Negative keywords for ecommerce campaigns
Negative keywords for ecommerce exclude searches your catalog, inventory or delivery offer cannot satisfy. Start with product and purchase intent, then separate genuine mismatches from valuable price comparisons, reviews and shipping questions.
Diagnose the mismatch before excluding a category
Retail waste often comes from a gap between the query and the merchandise actually advertised. A footwear campaign can attract repair instructions, resale demand, replacement components or an unavailable size. Those are different problems. A permanently unsupported product can justify an exclusion, while a temporary stock gap may call for inventory or campaign changes instead.
Read the search term beside the product shown, destination page and advertised condition. In Shopping, a poor product match can reflect feed titles or categorization. Excluding a useful category word without fixing the feed can hide the symptom and restrict relevant demand across the catalog.
Separate shopping research from incompatible intent
A shopper comparing cushioning, checking reviews or searching for a lower price can still buy. Evaluate those queries against margin, conversion delay and order value rather than classifying every research word as waste. The search terms report guide explains how to prioritize cost while preserving commercially relevant traffic.
Treat delivery language as an offer question. International shipping is irrelevant only when you cannot fulfill it. Free shipping belongs in the campaign if the advertised basket can qualify. Neither is a universal negative for online stores.
Negative keyword candidates for a new goods retailer
This table assumes a retailer selling new finished products, with no repair service, wholesale channel, tool rental or printable catalog. Use campaign scope only where that assumption holds. Shared list rows belong only in campaigns with the same exception rules. The first column is keyword text, with the Google Ads match setting specified separately.
| Negative keyword | Match type | Level | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| retail job openings | Phrase | Shared list | Recruitment rather than a purchase |
| warehouse job application | Phrase | Shared list | Employment rather than merchandise |
| store employee salary | Phrase | Shared list | Career research outside the offer |
| wholesale supplier | Phrase | Campaign | Consumer campaign has no wholesale offer |
| bulk distributor | Phrase | Campaign | Distributor demand has no matching channel |
| second hand | Phrase | Campaign | New-only product condition mismatch |
| pre owned | Phrase | Campaign | No pre owned stock in this campaign |
| refurbished | Exact | Campaign | Bare query requests unsupported condition |
| used running shoes | Phrase | Ad group | Shoe group carries new pairs only |
| shoe sewing pattern | Phrase | Ad group | Finished footwear rather than patterns |
| coloring page | Phrase | Campaign | No printable activity products |
| repair manual | Phrase | Campaign | No documentation sold separately |
| diy instructions | Phrase | Campaign | No instructional product offer |
| tool rental | Phrase | Campaign | Sales campaign does not rent equipment |
| replacement shoe sole | Phrase | Ad group | No standalone shoe components |
| empty shoe box | Phrase | Ad group | Packaging rather than footwear demand |
| product design course | Phrase | Shared list | Training outside the retail offer |
| retail certification | Phrase | Shared list | Professional qualification intent |
| store franchise opportunities | Phrase | Shared list | Business investment rather than shopping |
| merchandise liquidation auction | Phrase | Campaign | No liquidation sales channel |
| scrap value | Exact | Campaign | No scrap purchasing service |
| overseas delivery | Phrase | Campaign | Use only with domestic-only fulfillment |
| free printable | Phrase | Campaign | No printable download offer |
| donation pickup | Phrase | Campaign | No donation collection service |
Do not load the ad group rows into a whole-account list. A department selling accessories could serve replacement components even when the running shoes group cannot. The negative keywords examples show why catalog scope changes the decision.
Preserve price, fit and product research
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Keep sale, clearance, cheap and discount if those terms describe inventory or promotions you actually offer. Keep wide, narrow, waterproof and other attributes when products satisfy them. A negative against a product feature can remove the most qualified part of the audience.
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Reviews and comparison terms deserve an evidence-based decision. A shopper searching for trail shoe reviews may need a comparison page or more specific product selection, rather than exclusion. If that traffic fails commercially after conversion delay, start with the narrow query and campaign that show the problem.
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Avoid account-wide exclusions against competitor names when you sell those brands or intentionally acquire comparison traffic. A support query for another merchant can be irrelevant, while a product model sold by that merchant may be directly relevant to your inventory.
Apply retail exclusions to the supported campaign controls
Google Shopping accepts campaign and ad group negative keywords and shared lists. Performance Max supports negative keyword controls at account and campaign scope where the platform allows. Check the current campaign interface before assuming a Search shared list can be reused in every campaign type. Use the Shopping negatives guide for the retail-specific workflow.
Google negatives do not match close variants. Add observed plural or wording variations separately when they remain unwanted. Microsoft Advertising supports phrase and exact negatives, while Amazon Sponsored Products uses its own phrase and exact behavior. On Amazon, a product placement mismatch can require negative product targeting rather than a keyword rule.
Retail policies still apply to the product, promotion and landing page. Negative keywords do not make restricted merchandise eligible or correct a misleading price. Check the relevant platform requirements when the catalog includes regulated products or sensitive categories.
Load a retail shared list in NegativeKeywords
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Choose the rows that match your merchandise, then separate catalog-wide exclusions from department-specific routing. Add the reviewed entries to a NegativeKeywords shared list and choose the destination accounts and eligible campaigns. Use Google Ads Editor CSV, Microsoft Advertising Editor CSV or an Amazon bulk sheet when you prefer to inspect the upload before applying it.
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NegativeKeywords checks proposed negatives against active keywords, products and converting queries. Keep a new library in approval mode while reviewing the recommended match type and level. Cross-account shared lists are included on Growth, Agency and Enterprise. The tool maintains those rules across accounts using the controls supported by each network.
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Revisit exclusions when the store adds refurbished stock, begins wholesaling or changes shipping coverage. A rule that once protected the budget can become a barrier to a new offer. Use the audit log and one-click undo to reverse a negative when the commercial context changes.
Find mismatches in your own catalog traffic
Paste a CSV or TSV search terms export into the browser demo, describe the products you sell and choose the network. The report stays in your browser and is never stored. Review the reasons behind the proposed exclusions, then retain the rules that fit your inventory and buying journey.