What Is Negative Keyword?
A negative keyword is a term you tell Google NOT to serve your ad on. Add 'free' as a negative and your ads stop showing to people searching '[your service] free'. Negatives can be exact, phrase, or broad — same match rules as positive keywords.
Common negative categories
For a Meta Ads agency: block 'free,' 'jobs,' 'course,' 'tutorial,' 'internship,' 'diy,' 'meaning,' 'salary,' 'reddit,' competitor brand names, and any city you don't service. That single list can drop wasted spend by 15–40% on broad or phrase campaigns.
Benchmarks
- Weekly review of Search Terms report is the industry standard on broad/phrase campaigns.
- A mature account carries 200–1,000+ negatives across shared lists.
- Typical waste-spend reduction after first serious negative sweep: 15–35%.
Why it matters
Negatives are the single most under-used Google Ads lever. Every irrelevant search that costs a click is 100% wasted spend and drags down conversion rates (which drags Quality Score, which raises CPC). One good negative sweep beats most bid changes.
Common mistakes
- 1.Never running a Search Terms review. Broad campaigns rot without it.
- 2.Adding negatives too broadly. 'Free' as a broad negative can block 'free shipping' — use phrase or exact when nuance matters.
- 3.Not using shared negative lists across campaigns. Same terms should be blocked once, everywhere.
Put Negative Keyword to work
Related services
FAQs about Negative Keyword
How often should I review negatives?
Weekly for broad campaigns spending > $500/week; bi-weekly for phrase-match; monthly for mostly-exact structures.
Can I use negatives in Performance Max?
Yes — as of 2023, account-level and campaign-level negatives are supported in PMax. Use them aggressively for brand exclusions.
What match type should negatives be?
Default to phrase for most negatives. Use exact when you want to block only one specific query (e.g. a misfired brand permutation).
Related terms
Broad, phrase, and exact — how Google matches keywords to queries.
Google's 1–10 rating of expected CTR, ad relevance, and landing page.
Google keyword match type that also triggers on related queries.
Ad spend divided by clicks — what one click into your site costs.