How to Add Negative Keywords in Google Ads?

What Negative Keywords Do (and Why They’re One of the Highest-ROI Optimizations)

Negative keywords are terms you tell Google Ads not to match, so your ads stop showing for searches that are irrelevant, low-intent, or brand-unsafe. In real accounts, this is how you cut wasted spend without touching bids or budgets: you simply remove the searches that were never likely to convert in the first place.

The key nuance (and where most advertisers get tripped up) is that negative keywords don’t behave like “regular” keywords. In particular, negative keywords don’t expand to close variants or other expansions the way positive keywords can. That means you often need to add multiple versions of the same concept (like singular/plural or synonyms) if you truly want to block a theme. The upside is that you generally don’t need to worry about capitalization, and misspellings are typically covered without you listing every typo.

Where Negative Keywords Can Live: Ad Group, Campaign, Lists, and Account-Level

Think of negative keywords as a set of filters, and the “level” determines how wide the filter is. Ad group-level negatives are for sculpting traffic between tightly themed ad groups. Campaign-level negatives are for blocking irrelevant searches across the entire campaign. Negative keyword lists are reusable sets you can apply to many campaigns so you don’t have to maintain the same exclusions in multiple places. Account-level negative keywords apply broadly across eligible Search and Shopping inventory in your account—useful for global exclusions like “jobs,” “free,” or “DIY,” assuming those truly never convert for your business.

For Performance Max, negative keywords are available, but they should be used carefully because they can restrict the system’s ability to learn and find converting queries. If your goal is primarily to stop showing on brand searches, brand exclusions are usually the cleaner control than trying to “negative out” brand terms manually.

How to Add Negative Keywords in Google Ads (Step-by-Step)

Method 1: Add Negative Keywords Directly to a Search Campaign or Ad Group

This is the most straightforward workflow when you already know what you want to block and where you want to block it. In the Google Ads interface, you’ll navigate to your campaign’s keyword area and open the tab dedicated to negative search keywords. From there you can add negatives at the campaign level (blocks across all ad groups) or the ad group level (blocks only within that ad group).

When you add negatives to Search campaigns, you can choose the negative match type using the standard symbols: no symbols for negative broad, quotation marks for negative phrase, and brackets for negative exact. If you’re excluding something that you never want, start at campaign level. If you’re trying to prevent overlap between closely related ad groups (for example, “enterprise” vs. “small business” messaging), use ad group-level negatives to keep intent routed correctly.

Method 2: Add Negatives From the Search Terms Report (Best for Ongoing Waste Reduction)

If you want negative keywords that actually reflect what people typed before clicking, the search terms report is your best friend. This is how experienced managers steadily improve efficiency: identify non-converting (or off-intent) queries that are spending money, and exclude them with the lightest-touch match type that solves the problem.

From the search terms report, you can typically select one or multiple queries and add them as negative keywords. This workflow also commonly lets you save exclusions into a negative keyword list and (optionally) apply that list to the campaigns associated with those search terms—very useful when the same irrelevant theme is bleeding into multiple campaigns.

• Operational cadence that works: review search terms weekly when scaling, then biweekly or monthly once stable.
• Decision rule: exclude terms that are clearly the wrong intent (not just “didn’t convert yet”).
• Match-type rule: use the most precise negative match type that blocks the waste without cutting relevant variations.

Method 3: Use Negative Keyword Lists (Shared Exclusions You Can Apply at Scale)

Negative keyword lists are the cleanest way to standardize exclusions across many campaigns. Instead of manually adding “jobs,” “salary,” “definition,” “meaning,” “free,” and other universal non-buyer terms into every new campaign, you build one or more lists and apply them wherever needed. This keeps your account maintainable, especially once you’re running multiple products, regions, or funnel stages.

In most accounts, you’ll want at least one “Global Never-Convert” list, plus a few business-specific lists (for example, “irrelevant industries,” “student intent,” “competitor support,” or “parts/accessories” if you only sell full units). Be aware there are platform limits here: you can create a limited number of lists per account, each list has a keyword cap, and there’s also a cap on how many campaigns you can apply a list to at one time. Practically, this means you should design lists thoughtfully rather than creating dozens of micro-lists.

Match Types for Negative Keywords (and How to Format Them Correctly)

Negative Broad Match (No Symbols)

Negative broad match blocks searches where all words in your negative keyword phrase appear in the search, even if the word order is different. However, the search may still be eligible if only some of those words appear. This is powerful, but it can also be deceptively narrow if you assume it blocks “related” meanings—because it doesn’t automatically exclude synonyms or singular/plural variations.

Negative Phrase Match (“in quotes”)

Negative phrase match blocks searches that include your phrase in the same order, even if there are extra words before or after it. This is often the best balance when you’re trying to block a specific intent pattern without blocking too broadly. Format it with quotation marks, like “used laptops”.

Negative Exact Match ([in brackets])

Negative exact match blocks only the exact phrase with no additional words. This is the safest option when you’re not fully sure whether variants might still be valuable. Format it with brackets, like [free consultation].

Important Differences vs. “Normal” Keyword Match Types

Negative match types don’t work like positive match types. They don’t broaden out to “meaning” the same way, so you should expect to add more variants when blocking a concept. If you’re excluding broad concepts, plan to include singular and plural forms and obvious synonyms (for example, blocking both “cup” and “glass/glasses” if you truly want to eliminate that product type). At the same time, you typically don’t need separate negatives for capitalization, and you usually don’t need to list common misspellings one by one.

Advanced Use Cases and Common Pitfalls (So Your Negatives Actually Work)

Account-Level Negative Keywords: When to Use Them (and When Not To)

Account-level negative keywords are ideal for exclusions that should apply almost everywhere—especially across Search and Shopping activity. This is where you block obvious non-commercial intent (like employment-related queries) or universally irrelevant themes. Because account-level negatives are global, use them sparingly and review them anytime you expand into new product lines. Also note there’s a strict limit on how many account-level negatives you can add, so reserve this space for the highest-value “always exclude” terms.

Performance Max: Use Negatives Carefully (and Don’t Confuse Them With Brand Controls)

Performance Max can use negative keywords, but they’re a restrictive control and can reduce the system’s ability to learn. In practice, I recommend using them mainly for truly irrelevant or brand-safety exclusions. If your main concern is “I don’t want to pay for my own brand traffic,” brand exclusions are typically the more complete approach than trying to negative out your brand and all variants manually.

Display and Video Campaigns: Expect Different Behavior

Negative keywords behave differently outside of Search. For Display and Video, negative keywords are handled more like broad exclusions and you generally can’t change the match type the same way you can in Search campaigns. Also, there are platform constraints on how many negatives are considered in these environments, so if you’re relying heavily on negatives to “fix” targeting, that’s usually a sign you should tighten your audiences, placements, topics, or content exclusions instead.

If You Added Negative Keywords but You’re Still Seeing the Wrong Searches: Debug This First

• Confirm the level: did you add it to the correct ad group, campaign, list, or account-level section?
• Confirm the match type: negative exact won’t block longer queries; negative phrase won’t block re-ordered words; negative broad won’t block searches that contain only some of the words.
• Add the missing variants: if you blocked “flowers,” don’t assume “flower” is blocked too—negatives don’t expand to singular/plural or synonyms automatically.
• Confirm campaign type expectations: Search vs. Performance Max vs. Display/Video can behave differently with negatives, and not every negative feature applies the same way everywhere.
• Check whether you saved to a list but didn’t apply it: a negative keyword list only works on the campaigns it’s applied to.

A Practical Workflow That Keeps Accounts Clean Long-Term

In mature accounts, the best structure is usually a small account-level negative set (only true universals), a handful of well-named negative keyword lists (global intent filters plus a few business-specific exclusions), and then tactical campaign/ad group negatives for routing intent and preventing overlap. Pair that with a recurring search-terms review, and negative keywords become less of a one-time setup task and more of an ongoing, compounding performance advantage.

‍

If you’re learning how to add negative keywords in Google Ads, the goal is to use them as a practical filter that keeps your ads from showing on irrelevant or low-intent searches, whether you apply them at the ad group, campaign, shared list, or even account level. Since negative match types (broad, phrase, exact) behave more literally than regular keywords and don’t automatically cover close variants or synonyms, it helps to be deliberate about scope and match type, then build a repeatable workflow around regular search-terms reviews so you can keep cutting waste without accidentally over-blocking. If you’d like a bit of help operationalizing that, Blobr includes purpose-built agents like the Negative Keywords Finder (to surface real wasted queries from recent search terms), the Negative Keywords Brainstormer (to propose likely irrelevant themes before they cost you), and the Negative Keywords Cleaner (to fine-tune match types and remove overly restrictive negatives), so your exclusions stay tidy and aligned as campaigns evolve.