The technology generally relates to providing sponsored digital content items on a publisher's website or mobile application based on a campaign created by a digital content provider, wherein the campaign specifies specific brands. The specified brands may be used to direct traffic, such that the digital content provider's products or services from the campaign may be included in digital content items when a query matches permitted brands. In other examples, the digital content provider's campaign will not be published in a sponsored digital content item in response to a search query that matches a brand which the campaign specifies as an exclusion.