How to Set Up Google Ads Negative Keywords for Agencies

Set up agency negative keywords by defining the client’s unwanted intent, reviewing Search terms and mature outcomes, checking positive and sibling campaign overlap, choosing the narrowest match type and scope, recording client approval, and validating qualified demand after the change. Do not copy a negative list between accounts without checking the offer and service rules.

Use Google’s negative keyword guide, Search terms workflow, and list-management guidance.

1. Confirm the client and campaign intent

Identify the exact client account, campaign, ad group, offer, product or service, locations, and customer type. Define the mature outcome: qualified call, accepted lead, opportunity, order, completed job, activated account, pipeline, revenue, or margin.

Record event definition, count rule, value, CRM or commerce stage, conversion window, owner, and expected lag. Keep clicks and raw forms separate from the outcome the client actually values. The agency’s generic conversion report is not enough context for a client-specific exclusion.

2. Write the unwanted intent in plain language

Describe why the query should not receive this client’s ad. It may represent a different product, unsupported location, employment, free or DIY research, existing-customer support, wrong company size, or unavailable service.

Write one query to block, one similar query to preserve, and one edge case. “Free,” “jobs,” “repair,” “support,” “pricing,” “near me,” and “training” are not universal negatives. A recruiting client may need jobs; a SaaS client may want a free trial; a local business may sell repair; a consultant may sell training.

Separate mismatch from weak landing page, offer, response, tracking, or qualification. Fix the relevant client process instead of masking it with a list.

3. Review Search terms and mature quality

Use the Search terms report for the exact client campaign and date range. Review cost, clicks, raw conversions, qualified outcomes, calls, orders, completed jobs, response time, account fit, pipeline, revenue, and margin. Let the client’s normal lead, sales, booking, return, or revenue lag mature.

Prioritize repeated mismatches with material spend or a clear business reason. One raw lead that did not qualify is weak evidence. Check client offer, ad, landing page, product, location, form, routing, and tracking first.

Record query, reason, report window, owner, proposed match type, scope, client approver, and application date. A negative added today does not change historical delivery. Note promotions, client launches, staffing, pricing, service-area, feed, CRM, and landing-page changes beside the evidence.

4. Check positive and sibling campaign overlap

Search positive keywords, ads, landing pages, products, locations, forms, service areas, and sibling campaigns for the candidate. Ask whether another campaign is intended to serve the query and whether the negative would block both.

A client may intentionally serve “free consultation,” “repair,” “support,” “pricing,” “near me,” or “used.” Do not treat a word as proof of mismatch. Document the routing rule and expected destination before adding the exclusion.

5. Choose the negative match type

For Search campaigns, choose negative broad, phrase, or exact according to the exclusion boundary. Google documents:

Negative broad match: all words in the negative keyword must occur in the search, in any order.
Negative phrase match: the complete terms must occur in the same order, with possible extra words before or after.
Negative exact match: the same terms must occur in the same order without extra words.

Use broad when every word in the category should be excluded, phrase when the ordered concept is the mismatch, and exact when one known query is confirmed. Negative keywords do not automatically match close variants, synonyms, or all singular and plural forms. Add a form only when it represents the same client intent.

Do not widen the type merely because one longer query remained eligible. Review the query against the client’s actual offer.

6. Select the smallest client scope

Use an ad-group negative for one product or service theme, a campaign negative when all ad groups share an offer, location, or audience rule, and a shared list only when every applied campaign has the same documented policy. Reserve account-level rules for truly global client exclusions.

An employment negative can be correct for a sales client and wrong for a recruiter. A city negative can be right for one service radius and wrong for another. Check positive and sibling campaign overlap before saving.

Never copy a client list into another account without re-review. Industry similarity does not prove identical offer, geography, qualification, or customer intent.

7. Add ownership and approval

Name the list by client, purpose, scope, owner, and review date. Save source Search terms, blocked and preserved examples, match type, applied campaigns, reason, client approver, implementation date, and rollback.

Google’s negative keyword management guide describes adding negatives and applying lists. Confirm the account, campaign, ad group, keyword text, match type, and list association before saving.

Remove obsolete terms when the client changes its product, service area, pricing, landing page, qualification rule, or market. Assign a review owner so the list does not become permanent by accident.

8. Check network behavior

Confirm whether the client problem belongs to Search, Display, Video, Shopping, or another type. Search negative broad, phrase, and exact behavior is documented by Google. Display and Video negatives behave differently and are less precise; placement, content, audience, product, or location controls may be better.

For account-level negatives, verify current campaign and inventory scope. Do not describe a negative as universal in a client report without confirming the control and affected campaign types.

9. Verify before and after saving

Reopen the negative-keyword view after saving. Confirm text, match type, status, scope, shared-list association, account-level source, and Change history. Keep the previous known-good configuration.

If an excluded query appears, check date range, application date, campaign, network, match type, word order, close variants, list association, and another negative source. Google’s troubleshooting guide supports this sequence.

If a qualified query stops serving, inspect the negative and shared or account- level lists before changing the positive keyword. Remove or narrow the negative, confirm the client path, and document the rollback.

10. Report client outcomes

Compare new Search terms, spend, qualified calls, accepted leads, opportunities, orders, completed work, revenue, margin, and pipeline after the normal lag. Ask whether the unwanted category declined and whether wanted demand remained available.

Use the client’s mature guardrail. Fewer forms or clicks are not success if qualified volume falls. If evidence is inconclusive, stop widening the list and state the limitation in the report.

Common agency setup mistakes

Copying a negative list from another client without re-review.
Optimizing raw conversions instead of the client’s mature outcome.
Treating “free,” “jobs,” “repair,” “support,” or “pricing” as universal.
Applying a campaign or service rule at account level.
Skipping client approval, owner, review date, examples, or rollback.
Assuming negative keywords match close variants or every word form.
Copying Search behavior to Display, Video, or other inventory.
Using negatives to hide slow response, weak tracking, or poor qualification.
Reporting lower spend without checking blocked qualified demand.

The agency should deliver a client-specific and reversible exclusion decision.

Agency negative-keyword checklist

Confirm client, offer, campaign, unwanted intent, blocked and preserved examples, Search terms range, mature outcome and lag, positive overlap, match type, campaign or list scope, network behavior, client approver, implementation owner, review date, monitoring metric, and rollback. Use the agency negative-keyword framework and negative keyword checklist for a second review.

Start with one client campaign and one repeated mismatch. Keep the scope narrow, record approval, and review qualified outcomes after the normal lag.