Negative keywords in Google Ads: find and add them

To add negative keywords in Google Ads, open Campaigns, then Insights and reports, then Search terms, and sort by cost. Tick each search that cost money and could never become a customer, select Add as negative keyword, and choose the ad group, the campaign or a negative keyword list. Check the match type before you save, because from this report Google adds it as negative exact unless you change it.

A keyword is what you bid on. A search term is what someone actually typed, and every click you pay for comes from a search term. This guide takes it one step at a time.

A keyword or a search term?

Google puts the difference in two sentences. “A keyword is a word or set of words that Google Ads advertisers can add to a given ad group so that your ads are targeting the right audience.” And “A search term is a word or set of words a person enters when searching on Google or one of our Search Network sites.” You choose the first; your customers choose the second. A negative keyword is how you tell Google which search terms to leave out.

The six steps

How each negative match type blocks

Negative broad is the default. Each type below is in Google’s words.

• Negative broad (the default). “For negative broad match keywords, your ad won't show if the search contains all your negative keyword terms, even if the terms are in a different order.”
• Negative phrase. “For negative phrase match keywords, your ad won't show if the search contains the exact keyword terms in the same order.”
• Negative exact. “For negative exact match keywords, your ad won't show if the search contains the exact keyword terms, in the same order, without extra words.”

All three from Google Ads Help, About negative keywords.

Three things a negative keyword does not do

• It does not match close variants. “Negative keywords won’t match to close variants or other expansions.” Google’s example: exclude the negative broad keyword flowers, and “ads won’t be eligible to serve when a user searches "red flowers", but can serve if a user searches for "red flower".” Add the singular and the plural yourself.
• It does not need your misspellings. “Negative keywords automatically account for casing and misspellings, so you don’t need to add those separately.”
• It does not come free. “If you use too many negative keywords, your ads might reach fewer customers.” Block what you do not sell, not every search you did not expect.

Read the report the other way too

A search that brings customers and is not one of your keywords yet is worth adding as one, so you can bid on it directly instead of reaching it through a broader keyword.

One question for a campaign you already run

Open the search terms report for the last 30 days and sort by cost. Which search cost the most, and brought nothing?

The film, as text

Chapter 4 of the course, word for word, as it is spoken in the film above. The account in the film is an example.

Your keywords are not what people searched. A keyword is what you bid on. A search term is what someone actually typed. And every click comes from a search term. In this chapter, we open the report that lists them, find the ones that cost money and could never become customers, and block them. The report. The negative keyword. How it matches. And one list that guards every campaign.

This is chapter four of a free course on running Google Ads yourself. Chapter three made sure your account counts customers. This one is about the searches you pay for. Every rule here is quoted from Google's own help pages.

Step one. Keywords and search terms. In Google's words, a keyword is a word or set of words that advertisers add to an ad group, so their ads target the right audience. How far a keyword reaches depends on its match type. Broad match is the default. Google says ads may show on searches that are related to your keyword. Phrase match, in quotes, shows on searches that include the meaning of your keyword. Exact match, in square brackets, on searches with the same meaning or intent. So the broad keyword leather couches can show on a search for leather couch repair. That's a click you pay for, from someone who wants a repair.

Step two. Open the search terms report. In Google Ads, select Campaigns, then Insights and reports, then Search terms. In Google's words, it shows the search terms that were used by a significant number of people, and have triggered impressions and clicks. Searches made by only a few people are left out, to protect their privacy. So the report is most of the picture, not all of it.

Step three. Read it. Each row is a real search. Read the cost and the conversions beside it. Turn on the Keyword column, which doesn't show by default. It tells you which of your keywords matched the search. Here, leather couches denver cost money and brought two customers. Leather couch repair near me cost forty one dollars, and brought none. That's the row you're looking for: money spent on people who want something you don't sell.

Step four. Block it with a negative keyword. In Google's words, negative keywords let you exclude search terms from your campaigns. Tick the search term, and select Add as negative keyword. Then choose where it goes: the ad group, the campaign, or a negative keyword list. From this report, Google adds it as negative exact match, unless you change it. Exact blocks that one search. To block every repair search, add the word repair on its own, as negative broad.

Step five. How negatives match. Negative broad is the default. Your ad won't show if the search contains all your negative keyword terms, even in a different order. Negative phrase blocks the terms in the same order. Negative exact blocks only the exact terms, in the same order, without extra words. And one difference to remember. Negative keywords won't match close variants. Exclude flowers, and a search for red flower can still show your ad. So add the singular and the plural yourself. Capital letters and misspellings are handled for you.

Step six. One list for every campaign. A negative keyword list holds your negatives once, and applies them to many campaigns: up to five thousand per list, and twenty lists per account. There's also one account level list, in Account settings, for all your search and shopping inventory, up to one thousand negatives. One warning from Google: if you use too many negative keywords, your ads might reach fewer customers. And read the report the other way too. A search that brings customers, and isn't one of your keywords yet, is worth adding as one.

The search terms report, before you spend. Know your match types. Open the report every week. Read cost against conversions. Block what you don't sell, with the right match type, and the plural too. And keep one list that guards every campaign.

Here's a question you can answer right now, if you already run a campaign. Open the search terms report for the last thirty days, and sort by cost. Which search cost the most, and brought nothing?

Next chapter: the settings Google turns on for you. What each one does, and which to check.

And if you'd rather not read this report by hand, Admiral reads your account and puts each fix in front of you. Each fix waits for your yes. Autopilot, if you switch it on, only pauses and blocks, under a daily cap. Start free at meetadmiral.com.