Find negative keywords in your search terms
Learn to separate irrelevant intent from useful research, group recurring query patterns and choose a supported exclusion without assuming every nonconverting search deserves a negative.
Negative keywords blog for practical search-term review
The Negative keywords blog covers how to find irrelevant queries, choose the right exclusion and check its effect on targeting. Use these practical guides to review search-term reports across real account structures, then inspect your own report in the browser demo.
Read for the decision in front of you
Start with the query you need to explain. If the uncertainty is intent, read the discovery guide. If you know a query is irrelevant but are unsure how widely to exclude it, read the match-type and scope guides. Campaign-specific articles address the controls available for Performance Max and Shopping.
The common thread is a reviewable decision. A proposed negative needs a reason, an appropriate match type and a supported destination. It also needs a conflict check against active keywords, products and converting queries in the reviewed data. A familiar-looking unwanted word is not enough by itself.
Use the search-term control workflow to see how those decisions connect to recurring sweeps, approvals, rules and reporting. Keep the business offer in view while applying guidance to a particular account.
Search query report guide for PPC managers
Read search terms, clicks, cost and conversions together so the report supports an exclusion decision while keeping missing platform data and conversion context in view.
Negative keyword automation scripts vs software for Google Ads
Compare scripts and software on cost, conflict checks, approval queues and upkeep before you choose how to automate exclusions.
Query evidence starts with the words people actually searched, not just the keyword that matched them. Compare the intent with what the business sells and the locations it serves. Keep ambiguous queries in review instead of promoting a guess into an account-wide policy.
Phrase match negative keywords and word order
See when an unwanted word sequence justifies negative phrase match, how extra words affect blocking and why related plurals or misspellings need their own review.
Exact match negative keywords and close variants
Use negative exact for a specific unwanted query, understand why additional words can still trigger ads and review separate variants without broadening the exclusion unnecessarily.
Google Ads negative broad blocks when all words appear in any order. Negative phrase blocks the same word sequence, while negative exact blocks only the full query. Negatives do not cover close variants. Microsoft Advertising supports negative phrase and exact only, so a Google broad-negative decision needs a supported alternative rather than a copied match type.
The negative keyword match types comparison brings those differences together before you widen an exclusion.
Campaign level negative keywords and account scope
Choose between campaign, ad group, account and supported shared-list destinations by checking where the intent is irrelevant and which targeting a wider exclusion could affect.
Performance Max negative keywords and supported controls
Review account-level negatives and campaign-level negative keyword lists where the platform allows, with attention to supported scope and the risk of blocking valuable product intent.
Account-wide exclusions need account-wide reasoning. Shared intent groups help reuse work, but a shared list still needs conflict checks for every destination. Do not apply exclusions from a new-product campaign to a business that also sells used products without checking that context.
Google Shopping negative keywords for product traffic
Use Shopping negatives at campaign and ad group level or through shared lists, while separating unwanted research and product mismatches from searches that fit your catalog.
Add negative keywords Google Ads teams can review
Follow a review sequence from query evidence to match type and destination, then check conflicts before adding the negative and keep a record of the decision.
Platform support matters after the decision too. Amazon Sponsored Products supports negative phrase and exact keywords plus negative product targeting for ASINs. Use the feature map to check network-specific exports, lists and the available review controls.
Keep the next decision accountable
After applying a guide, check whether the exclusion belongs in the approval queue or fits a rule your team has explicitly defined. Keep the reason attached to the query so another reviewer can understand the change later. Inspect the trend without equating historical cost with guaranteed future savings.
The Google Ads reporting guide explains flagged spend and blocked spend. The plan comparison covers sweep frequency, account allowances and audit history for an ongoing process.
Put the guidance against your own report
Paste a search-term export into the browser demo, describe what you sell and select the network. The report stays in your browser and is never stored. Review the first 8 negatives before creating an account to access the rest.