Negative Keywords: The Lever Most Google Ads Accounts Ignore
Most accounts waste 20–35% of their Google Ads budget on irrelevant clicks. Negative keywords fix that. Here's the master list and the workflow that catches them.
Negative keywords block your ads from showing on irrelevant queries. Without them, you're paying for clicks from people who will never buy.
Most accounts I audit have 20–35% of their spend going to non-buyer queries. A 1-hour negative keyword audit pays back in days.
Here's the playbook.
TL;DR
Why negative keywords matter
Google's match types (especially Broad) cast wide nets. You bid on "skincare for oily skin" and end up showing for:
Some are buyers. Some aren't. Without negatives, you pay for all of them.
Three levels of negative keywords
1. Account-level (master list)
Universal negatives that apply to all campaigns. Examples:
These never apply to most ecom stores. Build once, apply everywhere.
2. Campaign-level
Specific to a campaign's theme. For a hair oil campaign:
For a Brand Search campaign:
3. Ad group-level
Even more specific. For an "argan oil" ad group:
How to build the master list
Step 1: Start with universal negatives
Paste these into a fresh negative keyword list:
```
free
diy
how to make
recipe
tutorial
homemade
meaning
definition
youtube
videos
movies
song
lyrics
wikipedia
jobs
careers
salary
internship
training
course
classes
memes
philippines news
news
```
Save as "Master Negatives — Universal."
Step 2: Apply at account level
Tools → Shared Library → Negative Keyword Lists → Apply to all campaigns.
Step 3: Add by category
For ecom, additional universals:
How to mine search terms
The most powerful negative keyword discovery happens in your Search Terms report.
Where
Google Ads → Campaigns → click into a campaign → Keywords → Search Terms.
Filter
Look for
Queries that:
Action
Select irrelevant queries → Add as negative.
Choose:
Match types for negative keywords
Negative Broad
Blocks if all words appear (in any order) in the search term.
Example: negative broad "free oil"
Negative Phrase
Blocks if exact phrase appears.
Example: negative phrase "free oil"
Negative Exact
Blocks only the exact phrase, no extras.
Example: negative exact [free oil]
For most cases: negative phrase offers the right balance of precision.
When to NOT add a negative
Sometimes the search term looks irrelevant but converts. Before adding as negative:
If the query has 0 conversions but high CTR, it may still be valuable for awareness. Test before blocking.
Workflow: weekly negative audit
Every Friday morning, 15 minutes:
1. Open Search Terms report (last 7 days).
2. Sort by spend descending.
3. For each high-spend term with 0 conversions, ask: "Is this someone who'd buy from me?"
4. If no, add as negative.
5. Note any new patterns; update master list if recurring.
15 minutes a week saves 5–15% of your monthly spend.
Common negative keyword mistakes
1. Over-broad negatives
Adding "cheap" as a broad negative might block "cheap [your category]" — but those people might be your buyers.
Use Phrase or Exact match for ambiguous terms.
2. Blocking your own brand variants
Misspellings, abbreviations, alternate spellings. Don't block them as negatives — let them through and capture the traffic.
3. Blocking new product variants
If you launch a new SKU type, your existing negatives may block its searches. Audit when launching.
4. Not blocking competitor brand names from non-brand campaigns
If your non-brand campaign accidentally targets "[your brand]", you bid against yourself. Add your brand as negative on non-brand campaigns.
5. Set-and-forget
Customer language evolves. New trends emerge. New product types appear. Refresh quarterly.
Quick wins to add today
If you've never audited negatives, these 30 minutes will likely save you 10%+ of spend:
1. Apply a master universal list (use the one above).
2. Audit search terms for top spending campaigns.
3. Mark the obvious wastes as negatives.
4. Set a weekly 15-min recurrence on your calendar.
Negative keyword lists (templates)
Master universal
```
free, diy, recipe, tutorial, how to make, homemade, meaning, definition, youtube, videos, song, lyrics, wikipedia, jobs, careers, salary, internship, training, classes, course, memes, reddit, news
```
Ecom-specific add-ons
```
amazon, ebay, lazada (if you don't sell there), shopee (if you don't sell there), wholesale (if you sell B2C only), bulk
```
Service-business add-ons
```
free service, free consultation (if you charge), DIY guide, tutorial
```
How much negatives can save
Real example from a recent audit:
Account spending ₱500K/month:
Most accounts have similar opportunity.
Want a negatives audit?
If your search terms report is full of irrelevant queries, my Google Ads Specialist service includes negative keyword cleanup. Or learn the system in the Google Ads Course Philippines.
Related reading:
Written by Vince Servidad
I've spent over $26M on ads and built my own 7-figure brand from scratch. I don't just 'manage ads'—I build the growth systems that actually scale businesses profitably.
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