Negative Keywords: The Complete Guide

Negative keywords tell Google which searches you do not want to pay for. On most accounts I audit, they are the fastest way to cut wasted spend, because nobody has added them properly since launch.

How negative keywords work

When a search contains a negative keyword, your ad will not show for it. Add -jobs to a plumbing campaign and searches like plumber jobs hiring stop triggering your ads.

The important difference from normal keywords: negatives do not match close variants. A negative job will not block jobs, and diy will not block do it yourself. You have to add the singular, plural and common variants yourself.

Negative match types

Most of the time, single-word negative broad (salary, course, diy) does the job. Use phrase when one word alone would block good traffic, for example "how to" instead of how.

Where to add them

• Shared negative keyword lists (Tools, then Shared library) for terms that are wrong for the whole business: jobs, training, free. Apply the list to every campaign.
• Campaign level for terms that are wrong for one campaign but fine for another.
• Ad group level to steer searches between ad groups, so water heater installation goes to the installation ad group and not the repair one.
• Account level for terms that should never trigger any ad, including in Performance Max.

Starter lists for local service businesses

These lists suit most home service accounts. Read through them before adding: a training company would want course, and a parts supplier would want parts.

Jobs and careers

job jobs career careers hiring salary salaries wage apprentice apprenticeship resume indeed

Do it yourself

diy "how to" "do it yourself" tutorial youtube video manual diagram yourself

Training

course courses training school class certification license exam

Low intent or wrong offer

free cheap used wholesale parts supply amazon reddit wiki

A weekly routine that takes 20 minutes

1. Open the search terms report for the last 7 days, sorted by cost.
2. Highlight every term with spend and no conversion that will never be a customer.
3. Add the word that makes it wrong as a negative, at the right level, not the whole search.
4. Check that no new negative blocks a keyword you are bidding on. Google warns about conflicts, but check the list anyway.

The example on the home page shows what this looks like: three bad terms took 29% of the spend in that report.

Mistakes that block good traffic

• Negating the whole search instead of the word that makes it wrong.
• Negating your own service, such as repair in an account that sells repairs, because one repair search looked bad.
• Forgetting plurals, then wondering why jobs still shows up after adding job.
• Adding negatives once and never again. Search behaviour changes, and the report keeps finding new waste.