (shown in campaign settings as "Google Display Network") is different from running a separate Display campaign. When this setting is on inside a Search campaign, Google can show your text ads on its display inventory (websites, apps, YouTube) when its algorithm believes a conversion is likely.
The pitch from Google is that it extends your reach at no additional average cost. In reality, for lead-gen accounts, display inventory converts very differently from search traffic. Someone searching "hair clinic near me" is in a very different mindset from someone who sees an ad on a cooking blog or a news website.
The conversion events that Display Expansion optimises toward are sometimes the proxy conversions in your account: page views, button clicks, or soft engagements that look like leads on the dashboard but are not. The result is a conversion number that looks healthy, with actual lead quality that is not.
Pro Tip: To see if Display Expansion is on, go to your Search campaign settings and scroll down to "Networks." If "Include Google Display Network" is checked, it is on. Unchecking it takes about five seconds and has no effect on your Search targeting, Quality Score, or Smart Bidding data.
How to check if they are hurting you
Before turning anything off, check the data. Google Ads lets you segment performance by network.
For Search Partners:
Open your campaign and go to the "Campaigns" view.
Click "Segment" in the menu bar, then "Network (with search partners)."
This splits your data into "Google Search," "Search Partners," and "Google Display Network."
Look at the conversion rate, cost per conversion, and if you track it, cost per qualified lead for each row.
If Search Partners shows a conversion rate less than half of Google Search, a cost per conversion more than 1.5x higher, or a conversion volume that accounts for more than 10% of spend with poor quality, turn it off.
For Display Expansion: The same segmentation shows you Display Network spend. If any spend shows up under "Google Display Network" in a Search campaign, Display Expansion is sending money there. Check: what conversions did it produce, and were those real lead actions or softer proxy events?
Metric | Google Search (typical lead-gen) | Search Partners (typical) | Display Expansion (typical) |
Conversion rate | Baseline | 30-50% lower | Much lower |
Lead quality | High intent | Mixed | Low intent |
Cost per lead | Your benchmark | Often 1.5-2x higher | Often much higher |
Recommended setting | Always on | Audit first, often off | Usually off for lead gen |
Figures are directional based on typical lead-gen account patterns. Your account data may differ. Always check before turning off.
Verdict: run the segment report for any account you are auditing. The numbers will tell you whether these settings are helping or quietly bleeding spend.
When Search Partners might be worth keeping
Search Partners are not always a waste. There are scenarios where they add genuine value.
A high-volume account with a very tight keyword list may benefit from the incremental reach, especially if Google Search inventory for those terms is limited and the partner network fills in the gap.
If your conversion tracking is solid and your data shows Search Partners converting at a comparable rate to Google Search, with similar lead quality, leave it on. The goal is not to turn off every optional setting; it is to base the decision on your data, not on defaults.
Some industries with lower search volume (niche professional services, B2B) find that Search Partners helps maintain reach without a significant quality penalty. Check the data for your account, not for the average.
The case for Display Expansion is harder to make for lead-gen. I have yet to see a lead-gen service account where Display Expansion produced a meaningful number of real qualified leads at a competitive CPL. That does not mean it is impossible, but I would want to see clear data before recommending it.
How to turn them off (and what happens next)
Turn off Search Partners:
Go to campaign settings.
Scroll to "Networks."
Uncheck "Search Partners."
Save.
Turn off Display Expansion:
Same settings page.
Uncheck "Google Display Network."
Save.
No learning period reset. No Quality Score impact. These are network distribution settings, not bidding changes. Smart Bidding may take a few days to redistribute impressions back to Google Search inventory, but you will not see the same 3-4 week instability you get from changing a bid strategy or a conversion action.
Budget that was going to partner or display inventory will now go to Google Search. In most lead-gen accounts, that means more impressions on the searches that matter. Watch your lead volume and CPL for 2-3 weeks after the change.
If you see a meaningful drop in conversion volume after the change (not an expected rebalancing, but a genuine drop that persists past two weeks), it is worth reviewing what those conversions were. In some cases, Search Partners were producing real inquiries even if the rate was lower, and removing that volume hurts. Re-enable and separate into its own campaign to control it properly.
For the mechanics of what drives poor lead quality from broader network settings, see why you get junk leads from Google Ads and why Google Ads spends budget but gets no leads.
How I handle this for lead-gen businesses
Every new account gets network settings checked in the first audit. My default starting position for a lead-gen Search campaign is Google Search only: Search Partners off, Display Expansion off.
From there, I look at the data after 60-90 days. If the account has enough volume and the client wants to scale, I may test Search Partners in a separate campaign so I can set a distinct bid target and measure it cleanly. Display Expansion stays off unless there is a compelling specific reason to test it.
The broader principle: Google defaults favour Google's revenue. That is not a criticism; it is just how the product works. Every default setting that expands reach beyond where your audience is most intentful is worth evaluating on your own data before accepting it.
Ready to find out where your budget is actually going? If you have not checked your network settings recently, there is a decent chance a portion of your spend is going to inventory that is not producing real leads. I check this in every account review.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does turning off Search Partners affect Quality Score?
No. Quality Score is calculated for your keywords on Google Search. Network settings do not influence Quality Score. You can safely disable Search Partners without any effect on your keyword rankings or ad strength in Google Search.
What is the difference between Search Partners and the Display Network?
Search Partners are websites that show text ads alongside their own search results (Ask.com, AOL, partner directories). The Display Network is Google's network of websites, apps, and YouTube where image and video ads typically show. Display Expansion inside a Search campaign pushes your text ads into the Display Network when Google thinks a conversion is likely.
How do I see how much of my budget went to Search Partners?
In your campaign view, click "Segment" then "Network (with search partners)." This splits your spend, clicks, impressions, and conversions into Google Search, Search Partners, and Google Display Network rows. Sort by cost to see where the budget went.
Can I bid differently for Search Partners vs Google Search?
Not within a single campaign using Smart Bidding. If you want different bids for each network, you need separate campaigns: one targeting Google Search only, one targeting Search Partners only. This adds management overhead and is usually only worth it for high-spend accounts with meaningful Search Partner volume.
Will turning off Display Expansion reduce my lead volume?
It will reduce impressions and possibly clicks. Whether it reduces real lead volume depends on whether Display Expansion was generating genuine inquiries in your account. For most lead-gen service accounts, Display Expansion produces very few real leads, so removing it has little effect on pipeline while improving CPL.
My conversion tracking shows leads from Search Partners. Should I ignore them?
Check the quality before deciding. If those Search Partner conversions are real, qualified leads that your sales team is closing, keep the setting on and consider separating into a dedicated campaign. If the leads from that segment do not convert to clients at a comparable rate to Google Search leads, the conversion count is misleading and turning it off is the right call.
How long after disabling these settings before I see a change?
Spend redistribution happens within a day or two. The effect on CPL and lead quality takes 2-3 weeks to read clearly, because Smart Bidding needs a few weeks of data at the new network split to settle. Do not judge the change on the first few days.
About the author
Jesse Heslinga | Google Partner | 7+ Years Google Ads | Lead-Gen Expert
I run Google Ads for lead-gen service businesses at Groove Media across clinics, home services, and professional services, working with clients directly, no account-manager layer. I build every account around one question: is this spend turning into real customers, not just cheap form fills?
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