Negative keywords allow us to exclude irrelevant search terms and prevent wasted ad spend. When selecting keywords, consider if the terms might trigger irrelevant searches. A proactive approach involves identifying irrelevant terms that might be triggered in advance, while a reactive approach uses the Search Terms report to refine exclusions after ads are triggered.
Where to add Negative Keywords
Ad Group Level – Exclude terms within a specific ad group. Used when multiple ad groups compete for the same search terms, ensuring only one ad group serves a keyword.We also add negative kws at the ad group level when the negative kw doesn’t apply to a different ad group
Campaign Level – Applies exclusions across an entire campaign, useful for broader, unwanted terms affecting multiple ad groups.
Negative Keyword Lists – Organized lists that apply across multiple campaigns or ad groups, commonly used for:
Competitor keywords
Job/school-related terms (to filter out job seekers instead of buyers)
Strategic use of negative keywords improves ad targeting, reduces waste, and enhances overall campaign performance.
Negative KW Match Types
Negative keywords have match types but function differently than regular keywords. They don’t match close variants (e.g., excluding the negative broad match term “flowers” will block “red flowers” but won’t block “red flower”). To fully exclude terms, add synonyms, singular/plural forms, and misspellings.
Negative keywords also behave differently in Display & Video campaigns compared to Search campaigns—learn more here.
When adding a negative keyword, specify the match type and where it applies (ad group, campaign, or negative keyword list). Match types are explained in the next module.
Broad match is the default when adding a neg. kw directly and not from search terms. With this match type, your ad won’t show if the search contains ALL of your negative keyword terms, even if the terms are in a different order. Your ad may still show if the search contains only some of your keyword terms.
The following is an example from Google of how Broad Match Neg KWs works:
For negative phrase match keywords, your ad won’t show if the search contains the exact keyword terms in the same order. The search may include additional words, but the ad won’t show as long as all the keyword terms are included in the search in the same order. The search may also include additional characters to a word and the ad will show even when the rest of the keyword terms are included in the search in the same order.
Here’s the example using the same negative kw as above but as a Phrase Match neg kw:
Negative Exact match is the most straight forward. With this match type, your ad won’t show if the search contains the exact keyword terms, in the same order, without extra words. Your ad may still show if the search contains the keyword terms with additional words.
See the following example for Exact Match using the same negative kw as the above two examples:
General Negative Keyword Lists
Below are some general negative keywords lists that (if applicable to your account) are good to apply in bulk.
career
careers
curriculum vitae
CV
employer
employers
employment
full time
hire
hiring
intern
interns
internship
internships
job
job opening
job openings
jobs
looking for work
new hires
occupation
occupations
opening
openings
opportunities
opportunity
part time
recruiter
recruiters
recruiting
recruitment
resume
resumes
salaries
salary
salary
work
about
article
articles
book
books
calculator
case studies
case study
data
define
definition
diagram
example
examples
forum
forums
guide
guides
history
journal
journals
learn about
magazine
magazines
map
map
maps
maps
metrics
news
report
reports
research
resource
resources
review
reviews
sample
samples
statistics
stats
success stories
success story
tutorial
tutorials
what are
what i
white paper
white papers
association
associations
certification
certifications
class
classes
club
clubs
college
colleges
conference
conferences
council
councils
course
courses
education
exam
exams
institute
institutes
instructor
instructors
program
programs
school
schools
seminar
seminars
teacher
teachers
textbook
textbooks
training
tutor
tutorial
tutorials
tutors
universities
university
workshop
workshops
app
apps
burn
burner
cd
code
community
desktop
developer
developers
disk
download
downloads
dvd
error
file
files
forum
free
freeware
game
games
gnu
hack
hacks
libraries
library
microsoft
open source
public domain
retail
retail
retailer
retailers
shareware
shortcut
shortcuts
soft ware
software
template
templates
tip
tips
torrent
torrents
video
windows
windows 10
windows 2000
windows 7
windows 8
windows 8.1
windows xp
wordpress
craft
crafts
create
creating
diy
do it yourself
hand made
handmade
home
homemade
how can
how can I
how do I
how does
how to
make
making
price
prices
pricing
quote
quotes
sample
samples
about
advisory
apartment
architecture
arena
bank
blog
blogs
book
books
bulletin
bulletins
channel
condo
county court
festival
home
homes
real estate
trail
book
books
diagram
FAQ
info
information
library
meaning of
news
newsletter
newsletters
newspaper
newspapers
police
theories
theory
weather
what are
what is
when can
when i
where can
wiki
wikipedia
film
films
graphic
graphics
icon
icons
image
images
j-peg
j-pegs
jpeg
jpegs
jpg
jpgs
logo
logos
lyric
lyrics
music
music video
pdf
pdfs
photo
photograph
photographs
photos
pics
picture
pictures
pix
ringtones
