Guide · Paid search
Negative Keywords: How to Stop Wasted Google Ads Spend
Negative keywords keep your Google Ads from showing for searches you do not want. Each one is a word or phrase that blocks your ad, so you stop paying for clicks from people who were never going to buy. This guide shows how to find those searches and block them.
What a negative keyword does
A negative keyword tells Google Ads which searches you do not want your ad to show for. You add the word or phrase, and your ad stays out of those auctions.
Google gives a simple example. An optometrist who sells eyeglasses might add "wine glasses" and "drinking glasses". Those searchers want something else, so every click on them is money wasted.
Google says one key to a focused campaign is choosing what not to target. Better targeting puts your ad in front of people who are more likely to care, and that can lift your return on investment.
Find the waste in the search terms report
You cannot guess every bad search ahead of time. The search terms report shows the real searches that triggered your ads on the Search Network, with the clicks and results each one got.
To open it, sign in to Google Ads, click Campaigns, then Insights and reports, then Search terms.
Look for terms that spent money and did not fit what you sell. Google's own example is a seller of eyeglasses who sees "wine glasses" in the report. The fix is to add "wine" as a negative keyword.
The report also has a Keyword column that shows which of your keywords matched each search. It is hidden by default. Turn it on from the Columns menu under Attributes. It tells you which keyword is letting the bad searches in.
Check the report on a regular schedule. New wasteful searches show up all the time.
Pick the right match type
Negative keywords come in three match types: broad, phrase and exact. They do not work like the match types for normal keywords, so read the table before you use them.
Negative match type Blocks the ad when the search... Example with "running shoes" Broad (the default) Has all the words, in any order Blocks "blue running shoes" and "shoes running". Does not block "blue tennis shoes". Phrase Has all the words in the same order, with extra words allowed Blocks "blue running shoes". Does not block "shoes running". Exact Is exactly those words in that order Blocks "running shoes". Does not block "blue running shoes". The default is broad. That surprises people, because a broad negative only blocks a search that holds all of your words. If you add "free software" as a broad negative, a search for just "software" can still show your ad.
Google also says negative keywords do not match close variants. If you block the broad match "flowers", the search "red flowers" is blocked, but "red flower" can still show your ad. Add the singular, plural and synonym forms yourself. Casing and misspellings are handled for you.
Use lists to save time
If the same unwanted searches hit many campaigns, do not add them one by one. Build a negative keyword list and apply it to the campaigns that need it.
When you later add a word to the list, the change applies to every campaign that shares it. Google's help page says a list can hold up to 5,000 negative keywords, and an account can have up to 20 lists.
Group the words by theme. A travel advertiser could keep one list for destinations it does not sell. A store could keep one for job seekers, with words such as "jobs" and "careers".
Google Ads also has an account-level list that applies to eligible Search and Shopping campaigns across the whole account. It is a good home for words that are never right for your business.
Sources: Google Ads Help, About negative keyword lists; Google Ads Help, About negative keywords
A simple weekly routine
Negative keywords are not a one-time job. A short routine keeps waste low without much effort.
- Open the search terms report for the last 7 to 30 days.
- Sort by cost, so the biggest spenders come first.
- Mark each term as relevant, or not what you sell.
- For the ones that do not fit, pick the narrowest match type that blocks them.
- Add the term to the campaign, or to a shared list if other campaigns need it.
- Note the date, so you can check the result next week.
Go slow with broad negatives. Google warns that adding too many negative keywords can reduce your reach, so block a word only when you are sure no good searcher would use it. A phrase or exact negative is safer when the word has more than one meaning.
Sources: Google Ads Help, About negative keywords; Google Ads Help, About the search terms report
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