What are Negative Keywords?

Negative keywords in Google Ads are specific keywords or phrases that prevent your ad from being triggered by certain search queries. Think of them as filters that stop your ad from appearing in irrelevant or low-value searches.

Let’s say you run a physiotherapy clinic. You want people to search for “sports injury physio” or “back pain treatment”. But your ad keeps showing up for terms like “physio free consultation” or “physiotherapy jobs”, which clearly attract the wrong audience. By adding “free” or “course” as negative keywords, you can prevent your ad from showing up for those searches.

Why Does Adding Negative Keywords Matter?

Most Google Ads campaigns use a cost-per-click model, so every time someone clicks on your ad, you pay. That means the objective is not just to get more clicks, it’s about getting clicks that are more likely to convert. Negative keywords help filter out the searches that waste your budget and bring in the wrong traffic.

Without negative keywords, you could be paying for traffic that isn’t likely to convert. Over time, this can drain your ad budget without delivering meaningful results. That’s why every smart advertiser includes negative keywords as a core part of their Google Ads strategy.

How Google Ads Negative Keywords Will Save You Money

Imagine investing hundreds or even thousands of dollars a month in Google Ads, only to find out that a big chunk of your budget is going towards people who were never going to buy from you in the first place.

Here’s how negative keywords help protect your ad spend:

Cut Out Wasted Clicks

Stop paying for irrelevant searches that will never convert. For example, if you’re a local dentist targeting high-value cosmetic treatments, you don’t want clicks from “free dental care” or “bulk-billed dentist.”

Lower Your Cost-Per-Click (CPC)

Filtering for more relevant traffic improves your ad relevance and Quality Score. Google rewards this with lower CPCs, so you can reach more of the right people without increasing your spend.

Boost Your Conversion Rate

When you remove low-intent searches, the clicks you do get are from people genuinely interested in your offer, making them far more likely to enquire, book, or buy.

Stretch Your Budget Further

Every dollar saved from wasted clicks can be reinvested into high-performing campaigns, helping you generate more leads and sales for the same budget.

Protect Your Brand

Avoid showing your ads to people who will be frustrated when they realise you don’t offer what they searched for. This keeps your brand reputation strong while focusing spend on your ideal audience.

What Happens To Your Google Ads Account When You Don’t Use Negative Keywords

Not using negative keywords in your campaigns is like opening a shop and letting just anyone walk in, even if they have no interest in buying. It may bring in traffic, but not the kind that leads to real results. Here’s what can happen when you skip this step in your Google Ads setup.

• Higher CPC: Without negative keywords, you waste budget on clicks from the wrong audience, driving up your cost per click without improving results.
• Lower Quality Score: When your ad shows up for a keyword and gets clicked, or ignored, it impacts your quality score. If users see your ad on searches unrelated to what you offer and don’t click, your click-through rate (CTR) drops. A low CTR means lower Quality Score, which leads to higher cost per click and poorer ad placements.
• Higher Bounce Rates: Say you run a boutique skincare brand. Without negative keywords, your ad might show up for someone searching “DIY skincare remedies.” They click on your ad expecting a blog post or home recipe and land on your e-commerce store. Disappointed, they leave immediately, hurting your bounce rate and engagement metrics. This poor user experience signals to Google that your ad wasn’t relevant, and that can hurt future ad performance.
• Cluttered Data: When your campaign data is full of irrelevant search terms, it becomes harder to measure what’s working. You’ll waste time sorting through meaningless results when you could be doubling down on the terms that actually drive conversions. This creates a reporting headache and leads to misinformed decisions when optimising your campaigns.
• Lower ROI: You’re paying for attention, not action. Your ads may drive more traffic, but if it’s the wrong traffic, your business doesn’t benefit.

Want to eliminate wasted ad spend faster? Book a Call with our team to get tailored advice.

How to Identify Negative Keywords

Negative keywords should be incorporated into your campaigns from your initial keyword research during your campaign setup, then checked and updated weekly once your campaigns are live.

This initial investment can save you thousands in wasted ad spend and sharpen your targeting from the get-go. The good news? You already have access to the sources you need to identify them.

Talk to Your Team

Before you have any data from your campaigns, you still have the knowledge to identify basic negative keywords.
Customer service reps, salespeople, or intake staff often hear the same off-target questions or enquiries repeatedly. Ask them:

• “What are the common misunderstandings people have about our services?”
• “Are there common requests we always say no to?”

Turn those examples into negative keywords.

Here are some examples of negative keywords you can add that will give you some quick wins:

• If you offer a paid service – add “free”
• If you aren’t recruiting for staff – add “jobs” or “careers”
• If you are promoting an indoor activity – add “outdoor”
• If your product is new – add “used” or “second hand”
• If you don’t run training – add “course” or “training”
• If you don’t offer DIY solutions – add “DIY” or “how to”

Leverage Google’s Keyword Planner

While Google’s Keyword Planner is often used to find new keywords to target, it’s equally powerful for spotting terms that could waste your budget. By identifying these irrelevant searches early, you can add them as negative keywords and prevent your ads from showing for the wrong audience.

Example:

A local aged care provider using the keyword “home support” might also appear for:

• “home support worker job” (job seekers, not clients)
• “government home support” (looking for government programs, not your paid service)
• “home support training course” (people wanting to learn, not buy)
• “home support volunteer” (free services, not paid care)
• “free home support” (low or no intent to pay)

More Examples Across Industries:

• Plumber → Triggers “DIY plumbing guide” or “plumbing apprenticeship jobs”
• Dentist → Triggers “free dental clinic” or “dental nurse career”
• Fitness coach → Triggers “free workout plan” or “personal trainer course”
• Retail store → Triggers “wholesale bulk purchase” or “supplier”
• Lawyer → Triggers “law school” or “paralegal job”

How to Use Google Keyword Planner to Find Negative Keywords

1. Log in to Google Ads

Go to Tools & Settings → Planning → Keyword Planner.

2. Choose “Discover New Keywords”

Enter the core keyword(s) you are targeting (e.g., “home support”, “plumber Adelaide”, “cosmetic dentist”).

3. Review the Keyword Suggestions

Browse the list of related searches. Look for terms that:

• Show different user intent than your target customer
• Relate to jobs, training, free services, or DIY content
• Refer to locations you don’t service

4. Spot and List Irrelevant Terms

Create a list of all unrelated or low-intent keywords you find.

5. Add Them as Negative Keywords

• In Google Ads, go to your Campaign or Ad Group settings
• Add the irrelevant terms to your Negative Keywords list
• Use Phrase match (“keyword”) to block specific phrases, or Exact match [keyword] for very specific terms

Use the Search Term Report

If there’s one tool in Google Ads that can save you money fast, it’s the Search Term Report. Think of it as a behind-the-scenes look at what’s really triggering your ads.

In your Google Ads account, go to Reports → Search Terms. This report shows the exact keywords and phrases people typed into Google before your ad was shown or clicked. Unlike your keyword list (which is what you think people are searching), this is the raw, unfiltered reality of what’s actually costing you money.

This is where you’ll uncover wasted spend, hidden opportunities, and—most importantly—keywords to add to your negative keyword list.

What to Look For:

Competitor Brand Names

• It’s common for competitor names to sneak into your search terms, even if you’re not intentionally targeting them.
• Unless you have a deliberate strategy for competitor targeting, these clicks often don’t convert—especially if the searcher was specifically looking for your competitor’s business.
• Example: If you run “Smith’s Plumbing” and you appear for “ABC Plumbing Adelaide,” chances are that person was looking for ABC Plumbing, not you.

Irrelevant Searches

• These are searches that have nothing to do with your offer.
• Example: If you provide private NDIS plan management, you don’t want to pay for clicks from “NDIS job openings” or “NDIS volunteer opportunities.
• Every irrelevant click is budget you’ll never get back.

Low-Converting Terms

• Keep an eye out for searches that generate clicks but never lead to sales, bookings, or enquiries.
• These often indicate misaligned intent—the searcher may have been looking for something similar, but not exactly what you provide.
• If a term consistently underperforms, it’s time to add it as a negative keyword.

Recurring Non-Commercial Phrases

• Watch for terms like “DIY,” “free,” “what is…,” or “how to.”
• These are usually from people in the research phase, not ready to make a purchase.
• Paying for these clicks is rarely profitable because they have low or no buying intent.

Go through the list weekly and flag anything that doesn’t align with your offer or audience.

Step-by-Step Guide: How to Add Negative Keywords in Google Ads

1. Login to Your Google Account

Head to https://ads.google.com/ and sign in to the account managing your campaigns.

2. Choose the Right Campaign or Ad Group

Decide whether your negative keywords should apply across all ads (at the campaign level) or to just a specific ad group. For broader exclusions, like “free” or “DIY”, use campaign-level. For more specific exclusions, like a product name that doesn’t fit all services, use the ad group level.

3. Navigate to the “Keywords” section

• Click on the left-hand menu.
• Select “Keywords.”
• Then go to the “Negative Keywords” tab.

4. Click the “+” Button to Add Negative Keywords

You’ll have the option to:

• Add to campaign: Applies to the entire campaign
• Add to ad group: Applies to just one ad group
  

5. Choose Your Match Type

Just like regular keywords, negative keywords have three match types:

• Broad match (default): Blocks any query that includes all your words, in any order.
• Example: “free trial” blocks “trial for free courses.”
• Phrase match (use quotes): Blocks searches with that exact phrase in order.
• Example: “free trial” blocks “best free trial services.”
• Exact match (use brackets): Blocks on that exact phrase.
• Example: [free trial] blocks just “free trial,” not “best free trial.”

Use a mix of these depending on how tightly you want to control your exclusions.

6. Create a Negative Keyword List (Optional but Recommended)

If you find yourself using the same negatives across multiple campaigns (like “cheap,” “DIY,” or “jobs”), you can create a shared Negative Keyword List. Apply this to as many campaigns as you like, saving time and keeping things consistent.

Pro tip: During seasonal campaigns, review weekly to catch short-term shifts in search trends.

Stop Paying for Clicks That Will Never Convert

Google Ads can be an incredibly powerful tool, but only if your campaigns are tightly managed. Neglecting to use negative keywords is one of the most common mistakes advertisers make. Without them, you’re essentially inviting the wrong audience to click, costing you money, lowering your performance, and confusing your message.

By taking the time to regularly review and refine your negative keyword list, you’ll attract more relevant traffic, improve your conversion rates, and make every advertising dollar work harder for you.

If you’re unsure where to start or if your ads aren’t delivering the results you expect, it might be time to bring in expert help.

✅ Book a Call with our Google Ads specialists.

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