How do negative keywords work in Google Ads?

What a negative keyword is

A keyword is a word or phrase you bid on so your ad can show when people search for it. A negative keyword is the opposite. It tells Google Ads not to show your ad when a search contains that word.

Say you run a plumbing company. Your ad might show for “plumber jobs near me.” That person wants work, not a plumber. If they click, you pay. A negative keyword like “jobs” stops that.

Why it matters for your money

Every click costs money, even when the searcher was never going to buy. Bad clicks also hurt in a quieter way. Automated bidding learns from who clicks and who converts. A conversion is a sale, call or form you count as a result. When lots of the wrong people click, the system has worse data to learn from.

Negative keywords are one of the few tools that let you say “no” directly. That makes them worth a regular look.

Negative match types work differently

Negative keywords have the same three match types as normal keywords. But they behave in a stricter way. Google’s help pages explain it like this, using the negative “running shoes”:

• Broad match negative: blocks a search that contains all the words, in any order. “Shoes running” is blocked. “Running shoe” is not.
• Phrase match negative: blocks a search that contains the words together, in the same order. Extra words are fine. “Blue running shoes” is blocked. “Shoes running” is not.
• Exact match negative: blocks only that exact search with no extra words. “Running shoes” is blocked. “Blue running shoes” is not.

The big difference: negative keywords do not match close variants. Normal keywords can match plurals, misspellings and similar meanings. Negatives mostly cannot. Google says you need to add synonyms and singular or plural versions yourself. So if you block “job,” also block “jobs.”

For most small businesses, a single word as a broad match negative is the simplest and safest place to start.

Campaign, ad group, list or account

You can add negative keywords at different levels:

• Ad group or campaign: affects only that ad group or campaign.
• Negative keyword list: a saved list you can attach to several campaigns at once. A list does nothing until you apply it to a campaign.
• Account level: one list that applies to search and shopping traffic across your account, including Performance Max. You’ll usually find it under Admin, then Account settings, in the “Negative keywords” section. (If you can’t find it, search for “negative keywords” in the Google Ads search bar.)

The account level works well for words you never want, like “jobs.” Campaign-level negatives are better for words that are fine in one campaign but not another.

Common words to consider blocking

These come up often for small businesses. Only block them if they truly don’t fit what you sell.

• Jobs and careers: jobs, careers, hiring, salary, internship, resume.
• Free stuff: free, freebie. Skip this if you offer a free quote or trial that people search for.
• Do it yourself: DIY, how to, tutorial, video. These people often want to learn, not hire.
• Other places: names of cities or regions you don’t serve.
• Price or condition: used, cheap, rental, wholesale, if you don’t sell those.
• Other intent: login, reviews, complaints, or brand names of products you don’t carry.

Be careful with short, common words. Blocking “cheap” also blocks “cheap emergency plumber,” which you might want.

How to add negative keywords

1. Look at what people actually searched. Open the search terms report under Insights and reports, then Search terms. (If you can’t find it, search for “search terms” in the Google Ads search bar.)
2. Tick the searches that don’t fit your business.
3. Click “Add as negative keyword.”
4. Choose where it goes: the ad group, the campaign, or a negative keyword list.
5. Save.

To add negatives by hand, go to the negative keywords section for your campaign. Enter one keyword per line. Make sure they don’t overlap with keywords you want to show for.

When it’s fine

You don’t need to block every odd search. Some strange searches get one click and never show up again. Focus on terms that keep costing money and never convert.

Also, don’t overdo it. Too many negatives can block good customers and shrink your traffic. If your clicks or conversions drop after adding a batch of negatives, check whether one of them is too broad.

SpendCanary flags search terms with at least $10 of cost and no conversions that clearly don’t match the business you describe.