Every search campaign pays for some irrelevant clicks. A software company bidding on "project management" might show ads for "project management jobs", "free project management course" or "project management certification". Negative keywords tell Google not to show your ads for those searches.
How negative keywords work
When you add a negative keyword, ads will not appear for searches that match it according to its match type. Negative keywords can be added at three levels:
- Ad group level: blocks the term only in that ad group.
- Campaign level: blocks it across the campaign.
- Negative keyword lists: shared lists applied to multiple campaigns.
Google's help article About negative keywords explains the details.
Negative keyword match types
Negative match types behave differently from positive keywords, and they do not expand to close variants such as plurals or misspellings.
| Match type | Example negative | Blocks | Does not block |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broad | free course | Searches containing both "free" and "course" in any order | "free training" |
| Phrase | "free course" | Searches containing "free course" in that order | "course for free" |
| Exact | [free course] | Only the exact search "free course" | "free course online" |
Because negatives do not match close variants, you may need to add plural and alternative spellings separately.
Using the Google Ads search terms report
The search terms report shows the actual searches that triggered your ads. It is the main source of negative keywords. Google's guide to the search terms report explains how to access it.
- Open the search terms report for the last 30 days.
- Sort by cost or clicks.
- Identify irrelevant searches and their common words.
- Add negatives at the right level and match type.
- Note new relevant searches to add as keywords.
Building a negative keyword list
Start with common categories of irrelevant intent:
| Category | Examples |
|---|---|
| Jobs and careers | jobs, careers, salary, hiring, internship, resume |
| Education | course, certification, training, tutorial, degree, exam |
| Free and DIY | free, template (if you do not offer one), DIY, open source |
| Research | definition, meaning, PDF, examples (for bottom-funnel campaigns) |
| Wrong audience | personal, home, student, kids |
| Unrelated products | competitor products you cannot replace, unrelated industries |
Do not copy generic lists blindly. "Free" may be valuable if you offer a free trial; "template" may be valuable if you offer templates. Review each term against your offer.
Using negatives to control traffic between campaigns
Negative keywords also route traffic. If you have separate campaigns for brand and non-brand searches, add your brand name as a negative in non-brand campaigns. If a competitor campaign should handle "alternatives" searches, add "alternative" as a negative elsewhere. This keeps reporting clean and ensures each search sees the most relevant ad and landing page.
Negative keyword strategy for B2B services
Service businesses face particular waste from people looking for jobs, training or do-it-yourself help. An agency bidding on "SEO services" may see searches like "SEO services jobs", "learn SEO", "SEO services salary" and "SEO services near me free". A layered approach works well: a shared list for universal exclusions (jobs, training, free), campaign-level negatives that route traffic between service campaigns, and ad group negatives that keep similar keywords from competing. Reviewing new search terms against these layers each week keeps waste low without blocking genuine buyers.
How often to review negative keywords
- New campaigns: check search terms every few days for the first two weeks.
- Established campaigns: weekly for large budgets, every two weeks for smaller ones.
- Broad match and Performance Max: more frequent reviews, because they reach wider searches.
Measuring the impact
Track changes in click-through rate, conversion rate, cost per conversion and the share of spend on converting search terms. A good negative keyword strategy usually shifts spend toward searches that convert. Reducing waste also lowers customer acquisition cost.
Negative keywords and smart bidding
Automated bidding learns from conversion data but does not know which searches are irrelevant to your business until they fail to convert. Negative keywords prevent the algorithm from wasting budget during that learning. Combine negatives with good conversion data, ideally including qualified leads imported from your CRM; see offline conversion tracking.
Common mistakes
- Never checking the search terms report.
- Using only broad negative keywords and blocking good traffic.
- Forgetting plurals and variants.
- Not sharing lists across campaigns.
- Adding negatives at the wrong level.
If you suspect a large share of your budget goes to irrelevant searches, our paid advertising team can audit your account and build negative keyword lists tailored to your offer.
