What are negative keywords in Google Ads?
How do negative keywords work?
You tell Google which words should keep your ad out of the auction. If a search contains one of them, the ad doesn't show1.
The catch: treat a negative keyword as literal. Lebesgue, a vendor of ecommerce analytics software, warns that negatives won't cover variations, so your ad could still show for searches with similar words2. Add the variants you care about, such as "freebie", yourself.
Search is not the only place they act. On the Display Network, Google says your ad is less likely to appear on a site whose content matches your negative keywords1. Less likely, not never.
Why does it matter for ecommerce brands?
Every click on an irrelevant search costs money and brings no order. Negative keywords are one way to keep Search spend away from those clicks.
The list is never finished. New search phrases appear all the time. Someone has to look at the search terms report, which shows the actual searches that triggered your ads, and exclude what doesn't belong. How closely a search must resemble your keyword is set by keyword match types. Looser matching brings in more searches to review.
Automated campaigns offer similar controls. Google lists negative keywords among the campaign-level controls for Performance Max, to block unwanted queries3.
Negative keywords can also help against cannibalisation: paid activity taking credit for sales that would have arrived anyway, for example branded search ads capturing clicks meant for your organic result. They are one way to steer which ad gets which search. Where Search fits in the channel mix is covered in paid media strategy for ecommerce.
For ZFD: We treat a search terms report nobody has read as spend nobody has questioned.
Worked example
Easily confused with
Negative keywords vs Keyword match types
Settings that control how closely a search must resemble a positive keyword. Different from negative keywords, though both shape what you pay for.
Negative keywords vs Audience exclusions
These remove people. Negative keywords remove searches.
Negative keywords vs Brand exclusions
A separate Performance Max control, listed alongside negative keywords3.
FAQ
Do negative keywords block close variants?
Do not count on it. A vendor guide warns that negatives won't cover variations2, so add synonyms and plurals you want excluded yourself.
How often should I review negative keywords?
Regularly, because new searches appear all the time. How often depends on your spend and how much traffic you get.
Sources
Let’s find what’s actually working.
Next step. Wasted clicks show up in your margin first. Use the Is your ROAS real? calculator.