Add negative keywords to all campaigns

Identifying the highest-profit keywords and creating relevant ad groups, content, and landing pages around those keywords is crucial to success in paid search campaigns. By doing so, you can precisely reach potential customers who are looking for products or services similar to what you offer.

However, if your advertising budget is limited, eliminating irrelevant keywords is equally crucial. In reality, many campaigns on Google Ads or Microsoft Ads are wasting significant money on useless clicks that do not generate sufficient revenue to cover the investment cost. This frustrates many advertisers, causing them to even abandon search platform advertising entirely. So, how can you stop this budget waste? The answer is simple: use negative keywords. Let Adsupport delve into add negative keywords to all campaigns in this content!

Do negative keywords truly help prevent campaign waste?

A negative keyword is a tool that prevents your ads from appearing to users searching for or viewing content containing words or phrases irrelevant to the products or services you offer. In other words, this is how you filter out non-valuable queries, helping your ads focus more on truly potential customer groups.

In a paid search management (PPC) strategy, effectiveness comes from continually expanding the list of target keywords while refining and eliminating unsuitable ones to maximize relevance and thereby increase ROI (Return on Investment). Using negative keywords is not just about pausing poor-performing keywords; it is about actively blocking non-profitable search queries.

Negative keywords help you precisely control your ad display scope, ensuring ads only reach those who genuinely have a need. Similar to the keywords you bid on, they can be applied at multiple levels, including the account, campaign, or ad group, and are categorized into various types: negative broad match, negative phrase match, and negative exact match. Understanding how each match type works is a key factor in maximizing the effectiveness of negative keywords in your Google Ads or Microsoft Ads campaigns.

Negative keyword match type classification

Similar to standard keyword match types, negative match types are tools that help you control the scope of your ad display, ensuring they only appear to the correct target audience. Clearly understanding how each match type works will help you optimize ad performance and avoid budget waste. Below are the three most common negative keyword match types you should be familiar with.

Negative Broad Match

This match type has the broadest exclusion scope. When you add a negative keyword in the broad match format, your ad will not appear for any search containing all the words in that phrase, even if the word order changes.

Example: If you add the negative keyword “running shoes,” the ad will not display for searches like “blue running shoes” or “buy cheap running shoes.” However, if the user only searches for “shoes” or “running,” your ad may still appear.

This match type comprehensively eliminates unwanted search phrases, but can sometimes over-exclude, causing the ad to miss some potential impression opportunities.

Negative Phrase Match

When you use the negative phrase match, the ad will not display if the user’s search contains the exact phrase in the precise order you specified.

Example: If you add the negative keyword “running shoes,” the ad will not display when someone searches for “buy cheap running shoes,” but it will still display if they search for “running with athletic shoes” — because the word order has changed.

This is the most preferred match type as it offers a balance between control and flexibility. You can eliminate irrelevant queries without affecting the ability to reach potential customers. Additionally, with a negative phrase match, you know exactly what you are excluding, whereas broad match can unintentionally filter out more phrases than desired.

Negative Exact Match

This is the most restricted and specific match type. When you place the negative keyword phrase in square brackets, the ad will only be excluded when the user searches for that exact phrase, no more, no less.

Example: The negative keyword [running shoes] will block the ad from appearing for the exact search “running shoes,” but the ad will still display for queries like “nice women’s running shoes” or “buy shoes for running.”

Negative exact match is useful when you want to exclude a specific search without affecting other related searches. For instance, if you sell robotic lawnmowers, you can exclude [lawnmower] to avoid people searching for general information, while still reaching those searching more specifically, like “remote-controlled robotic lawnmower.”

A guide on how to add negative keywords to all campaigns

Adding negative keywords to all Google Ads campaigns is an extremely important step to save your budget and ensure your ads only display to truly relevant target audiences. By doing this, you avoid spending money on clicks from users who have no intention of purchasing or are not interested in your product. Here is a detailed guide on how to professionally create and manage a negative keyword list.

Step 1: Create a negative keyword list

To start, open the Negative keyword lists menu in your Google Ads account.

• First, click the “Tools & Settings” icon in the upper corner of the interface.
• In the “Shared Library” section, select “Negative keyword lists” from the drop-down menu.

Here, you will see the option to create a new list. Click the “+” icon, name the list, for example, “Irrelevant Product Negative Keywords,” and begin adding the keyword phrases you do not want your ads to show for. If you sell premium phones, you might add negative keywords like “cheap phone,” “used phone,” “broken phone.” This prevents the ad from appearing when users search those terms, helping you filter out non-potential customers.

After completing the keyword entry, you simply select the campaigns you want to apply this negative list to and click “Save” to finish.

Step 2: Add the negative keyword list to campaigns

If you already have a pre-created negative keyword list, you can apply it directly to any campaign in the account. In the campaign management interface, access the negative keyword menu, then click the “+” icon. Google Ads will display an option allowing you to use an existing negative list.

Select the list you want to apply, for example, “Used Product Negative Keywords” or “Competitors.” Then click “Save.” From now on, the keywords in that list will automatically be applied to the campaign, helping you control your ad’s display scope more easily and effectively.

Step 3: Establish the necessary negative keyword lists to create

After understanding how to create and apply a list, the important thing is to identify the correct type of negative list needed. Here are some basic lists you can refer to for optimizing your advertising account:

• Basic: Includes search terms entirely irrelevant to your products or services.
• Example: If you sell accounting software, exclude words like “free,” “crack,” or “key-gen.”
• Competitors: Add the names of direct competing brands to avoid ad display when users search for competitors.
• Products you do not sell: If you only sell Product A and not similar Product B, add the competitor’s product name or brand to the negative list.
• Generic search terms: Exclude overly vague queries with low conversion potential, such as “buy product,” “best product,” or “how much.”
• Brands: Includes all brands the store sells (or does not want ads to show when users search for other brands).
• Products: Add the names of specific products to easily customize per distinct campaign group.

Of course, not all lists need to be applied to every campaign. However, preparing and properly organizing these negative lists will give you more flexibility in managing and optimizing your ads, especially when the account is large-scale with many campaigns running simultaneously.

Adding negative keywords to all campaigns not only helps save the advertising budget but also improves traffic quality and conversion rates. When you proactively filter out irrelevant searches, the ad focuses on displaying to the correct target audience — those genuinely interested and more likely to purchase. Regularly update your negative keyword list to keep your campaign running more efficiently and smartly.

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