Branded Search Cannibalization Cost Calculator

Reveal how much branded paid search budget you burn on clicks you likely would have captured organically. Provide monthly branded clicks and CPC, then adjust cannibalization, conversion rate, and revenue per conversion to see wasted spend, incremental revenue, and net-new ROAS.

All paid clicks from branded campaigns in a month.
Blended cost per click across brand ad groups.
Defaults to 35% if blank, reflecting typical brand overlap.
Defaults to 4%. Use the post-click conversion rate for brand traffic.
Defaults to $120 if blank. Use contribution margin for profitability.

Use platform and analytics data to validate cannibalization assumptions before pausing campaigns. Actual impact depends on auctions, competition, and SERP layout.

Examples

  • 12,000 branded clicks at $1.80 CPC, 35% cannibalization, 4% CVR, $120 value ⇒ Monthly brand spend: $21,600.00 USD • Estimated cannibalized spend: $7,560.00 USD • Incremental conversions: 312.00 • Incremental revenue: $37,440.00 USD • Implied ROAS on net-new clicks: 173.33%
  • 8,500 branded clicks at $1.20 CPC, 20% cannibalization, 3.5% CVR, $95 value ⇒ Monthly brand spend: $10,200.00 USD • Estimated cannibalized spend: $2,040.00 USD • Incremental conversions: 238.00 • Incremental revenue: $22,610.00 USD • Implied ROAS on net-new clicks: 221.67%

FAQ

How can I validate the cannibalization rate?

Run geographic or time-based brand ad holdouts and compare organic clicks in the exposed regions to infer cannibalization.

Should I include brand protection benefits?

If you run brand ads to block competitors, keep cannibalization lower or add a value uplift in the revenue per conversion field to reflect defensive wins.

What if conversion rate differs between paid and organic?

Use the paid brand conversion rate because the calculator isolates the incremental value of the paid clicks.

Additional Information

  • Cannibalization percentage represents how many paid clicks would have found you organically if ads paused.
  • Result unit: USD for spend and incremental revenue; conversions are counts; ROAS expressed as a percentage.
  • Use contribution margin per conversion instead of gross revenue to see profit-based ROAS.

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