Negative Keywords: Your Questions Answered

What is a negative keyword?

A negative keyword is a word or phrase you add to a paid search campaign to stop your adverts from showing for irrelevant searches. It filters out people who are unlikely to become customers, so your budget goes towards search terms that matter to your audience. For example, a premium product might exclude words like “cheap” or “free”. Learn more about it here on this blog.

What is an example of a negative keyword?

A simple example of a negative keyword is “cat” for a campaign selling dog jackets. If someone searches for “cat jacket”, your advert would not show, but it could still appear for dog-related searches. Depending on the campaign, other common examples might include “free”, “cheap”, “jobs”, or competitor terms. This blog explains the examples in more detail.

What are the benefits of negative keywords?

Negative keywords help improve relevance, targeting, click-through rates, and conversion potential while reducing wasted spend. By blocking searches that do not match your offer, your adverts are more likely to reach people with genuine intent. That helps protect your budget and improve return on ad spend. For more detail about the benefits, check this guide.

How do you find negative keywords?

You can find negative keywords by reviewing your Google Ads search terms report, which is one of the best places to spot irrelevant queries that triggered your adverts. Manual Google searches, autocomplete suggestions, keyword research, and competitor analysis can also reveal phrases to exclude. Once you have found them, add negative keywords at the account, campaign, or ad group level. Check this guide for more detail.