Negative keywords in Google Ads: the cheapest fix you will ever make.

If I could give one piece of advice to every small business running Google Ads, it would be this: open the search terms report and read it. You will almost always find clicks you paid for that had zero chance of turning into a customer. People looking for jobs, free versions, tutorials, competitors, or something completely different.

Negative keywords in Google Ads are how you stop that. They tell Google which searches should never show your ad. They cost nothing to add, and they often save more money than any bidding change.

1. Why you need negative keywords

Since all keyword match types now match on meaning, Google will show your ads for many searches you never typed in. That is not always bad, because some of those searches convert. But without negatives, nothing stops the irrelevant ones.

A moving company targeting "moving company" can show up for moving company jobs, moving company reviews complaints or how to start a moving company. Each of those clicks costs real money. If you want to understand why this happens, read my guide on Google Ads match types first.

2. The three negative match types

Here is the part most people get wrong: negative keywords do not work like normal keywords. They do not match close variants, synonyms or misspellings. A negative only blocks what you actually wrote. Google explains this in its help article on negative exact match and other negative match types.

For single words like jobs or free, negative broad is usually enough. For phrases, use negative phrase match. Keep negative exact for cases where a precise search is bad but longer versions of it are good.

3. A starter list you can copy

These are words that almost never convert for businesses selling a product or service. Check each one against your business before adding it, because a word that is useless for one company can be valuable for another.

• Jobs and careers: job, jobs, career, careers, hiring, salary, vacancy, internship.
• Free and DIY: free, diy, how to, tutorial, template, example, pdf.
• Learning: course, courses, training, certification, degree.
• Research only: definition, meaning, wiki, statistics.
• Second-hand: used, second hand, repair (if you only sell new products).

Put these in a shared negative keyword list and apply it to all relevant campaigns. That way you update one list instead of ten campaigns.

4. My weekly negative keyword routine

A starter list is just the beginning. The real savings come from reviewing what people actually searched. Here is the routine I use.

1. Open the search terms report for the last 7 days (30 days for low-traffic accounts).
2. Sort by cost, so you look at the most expensive searches first.
3. Mark searches with clicks but no conversions that are clearly irrelevant.
4. Add the problem word, not the whole search. If office cleaning jobs berlin is bad, the negative is jobs, not the full phrase.
5. Add good searches as new keywords, so you control them on purpose.

In a new account, do this every week for the first two months. Later, every two weeks is usually enough.

A negative keyword is a decision you only have to make once. A wasted click, you pay for every day.

5. Mistakes that block good traffic

Negative keywords can also hurt you. These are the errors I see most often in audits.

• Negatives that are too broad. Blocking cheap when half your buyers search for affordable options.
• Blocking your own keywords. A negative cleaning in a cleaning company account. It happens more often than you think, usually through a shared list.
• Adding negatives at the wrong level. A word that is bad for one campaign may be great for another, so not everything belongs in an account-wide list.
• Forgetting Performance Max. PMax campaigns also accept negative keywords now. If your PMax is spending on your brand name, you may need brand exclusions as well.

Negatives also work hand in hand with location settings. If you serve one city but your ads appear for people searching about it from abroad, read my article on Google Ads location targeting.

If you would like me to go through your search terms and build the lists for you, that is part of every Google Ads management setup I do.

Frequently asked questions

What are negative keywords in Google Ads?

Negative keywords are words or phrases that stop your ads from showing for searches that contain them. They help you avoid paying for clicks from people who are not looking for what you sell.

Do negative keywords match close variants?

No. Unlike normal keywords, negative keywords only block what you write. Plurals, misspellings and synonyms need to be added separately.

How often should I add negative keywords?

Weekly for new accounts or campaigns, then every two to four weeks once the account is stable. Always review the search terms report before adding them.