A negative keyword tells the ad platform not to show your ad when a search contains that term. Negatives can be set at ad group, campaign or account level, and grouped into shared lists. They are the main tool for keeping spend on relevant searches, especially as broad and phrase match have become looser.
How negatives match
Negative keywords have their own match types, and unlike positive keywords they do not expand to close variants. A negative for “job” will not block “jobs”, so add both.
jobs negative broad: blocks searches containing "jobs" in any order
"free trial" negative phrase: blocks searches containing that exact phrase
[crm] negative exact: blocks only the search "crm"Common negatives for SaaS
Start with a shared list and add to it from the search terms report every week or two.
- Careers: jobs, salary, hiring, internship, resume.
- Learning: course, tutorial, certification, what is (if you do not want research queries).
- Price-insensitive mismatch: free, open source, crack, template (where these do not fit your offer).
- Other meanings of your category words.
- Competitor names, if you have chosen not to bid on them.
Using negatives to steer traffic
Negatives can also route queries between campaigns. Adding your brand name as a negative in non-brand campaigns keeps brand searches in the brand campaign, so each campaign’s numbers stay clean.
Example
Cleaning up a category campaign
Hypothetical company Ottervane sells design review software. Its search terms report shows clicks from “design review checklist pdf” and “design reviewer salary”. It adds pdf, checklist, salary and their variants to a shared negative list applied across all non-brand campaigns.
Common mistakes
Negating too broadly
A broad negative such as “free” could block “free trial” searches you want. Check what a negative will catch before adding it.
Setting and forgetting
New irrelevant queries appear constantly. Reviewing search terms on a schedule is part of running the account.
Questions
Google has expanded negative keyword support for Performance Max over time. Check current documentation for limits and where they apply.
