Google Ads guide

How to Set Up Google Ads Negative Keywords

Set up Google Ads negative keywords by defining the unwanted intent, choosing where the exclusion belongs, selecting a negative match type, applying the change in the correct campaign or list, and checking that relevant traffic was not blocked. The setup is a policy decision before it is an interface task: a negative keyword can protect budget, route intent, or accidentally remove a core product query.

Google’s negative keyword guide explains that Search campaigns support negative broad, phrase, and exact match types, with rules that differ from positive keyword matching. Negative keywords do not match close variants or other expansions, so the process below uses actual search-term evidence and explicit scope.

1. Define the unwanted intent

Before opening Google Ads, write what the campaign must exclude and why. The reason might be an unavailable product, an employment search, a free-only request, an unsupported location, a support question, an unrelated service, or a research intent that the offer cannot satisfy. Include example queries and the campaign or product boundary the rule should protect.

Do not start with a generic “bad words” list. The same word can be irrelevant for one offer and valuable for another. “Jobs” may be wrong for a sales campaign but essential for recruitment. “Repair” may be irrelevant for a new product but central for a maintenance service. If a word is ambiguous, inspect the complete query and business outcome before excluding it.

Use qualified leads, accepted sales, revenue, margin, and customer feedback when available. A low CTR is not enough evidence by itself. A query with no conversion after one impression may simply be immature; a recurring mismatch with material spend is a stronger candidate.

2. Find candidates in the Search terms report

In the current Google Ads interface, open the Campaigns area and find the Search terms report through the Insights and reports section. Google’s official workflow describes selecting search terms and adding them as negatives to an ad group, campaign, or negative keyword list.

Set a date range that reflects normal budget and demand. Review the full query, cost, clicks, conversions, conversion value, and any imported quality outcome. Group candidates by intent rather than adding every poor query individually:

  • clear employment searches;
  • unsupported products, brands, or service types;
  • locations the campaign cannot serve;
  • free, used, or do-it-yourself intent when the offer does not support it; or
  • repeated research or support queries that never become the intended outcome.

Google says terms added from the Search terms report to a Search campaign are negative exact match by default. Treat that default as a safe starting point, then change the match type only after deciding how broadly the intent should be excluded. Save the report date range and reason in the change record.

3. Choose the scope before adding the keyword

Select the narrowest scope that fully expresses the rule:

  • Ad group: one product or keyword theme needs the exclusion.
  • Campaign: every ad group shares the same offer, location, or inventory boundary.
  • Negative keyword list: selected campaigns share a reviewed exclusion set.
  • Account level: the rule is truly global for eligible inventory and has been checked against every campaign that can be affected.

A shared list is convenient but can hide important exceptions. A “jobs” list may be suitable for all non-recruiting campaigns but harmful when a recruitment campaign is added later. A generic brand or product term may be negative in one campaign and the primary target in another.

Before saving a campaign-wide or account-level exclusion, search the positive keywords, ad groups, products, locations, and landing pages that should remain eligible. Google warns that overlapping negative and regular keywords can prevent an ad from showing. Treat an overlap as a deliberate routing decision, not a harmless duplicate.

4. Select the negative match type

Choose the type from the boundary you need:

  • Broad negative: blocks when every word in the negative keyword appears in the search, in any order.
  • Phrase negative: blocks when the complete terms appear in the same order, even if other words surround them.
  • Exact negative: blocks the exact terms in the same order without extra words.

For the negative keyword running shoes, a negative broad rule can block “blue running shoes” and “shoes running,” while it can allow “running shoe” or “blue tennis shoes.” Negative phrase can block “blue running shoes” because the terms occur in order. Negative exact blocks only “running shoes” with no extra words. Confirm the intended behavior in Google’s negative match-type documentation before publishing a high-impact rule.

Add singular, plural, synonyms, or close variants only when each represents the same unwanted intent. Negative keywords do not automatically cover those variants. Google accounts for casing and misspellings, but that does not mean a single negative term covers every related meaning.

5. Add a negative to an ad group or campaign

For a direct Search campaign change, open the intended campaign and go to the negative search keywords area. Google’s add-negative-keyword instructions describe choosing a campaign or ad group, entering negative keywords one per line, selecting the appropriate match syntax, and saving. The exact menu labels can change, so confirm the campaign name and scope in the current interface before clicking Save.

Enter one exclusion per line and make the match type visible in the text or selector used by the interface. Review spelling, singular or plural forms, accent marks, and the intended order for phrase negatives. Do not add the minus sign as if it were a universal negative operator; use Google’s supported negative keyword syntax and verify the resulting match-type column.

Before saving, check three things:

  1. the selected campaign or ad group is the one that produced the unwanted search;
  2. the negative does not overlap with a positive keyword or essential query;
  3. the selected match type blocks the category you intend, not a wider or narrower category by accident.

If the exclusion came from a Search terms report, remember that the default negative exact match protects the specific query but may not block its longer or reordered forms. Change it to phrase or broad only when the wider rule is supported by the business boundary and examples.

6. Create and apply a negative keyword list

Use a negative keyword list when several campaigns share the same exclusion policy. In the negative keywords area, choose the option to save the entries to a new or existing list, give the list a purpose-based name, and apply it only to the campaigns that share the rule. Google’s list management guide describes applying an existing list to selected campaigns and removing it when the scope changes.

Name lists so another operator can understand their intended audience, such as “Non-recruiting employment intent — reviewed 2026-08.” Keep a short note for the reason, examples, owner, and next review date. A list called “negatives 2” does not communicate whether it protects a brand campaign, a region, a product category, or the entire account.

After saving, verify that the list is associated with the intended campaigns. A list can exist without being applied, and a list applied to the wrong campaign can remove valuable demand. Google’s current help states that an account can have up to 20 negative keyword lists with up to 5,000 keywords per list, subject to current limits. Use that capacity for reviewed rules rather than treating lists as an archive of every historical search term.

When the business has regional or product exceptions, prefer separate lists or campaign-level negatives. Do not force a universal list because it is easier to manage. The cost of a little more structure is often lower than explaining why a high-value campaign stopped receiving a core query.

7. Handle account-level and non-Search exclusions carefully

Google’s current help describes account-level negative keywords as applying automatically to relevant Search and Shopping inventory in eligible campaign types. It also documents account-level limits and notes that Performance Max can use account-level negative keywords. Treat this as a separate control from a campaign list: check exactly which campaign and inventory types are covered in the current account before calling the exclusion global.

For Display and Video campaigns, Google says negative keywords are considered broad match and the match type cannot be changed in the same way as Search. Google also warns that Display and Video negative keywords are less precise, so an ad may occasionally appear on a page containing the excluded terms. Use site category, content, placement, or other exclusion controls when the issue is content context rather than a Search query.

Do not copy a Search negative list into every network without checking the meaning. A phrase that clearly signals irrelevant Search intent can appear in useful content or a product context elsewhere. Apply only the scope and network controls supported by the campaign and the actual business rule.

8. Verify the result after saving

Reopen the negative keywords area and check the campaign, ad group or list, keyword text, match type, status, and application scope. If the negative came from a Search terms report, record the original query and date. Confirm that the exclusion appears where intended and that no shared or account-level list adds an unexpected rule.

Check the next reporting period for both outcomes:

  • the unwanted query category should decline in eligible new traffic;
  • intended product, service, and location queries should remain available;
  • qualified conversions and revenue should not fall unexpectedly; and
  • a different irrelevant category should not simply replace the first one.

If an expected query still appears, check the reporting date range, the campaign and list association, the selected match type, close-variant rules, and whether the query was served before the negative was added. Google notes that negative keywords account for casing and misspellings but do not match close variants or other expansions. Add specific variants only when they represent the same unwanted intent.

If a core query stops serving, inspect all negative sources before changing the positive keyword: ad-group negatives, campaign negatives, shared lists, and account-level rules. Remove or narrow the rule, verify the saved state, and record the correction. A keyword diagnostic may test an exact form and not fully describe every search variant, so interpret it with the campaign’s full negative configuration.

9. Maintain the setup as the offer changes

Assign an owner and review cadence for the Search terms report and shared lists. Revisit exclusions after a new product, service, region, pricing model, landing page, or campaign type launches. An exclusion that was correct for an old offer can become a valuable query after the business changes.

Keep the previous list or keyword export before a high-impact edit. If spend or qualified volume moves unexpectedly, restore the last known-good exclusion set before adding another layer of negatives. Then compare the new search terms and business outcomes with the original reason for the change.

Before publishing a broader policy, review negative keyword best practices, the negative keyword checklist, and how to fix negative keyword problems.

Setup is complete when every negative has a reason, a deliberately chosen scope, a match type that expresses its intended boundary, an owner, and a verification step. The goal is not to maximize excluded queries. It is to remove repeatable irrelevant demand while keeping the campaign able to find the customers it is meant to serve.