Google Maps Sponsored Pins: How to Get One

If you've noticed a square, logo-branded pin standing out from the regular round markers on Google Maps, that's a sponsored pin, also called a promoted pin or branded pin depending on who you ask. Google's own documentation calls it a "promoted pin." This post covers what it actually is, what it costs, what you need before you can run one, and how to get one live for your own business.

What is a Google Maps sponsored pin?

A sponsored pin is a square-shaped ad placement that appears directly on Google Maps, standing apart from the standard round pins every business gets for free. Depending on the campaign type behind it, a sponsored pin can show your actual business logo, or an icon representing your business type. They show up while someone's browsing the map, searching for something nearby, or already getting directions, not as a separate ad someone has to click away from what they're doing.

That last part is the real difference from a typical ad. A sponsored pin sits inside the normal flow of someone deciding where to go, at the exact moment they're deciding it.

Which Google Ads campaigns show branded pins on Maps

Sponsored pins aren't a standalone product you buy directly, they're a placement that specific Google Ads campaign types can unlock. As of now, that's:

Performance Max for store goals, shows your actual business logo on the pin.
Smart campaigns, shows the general type of business you run, or a generic icon for that category.
Demand Gen campaigns, can serve the same square pin placement while someone browses the map or gets directions.
Travel campaigns, specifically for Things to Do listings.

This matters because "I want a sponsored pin" isn't really the starting point, the starting point is picking the right campaign type for what you're actually trying to get out of it. A logo-branded pin from Performance Max for store goals is a very different ask than a Demand Gen campaign optimized for awareness.

If you're not sure which of these fits your business, that's exactly the kind of setup decision I make for clients every week. Ask me about getting a branded pin running for your business.

How much do Google Maps sponsored pins cost?

Google bills sponsored pins by either views or clicks, depending on which campaign type is running them, not as a flat fee for the pin itself. There's no published minimum budget required to be eligible. In practice, results scale with budget the same way any other Google Ads campaign does, a bare-minimum budget will get you occasional placement, a properly funded one gets consistent visibility.

The honest answer if someone asks "what does a sponsored pin cost": it depends entirely on your industry's competition, your location, and which campaign type you run it through, the same variables that decide the cost of any Google Ads placement. Anyone quoting you a flat price for "a sponsored pin" without asking about your campaign type and market first is guessing.

What you need before you can run one

Before any of this is available to you, two things have to be true:

Your Google Business Profile has to be linked to your Google Ads account. This is the single most common blocker. If your GBP and Google Ads account were set up by different people, at different times, they're probably not connected.
You need location assets (formerly called location extensions) enabled in Google Ads, so the platform knows where your business actually is and can serve map-based placements at all.

On top of that, Google requires an eligible campaign type and standard Google Ads policy compliance, nothing unusual, but worth confirming before you assume a campaign will show pins and it doesn't.

How to actually get a branded pin running

In order, this is what it takes:

Link your Google Business Profile to Google Ads, if it isn't already.
Enable location assets so Google Ads has your business location.
Pick the right campaign type for your goal, logo-branded visibility (Performance Max for store goals), category-level presence (Smart campaigns), or broader awareness (Demand Gen).
Launch and let it run. Like any Google Ads placement, sponsored pins need real data before they perform consistently, don't judge it after two days.

This is genuinely a same-week setup for most local and retail businesses, the technical blockers are almost always the GBP link and location assets, both fixable in one sitting. If you want this running for your business, let's talk.

Frequently asked questions

Can any business get a sponsored pin on Google Maps? Any business with a linked Google Business Profile and an eligible Google Ads campaign can be shown as a sponsored pin. It's not an invite-only feature, but it does require an active, correctly configured campaign, it's not something you can turn on by itself.

Do sponsored pins cost more than a regular Google Ads click? Not inherently. Pricing follows whichever campaign type is running the pin, the same auction dynamics that set the price of any other Google Ads placement in your market apply here too.

Is a sponsored pin the same as Local Services Ads? No. Local Services Ads is a separate, pay-per-lead product with its own verification badge. Sponsored pins are a placement inside standard Google Ads campaign types like Performance Max and Demand Gen. A business can run both at once.

Do I need a huge budget to show up as a sponsored pin? There's no official minimum. Smaller budgets will show up less often than well-funded competitors in the same area, which is true of every paid placement on Google, not something specific to sponsored pins.

Full detail on eligibility and setup is in Google's own documentation on advertising in Google Maps.

Picking the right campaign type, linking your Business Profile correctly, and getting location assets configured so placements like this actually show up is exactly what Google Ads management covers day to day.