Google Ads Negative Keywords guide

Google Ads is a powerful platform for businesses seeking to grow their online presence, but ensuring your ads reach the right audience is critical. While selecting the right keywords in Google Ads is important, it’s equally crucial to exclude irrelevant ones that can drain your budget.

Many businesses fall into the trap of running ads in a “set-and-forget” mode, neglecting to regularly check their search terms. A closer look often reveals that ads are being triggered by irrelevant searches – an issue easily solved with negative keywords.

Negative keywords can be a game-changer, saving you money by refining your targeting and improving campaign efficiency.

Negative keywords can save you money.

In this guide, we will explore what negative keywords are, their benefits, potential risks, and how to implement them effectively in Google Ads campaigns with examples.

Table of contents:

1. What are Google Ads Negative Keywords?
2. How do negative keywords work in Google Ads?
3. Google Ads negative keywords examples
4. Types of negative keywords
   1. Broad match negative keywords
   2. Phrase match negative keywords
   3. Exact match negative keywords
5. Benefits of using negative keywords in Google Ads
6. The danger of Using Negative Keywords Incorrectly
7. Where to add negative keywords in Google Ads
8. Industry-specific Google Ads possible negative keywords list
9. How to build a comprehensive negative keyword list?
10. FAQs

What are Google Ads Negative Keywords?

Negative keywords in Google Ads are search terms that stop your ads from being displayed for irrelevant searches. By incorporating negative keywords into your campaign, you can prevent your ads from appearing to users searching for terms unrelated to your business, product, or service.

Example:

Let’s say you have a business that sells a premium range of high-quality ladies’ purses/bags. You do not want to target “cheap” related phrases when users may search, so you can add this as a negative keyword to prevent your ads for phrases like “cheap ladies bags”.

This helps refine your targeting and ensures you don’t waste ad spend on non-converting clicks.

How do negative keywords work in Google Ads?

In Google Ads, negative keywords function by preventing your ads from appearing for search queries that include specific, irrelevant terms.

When you add a negative keyword to your campaign, Google Ads identifies and excludes any search term that contains the negative keyword. This ensures your ads only appear for relevant searches. When the relevance of your ads improves, it leads to better conversion rates.

Negative keywords refine this targeting by eliminating unwanted traffic. This saves from wasting ad spend.

Using negative keywords enhances targeting, improving overall campaign performance and helping businesses control ad spending more effectively.

Google Ads negative keywords examples

The table below illustrates search terms before and after using negative keywords, along with the original keywords used in the campaign.

This example demonstrates how negative keywords work in a Google Ads campaign to refine search queries and improve ad targeting.

Before: Before applying the negative keywords, ads will trigger for search phrases listed in the 2nd column.

After: Once the negative keywords are added, the system will ignore search phrases that contain any of those negative keywords. See the output in the 4th column.

Types of negative keywords

It is important to understand different match types that can be used with negative keywords to ensure you only block what you feel is right for your needs. Let’s explore them in detail.

Broad match negative keywords

This is the default and most commonly used negative keyword match type.

With this, your ad won’t show if the search contains all your negative keyword terms, even if the terms are in a different order. Your ad may still show if the search contains only some of your keyword terms or if additional words are included.

Example: Negative broad match keyword: protein supplement

Phrase match negative keywords

With phrase match negative keywords, your ad won’t show if the search contains the exact keyword terms in the same order as your negative keyword. The search term may include additional words, but if the negative keyword is present in the same sequence, your ad won’t show.

Example: Negative phrase match keyword: “protein supplement”

Exact match negative keywords

This is the strictest negative keyword match type. With this type, your ad won’t show if the search term matches exactly the negative keyword. Any variation (additional words or different order) will trigger the ad.

Example: Negative exact match keyword: [protein supplement]

Review Google’s official guide on negative keywords here.

Benefits of using negative keywords in Google Ads

Negative keywords in Google Ads are essential to improve the performance of your campaign to save budget for unnecessary search phrases and maximise return on investment (ROI).

Key benefits are listed below:

This leads to improved Quality Scores and lower costs per click (CPC). Using negative keywords strategically ensures your ads reach the most relevant audience, optimising your campaign performance and budget management.

1. Maximised ROI: Negative keywords help you save money on ads that would otherwise result in non-converting traffic. Then you can allocate your budget on high-performing keywords.
2. Improved CTR: Negative keywords increase click-through rate (CTR) by boosting ad relevance. This negatively impacts your ad ranking.
3. High Conversion Rates: Negative keywords reach the right audience, leading to higher conversion rates by minimising clicks from uninterested users.
4. Enhanced Quality Score: Google uses the Quality Score to determine the relevance of your ads. Negative keywords can help improve your CTR by filtering irrelevant traffic, thereby improving your quality score and lowering your cost per click (CPC).
5. Reduced Wasted Ad Spend: Using negative keywords stops your ads from appearing in the wrong contexts, thus saving your ad budget. You can prevent competing against your own ads, which reduces impressions and dilutes the accuracy of your keyword-level data.

The danger of Using Negative Keywords Incorrectly

While negative keywords can optimise your campaign, incorrect use might reduce sales. Common mistakes include:

• Overly Broad Negative Keywords: Using negative keywords that are too broad can block some relevant searches.
• Block Relevant Traffic: A service-based business like a coaching institute uses “free” as a negative keyword to block free course-related searches. This will prevent searches like “free webinar,” which may actually be valuable to collect leads.
• Optimising The List: Market trends and customer search behaviours change. Updating your negative keyword list regularly is essential to increasing conversion rates.
• Right Match Types: As discussed above, Google Ads offers broad match, phrase match, and exact match options for negative keywords. Using the incorrect match type can exclude potential customers.

Where to add negative keywords in Google Ads

There are several places where you can include negative keywords:

• Campaign Level: Negative keywords can be added at the campaign level to block irrelevant searches across all ad groups within a campaign.
• Ad Group Level: Add negative keywords at the ad group level to prevent specific searches from triggering ads in individual ad groups, giving you more granular control.
• Account Level (Shared Library): Use a negative keyword list in the shared library to apply a set of negative keywords across multiple campaigns, saving time and ensuring consistency.

Industry-specific Google Ads possible negative keywords list

Here’s a table listing possible industry-specific negative keywords that can be used in Google Ads to avoid irrelevant searches and reduce wasted ad spend

Note: Each industry should fine-tune negative keywords based on their specific business goals and the types of searches they want to exclude. Seek professional Google Ads help to utilise this feature in the best possible manner.

How to build a comprehensive negative keyword list?

You can take various steps to build a comprehensive negative keyword list.

Check out the steps below:

1. Standard Negative Keywords: While planning keywords for your campaign and ad groups you can think of standard negative keywords, you can also refer industry specific negative keywords like those listed above to create a list of negative keywords suited for your business.
2. Search Term Report: This is where you can see if your ads are getting impressions or clicks for any unnecessary searches and you make a list of negative keywords based on that.

FAQs

What are negative keywords in Google Ads?

Negative keywords are specific words or phrases that you add to your Google Ads campaign to prevent your ads from appearing in irrelevant searches. These keywords help refine your targeting, ensuring your ads don’t show up for searches unrelated to your products or services.

Why should I use negative keywords in my Google Ads campaign?

Using negative keywords helps save your ad spend by excluding irrelevant searches. This improves ad relevance, increases click-through rates (CTR), and maximises your return on investment (ROI) by focusing your budget on qualified leads.

How do negative keywords impact my Google Ads performance?

Negative keywords help filter out unqualified traffic, resulting in higher-quality leads and reduced cost-per-click (CPC). They also enhance ad relevance, improve your click-through rate, and reduce bounce rates by preventing your ads from appearing for irrelevant searches.

Can I use negative keywords in shopping ads?

Yes, you can use negative keywords in shopping ads to prevent your products from showing in irrelevant product searches. This ensures that your products are shown only to users searching for relevant items.

Can negative keywords be used in Performance Max (PMAX) campaigns?

Performance Max (PMAX) campaigns do not support negative keywords directly. However, exclusions at the account level or brand safety exclusions can help filter out undesirable traffic and improve ad relevance.

How can I find the right negative keywords for my campaign?

To find suitable negative keywords, use tools like Google’s Search Terms Report. You can also research industry-specific irrelevant keywords and build a list based on searches that are irrelevant or unlikely to convert for your business.

What happens if I add too many negative keywords?

Adding too many negative keywords can severely limit your ad visibility. It’s important to carefully select irrelevant terms without over-restricting your ads. Striking the right balance will allow your ads to reach a qualified audience while avoiding wasted spend.

Can negative keywords improve my quality score?

Indirectly, yes. By using negative keywords, you improve the relevance of your ads by preventing them from showing for unrelated searches. This can lead to increased click-through rates and lower bounce rates, which positively affects your quality score and can lower your CPC over time.

How do I avoid common mistakes when using negative keywords?

To avoid common mistakes, it’s important to plan your negative keyword strategy carefully. One safe approach is to add exact-match negative keywords to ensure that only specific terms are excluded, without over-limiting ad visibility. Having professionals oversee your strategy will further reduce the chances of errors.