Marketing
Negative keywords in Google Ads: how to stop wasting budget
Negative keywords stop your ads showing for searches that will never convert. Here is how to find them, add them and keep your list under control.
Rapid Action Team · · 8 min read
Key takeaways
- Negative keywords tell Google which searches you do not want your ads to appear for, which protects your budget for searches that can convert.
- Negative match types work more literally than normal keywords and do not cover plurals, misspellings or close variants.
- The search terms report is the best source of new negatives, and checking it weekly is one of the most valuable habits in Google Ads.
- Shared negative keyword lists save time when the same exclusions apply to several campaigns.
Every Google Ads account pays for some clicks it would rather not have. Someone searching for a job at your company, a student looking for a free template, or a person who wants the DIY version of the service you charge for. Each of those clicks costs money and almost never turns into a customer.
Negative keywords are how you stop that. They are one of the simplest tools in Google Ads, and one of the most neglected. This guide explains how negative keywords work, how to find the ones your account needs, and how to manage them without accidentally blocking the searches that pay your bills.
What negative keywords are
A normal keyword tells Google which searches you want your ads to be considered for. A negative keyword does the opposite: it tells Google which searches your ads should not appear for.
For example, a London accountancy firm advertising on "accountant London" might find its ads showing for "accountant jobs London" or "accountant apprenticeships". Adding "jobs" and "apprenticeships" as negative keywords stops those searches triggering the ads.
Negative keywords help in three ways:
- They cut wasted spend on clicks from people who were never going to buy.
- They improve the quality of your traffic, which usually lifts your conversion rate.
- They help your click-through rate by keeping ads away from irrelevant searches, which can have a positive knock-on effect on ad quality over time.
Why negative keywords matter more than ever
Google has steadily loosened how keywords match to searches. Broad match now uses signals such as the landing page and other keywords in the ad group to decide relevance, and even phrase and exact match cover searches with the same meaning, not just the same words. Campaign types such as Performance Max and newer AI features can reach even further.
That flexibility can find valuable searches you would never have thought of. It also means your ads can show for searches you would never have chosen. Negative keywords are your main way of drawing the boundary.
How negative keyword match types work
Like normal keywords, negative keywords come in three match types. The crucial difference is that negative keywords do not expand to close variants. If you exclude "course", Google will still show your ads for "courses" unless you add that too.
| Negative match type | How you enter it | What it blocks | Example: negative "running shoes" |
|---|---|---|---|
| Negative broad | running shoes | Searches containing all the words, in any order | Blocks "shoes for running", "blue running shoes"; does not block "running shoe" |
| Negative phrase | "running shoes" | Searches containing the exact words in that order | Blocks "best running shoes"; does not block "shoes for running" |
| Negative exact | [running shoes] | Only that exact search with no extra words | Blocks "running shoes" only; does not block "red running shoes" |
As a rule of thumb:
- Use negative broad for single words that are never relevant, such as "jobs", "free" or "DIY".
- Use negative phrase when the word order matters, for example "used cars" for a dealer that only sells new cars.
- Use negative exact when you want to block one specific search without affecting longer, more valuable versions of it.
Remember to add plurals and common misspellings separately where they matter.
Where you can add negative keywords
Google Ads lets you apply negative keywords at several levels. Choosing the right level keeps your setup tidy.
Ad group level
Use this when a search is relevant to your business but belongs in a different ad group. If one ad group targets "boiler repair" and another "boiler installation", you might add "installation" as a negative to the repair ad group so each search goes to the most relevant ad.
Campaign level
Use this for terms that are irrelevant to everything in a campaign. A campaign for your Birmingham branch might exclude other city names.
Negative keyword lists
Shared lists let you build a set of exclusions once and apply it to several campaigns. They live in the Shared library under the Tools menu (in newer versions of the interface you may find them labelled as exclusion lists). According to Google Ads Help, you can have up to 20 negative keyword lists in an account, each holding up to 5,000 keywords.
Lists are ideal for common themes. Many accounts keep separate lists for jobs and careers, free and cheap terms, education and training, and competitors.
Account level
You can also add negative keywords at account level in your account settings. These apply across all eligible search and shopping campaigns, which makes them useful for brand safety terms or anything you never want to appear for under any circumstances. Use this level sparingly, as it is easy to forget it exists when diagnosing a problem later.
How to find negative keywords
Start before you launch
Brainstorm the obvious exclusions before your campaign goes live. Think about:
- Employment searches: jobs, careers, vacancies, salary, apprenticeship, recruitment.
- Free and bargain hunting: free, cheap, discount, if you do not compete on price.
- Information seekers: how to, what is, DIY, tutorial, guide, examples.
- Education: course, training, qualification, degree.
- Second-hand or rental, if you only sell new: used, second hand, refurbished, hire.
- Things you do not offer: services, product types, brands or locations outside your range.
Google's Keyword Planner is useful here too. Search for your main keywords and scan the suggested ideas for terms that do not fit.
Use the search terms report
Once your ads are running, the search terms report is where most of your negative keywords will come from. It shows the actual searches that triggered your ads, alongside clicks, cost and conversions. You will find it under Insights and reports in the campaign menu.
When reviewing it, look for:
- Clearly irrelevant searches, even if they only had one or two clicks.
- Searches with meaningful spend and no conversions, once they have had a fair amount of traffic.
- Words that keep coming up across different irrelevant searches. One single-word negative can block dozens of variations.
From the report, you can tick a search term and choose to add it as a negative keyword, picking the level and match type at the same time.
Google does not show every search term. Some low-volume searches are hidden for privacy reasons, so the report gives you a large sample rather than the full picture. That is another reason to add obvious single-word negatives early rather than waiting for each variation to appear.
Use what your sales team hears
Your sales calls and enquiry forms are another source. If enquiries keep arriving for a service you do not offer, or from areas you do not cover, look for the search terms that brought them in and exclude them.
Common mistakes to avoid
Negative keywords are powerful because they are blunt. That also makes them easy to get wrong.
- Blocking your own best keywords. Adding "cheap" as a negative will stop your ads for "cheap car insurance" if that is your actual product. Google Ads flags some conflicts between keywords and negatives, but do not rely on it catching everything.
- Copying generic lists without checking them. Lists of "universal" negatives found online often include words that are perfectly relevant to some businesses. Review every term before you add it.
- Excluding too early. A search with two clicks and no conversions has not proved anything yet. Give genuinely relevant terms a fair chance before you block them.
- Forgetting variants. "Job" and "jobs" are different negatives. So are "free" and "freebie".
- Using exact match negatives when you need broad. Blocking [plumbing jobs] still lets "plumbing jobs near me" through.
- Never reviewing old negatives. Your services change. A negative added two years ago may now be blocking something you sell.
A simple routine for managing negatives
Negative keyword management works best as a regular habit rather than an occasional clear-out. A routine that suits most small accounts:
| How often | Task |
|---|---|
| Weekly | Review the search terms report for the last 7 days and add obvious negatives |
| Monthly | Look at the last 30 to 90 days for search terms with spend and no conversions |
| Monthly | Check for themes and move repeated exclusions into shared lists |
| Quarterly | Review your lists to make sure nothing is blocking services you now offer |
| After any change | Recheck search terms after adding broad match, AI features or a new campaign |
For new campaigns, check daily for the first week or two. That is when the most surprising search terms tend to appear.
If you would rather hand this over, regular search term reviews are part of our Google Ads management service.
FAQs
What is a negative keyword in Google Ads?
It is a word or phrase that stops your ads showing for searches containing it. For example, adding "jobs" as a negative keyword stops your ads appearing for searches like "accountant jobs".
How many negative keywords should I have?
There is no ideal number. Some small accounts work well with a few dozen, while larger accounts may have thousands. What matters is that they reflect the searches you actually see, not a list copied from elsewhere.
Do negative keywords work with Performance Max?
Yes. Google now lets advertisers add negative keywords to Performance Max campaigns, including through shared lists and account-level negatives. They apply to search and shopping inventory, not to placements such as YouTube or Display.
Do negative keywords include plurals and misspellings?
No. Unlike normal keywords, negative keywords do not match close variants, so you need to add plurals and common misspellings separately.
How often should I add negative keywords?
Review your search terms report at least weekly for active campaigns, and daily for the first week or two after launching something new.
Think your account might be paying for the wrong searches? Get a free audit and we will review your search terms and negatives, or book a call to talk it through.
