What Are Negative Keywords in Google Ads?
Negative keywords block wasted spend.
A negative keyword is a keyword you add to a Google Ads campaign so your ad does not show when someone searches that term. According to Google's own documentation, negative keywords prevent ads from being triggered by specific words or phrases, ensuring your budget goes toward searches with actual purchase intent.
Every Google Ads campaign matches your ads to search queries. Without negative keywords, your ads show for searches that look related but have zero buying intent. Someone searching "free cologne samples" is not going to buy your $85 fragrance. Someone searching "how to make soap at home" is not your customer for handmade soap bars.
Negative keywords are the filter between relevant clicks and wasted ones. They work at three levels in Google Ads — broad match negative, phrase match negative, and exact match negative — each controlling how aggressively you exclude terms. For ecommerce brands running Google Ads alongside Facebook Ads, negative keywords are the single fastest optimization you can make to improve ROAS.
The math is direct. If 20% of your clicks come from irrelevant searches, you are losing 20% of your budget before a single qualified visitor lands on your site. On a $5,000/month campaign, that is $1,000 going to people who will never buy.
Why Do Ecommerce Brands Lose Money Without a Negative Keyword List?
WordStream analyzed over 2,000 Google Ads accounts and found that the average account wastes 76% of its budget on search terms that never convert, according to their Google Ads waste report. Negative keyword lists are the primary defense against this waste, yet most ecommerce advertisers add fewer than 50 negative keywords in their first year.
Three problems compound without negative keywords:
1. Broad match bleeds budget. Google's broad match algorithm aggressively expands your keyword targeting. A bid on "running shoes" can trigger your ad for "running shoe repair near me," "used running shoes cheap," or "running shoe drawing tutorial." Each irrelevant click costs money and teaches Google's algorithm to find more users like the person who clicked — creating a negative feedback loop.
2. Quality Score drops. When your ads show for irrelevant searches, CTR falls. Low CTR signals to Google that your ads are not relevant, which lowers your Quality Score. Lower Quality Score means higher CPCs for the keywords you actually want. You pay more for good clicks because you did not block the bad ones.
3. Conversion data gets polluted. Google's Smart Bidding algorithms optimize toward conversions. When irrelevant traffic clicks through and bounces, the algorithm has less clean signal to work with. Your automated bidding becomes less efficient, and your ROAS targets become harder to hit.
The fix is a structured negative keyword list, applied at both the campaign and account level, reviewed and updated weekly.
How Do You Add Negative Keywords in Google Ads?
Adding negative keywords takes under five minutes per campaign. Navigate to Keywords > Negative keywords in your Google Ads dashboard, or create a shared negative keyword list under Tools > Shared Library to apply exclusions across all campaigns simultaneously, as described in Google Ads Help.
Step-by-Step: Adding Negative Keywords to a Campaign
- Log into Google Ads
- Select the campaign you want to edit
- Click Keywords in the left navigation
- Click Negative keywords tab
- Click the blue + button
- Select Add negative keywords or Add negative keyword list
- Enter your negative keywords, one per line
- Choose match type (broad, phrase, or exact)
- Click Save
Step-by-Step: Creating a Shared Negative Keyword List
Shared lists save time. Create one list and apply it across every campaign in your account.
- Click Tools & Settings (wrench icon) in the top navigation
- Under Shared Library, click Negative keyword lists
- Click the blue + button to create a new list
- Name the list (e.g., "Ecommerce Universal Exclusions")
- Enter your negative keywords
- Click Save
- Apply the list to campaigns by checking the campaigns and clicking Apply
Understanding Negative Match Types
| Match Type | Symbol | Blocks | Does NOT Block |
|---|
| Broad match negative | free | "free cologne," "cologne free shipping," "free samples perfume" | "cologne freedom," "freelance cologne seller" |
| Phrase match negative | "free shipping" | "free shipping cologne," "cologne free shipping" | "free cologne," "shipping free cologne today" |
| Exact match negative | [free cologne] | "free cologne" only | "free cologne samples," "cologne free" |
Start with broad match negatives for most exclusions. Use phrase and exact match when you need precision — for example, blocking "how to" as a phrase without blocking searches containing "how" or "to" individually.
What Are the Essential Negative Keywords Every Ecommerce Campaign Needs?
A baseline negative keyword list for ecommerce should include 150–250 terms across 10+ categories. The list below covers the most common sources of wasted spend, organized by intent type so you can deploy the categories relevant to your campaigns immediately.
Job and Career Seekers
People searching for jobs, not products:
| Negative Keyword | Why It Wastes Spend |
|---|
| jobs | Job seekers, not buyers |
| careers | Career pages, not product pages |
| hiring | Recruiting intent |
| salary | Compensation research |
| resume | Job applicant, not customer |
| internship | Student job seekers |
| employment | Workforce research |
| job opening | Talent acquisition, not shopping |
| work from home | Employment seekers |
| job description | HR research |
Free and Discount Seekers
Searchers unlikely to pay full price:
| Negative Keyword | Why It Wastes Spend |
|---|
| free | Zero purchase intent |
| cheap | Extreme bargain hunters |
| cheapest | Bottom-of-barrel shoppers |
| giveaway | Contest seekers |
| freebie | Freebie communities |
| sample | Free sample seekers (unless you offer samples) |
| coupon code | Existing customer re-searching discounts |
| clearance | Typically low-margin traffic |
| liquidation | Wholesale/close-out shoppers |
| used | Secondhand buyers |
| refurbished | Secondhand market |
| thrift | Pre-owned shoppers |
DIY and How-To Searchers
Informational intent, not transactional:
| Negative Keyword | Why It Wastes Spend |
|---|
| how to make | DIY intent |
| how to build | DIY intent |
| recipe | Making it themselves |
| tutorial | Learning, not buying |
| DIY | Do-it-yourself intent |
| homemade | Making their own |
| instructions | Assembly/creation research |
| template | Looking for free templates |
| pattern | Craft/sewing patterns |
| printable | Free download seekers |
Academic and Research Searchers
Students and researchers, not shoppers:
| Negative Keyword | Why It Wastes Spend |
|---|
| research paper | Academic intent |
| study | Academic research |
| thesis | Graduate student research |
| case study | Business school research |
| definition | Dictionary lookups |
| wiki | Encyclopedia browsing |
| history of | Historical curiosity |
| statistics | Data gathering, not buying |
| PDF | Document seekers |
| textbook | Student shopping for books |
B2B and Wholesale Searchers
Unless you sell wholesale, these waste budget:
| Negative Keyword | Why It Wastes Spend |
|---|
| wholesale | B2B pricing intent |
| bulk | Wholesale volume buyers |
| manufacturer | Factory-direct seekers |
| supplier | B2B sourcing |
| distributor | Trade channel research |
| white label | Private labeling |
| OEM | Manufacturing intent |
| vendor | Procurement research |
| RFP | Request for proposal |
| B2B | Business buyer, not consumer |
Competitor and Brand Confusion
Brands or terms adjacent to yours that attract wrong audiences:
| Negative Keyword | Why It Wastes Spend |
|---|
| Amazon | Shoppers loyal to Amazon |
| eBay | Auction/marketplace shoppers |
| Walmart | Big-box price shoppers |
| Alibaba | Factory-direct importers |
| Wish | Ultra-low-price marketplace |
| Temu | Ultra-discount marketplace |
| Shein | Fast-fashion bargain traffic |
| Target | Mass-market retail intent |
| Costco | Warehouse club shoppers |
| Dollar Store | Extreme value shoppers |
Legal, Complaint, and Review Searchers
People with problems, not purchase intent:
| Negative Keyword | Why It Wastes Spend |
|---|
| lawsuit | Legal research |
| scam | Trust investigation |
| complaint | Customer service issue |
| recall | Product safety research |
| class action | Legal proceedings |
| FDA warning | Regulatory research |
| side effects | Health concern research |
| dangerous | Safety investigation |
| toxic | Health/safety research |
| ripoff | Fraud investigation |
---
Mid-article check: Are you tracking which searches actually convert in your campaigns? ConversionStudio helps ecommerce brands analyze ad performance and identify the creative and targeting combinations that drive real revenue — so you spend less time on negative keyword whack-a-mole and more time scaling what works.
---
How Should You Organize Negative Keywords Across Campaign Types?
Different campaign types need different negative keyword strategies. Search campaigns benefit from the broadest exclusion lists. Shopping campaigns require more surgical exclusions since Google matches product feeds to queries. Performance Max campaigns have limited negative keyword support — Google only added account-level negatives for PMax in 2024.
Search Campaigns
Apply your full universal negative keyword list. Search campaigns give you the most control over keyword matching and negative keyword application. Layer campaign-specific negatives based on what your search terms report reveals.
Shopping campaigns match product feed data to queries, so negatives work differently. Focus on:
- Category-irrelevant terms (e.g., if you sell men's shoes, add "women's" as a negative)
- Non-transactional modifiers ("how to clean," "repair," "fix")
- Competitor brand names you do not want to bid against
- Size/color/style variants you do not carry
Google added account-level negative keywords for Performance Max in 2024. Before that, advertisers had to contact Google support to add negatives — a process that reflected Google's desire to keep PMax targeting as broad as possible. Add your core exclusions at the account level so they apply to PMax campaigns automatically.
Branded vs. Non-Branded Campaigns
If you run separate branded and non-branded campaigns, use negative keywords to prevent them from competing against each other:
- In your non-branded campaign, add your own brand name as a negative keyword
- In your branded campaign, no special negatives needed — brand searches are high-intent
This prevents cannibalization and gives you cleaner data on how each campaign type performs. You can then track acquisition efficiency more accurately across your ecommerce KPIs.
How Often Should You Review and Update Your Negative Keyword List?
Weekly search term reviews are the standard for active campaigns spending over $1,000/month. The first 30 days of any new campaign produce the most irrelevant queries because Google's algorithm is still learning. After 90 days, review frequency can drop to biweekly if your irrelevant click rate stays below 5%.
Weekly Review Process
- Navigate to Keywords > Search terms in your campaign
- Sort by Cost (highest first) to find the most expensive irrelevant queries
- Sort by Conversions (lowest first) to find high-spend, zero-conversion queries
- Add irrelevant terms as negative keywords immediately
- Check for patterns — if "repair" keeps appearing, add it to your shared list
What to Look for in the Search Terms Report
| Signal | Action |
|---|
| High cost, zero conversions | Add as negative keyword immediately |
| High impressions, low CTR | Likely irrelevant; add as negative |
| Informational queries ("how to," "what is") | Add modifier as phrase match negative |
| Competitor names you don't want | Add as exact match negatives |
| Geographic terms outside your market | Add location-based negatives |
| Queries in other languages | Add common foreign-language terms |
Building a Negative Keyword Routine
Week 1–4: Review search terms daily. New campaigns generate the most waste early. Expect to add 20–50 negative keywords per week.
Month 2–3: Review search terms twice weekly. Your list will have caught the obvious waste. Focus on longer-tail irrelevant queries that slip through.
Month 4+: Review weekly. By now, your negative keyword list should cover 90%+ of irrelevant traffic. Focus on seasonal terms (holiday-related queries in off-season) and emerging trends (new competitor names, viral search terms).
Calculate the impact of these optimizations by running before-and-after CPC comparisons on your key campaigns.
The most damaging negative keyword mistake is over-blocking — adding negatives so aggressively that you suppress high-converting queries. A study published by Search Engine Journal found that 12% of accounts they audited had negative keywords actively blocking profitable search terms.
Mistake 1: Blocking Broad Terms That Overlap With Product Names
If you sell "free range chicken," adding "free" as a broad match negative blocks your own product term. Use exact match negatives ([free]) or phrase match negatives ("free shipping") for terms that overlap with your product language.
Mistake 2: Never Reviewing Your Negative Keyword List
Negative keyword lists are not set-and-forget. Product lines change. Market language evolves. A term you blocked two years ago might now describe a product you sell. Audit your negative keyword list quarterly — remove negatives that no longer apply.
Mistake 3: Using Only Broad Match Negatives
Broad match negatives block any query containing that word in any order. This is powerful but blunt. If you add "leather" as a broad match negative because you don't sell leather products, you also block "faux leather" and "vegan leather" — which might be exactly what you sell.
Many advertisers assume Shopping campaigns handle targeting automatically through the product feed. They do — but poorly. Shopping campaigns match broadly, and without negatives, your product listings show for queries like "[your product] repair kit" or "[your product] alternative."
Mistake 5: Not Using Shared Lists
Managing negative keywords campaign-by-campaign creates inconsistency. A term blocked in one campaign slips through in another. Shared lists at the account level ensure uniform coverage.
When testing new ad creative through structured creative testing, clean traffic from proper negative keyword management ensures your test results reflect creative performance — not audience contamination from irrelevant clicks.
How Do Negative Keywords Fit Into a Broader PPC Strategy?
Negative keywords are one of three core levers for PPC profitability alongside bid management and ad creative. Brands that combine structured negative keyword lists with systematic ad creative testing and data-driven bid strategies typically see 20–40% improvements in ROAS within 60 days, based on aggregated agency case studies from Google Ads Help.
Negative keywords protect your budget. But budget protection alone does not drive growth. The full optimization stack for ecommerce Google Ads:
- Negative keywords — Stop paying for irrelevant traffic (this article)
- Bid management — Pay the right price for qualified traffic
- Ad creative and copy — Convert qualified traffic into customers
- Landing page optimization — Ensure clicks become conversions
- Audience layering — Bid higher on audiences more likely to convert
- Product feed optimization — Ensure Shopping ads show for the right queries
For Shopify stores running paid ads, negative keywords are especially important because Shopify product titles often contain generic terms that trigger broad matches. A store selling "organic cotton baby blankets" may match to searches for "organic cotton fabric wholesale" or "baby blanket knitting pattern" without proper negatives.
Track the downstream effect of your negative keyword optimizations through your core ecommerce KPIs — specifically CPA, ROAS, and conversion rate by campaign.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many negative keywords should a Google Ads campaign have?
Most well-optimized ecommerce accounts maintain 200–500 negative keywords across shared lists and campaign-level exclusions. There is no fixed ideal number — the right count depends on how broad your keyword targeting is and how many irrelevant query patterns exist in your market. Start with the 150+ terms in this article, then build from your search terms report. Google allows up to 5,000 negative keywords per campaign and 1,000 per shared list, so you have plenty of room.
Do negative keywords affect Quality Score?
Negative keywords do not directly impact Quality Score. However, they indirectly improve it by preventing your ads from showing for irrelevant searches. When you stop showing ads to people who will not click, your CTR rises. Higher CTR improves Quality Score, which lowers your CPC for the keywords you want.
Can negative keywords block my own branded searches?
Yes, if you add a term that matches your brand name as a broad or phrase match negative. Always review your negative keyword list against your product catalog, brand name, and key product terms before applying. Use exact match negatives when there is any risk of overlap with your own product language.
What is the difference between campaign-level and account-level negative keywords?
Campaign-level negatives apply only to the campaign they are added to. Account-level negatives (managed through shared negative keyword lists in Shared Library) apply across all campaigns the list is assigned to. Use account-level lists for universal exclusions (jobs, free, scam) and campaign-level negatives for category-specific terms.
As of 2024, Google supports account-level negative keywords that apply to Performance Max campaigns. You cannot add campaign-level negatives directly to PMax. Apply your core negative keyword list at the account level through Tools > Shared Library to ensure PMax campaigns receive baseline protection against irrelevant queries.
Keep Reading
