Negative Keywords in Google Ads: Match Types, Lists and Examples

What are negative keywords in Google Ads?

Negative keywords are words or phrases you add to a campaign so your ads do not show when a search contains them. Google’s About negative keywords page says they let you exclude search terms so your ads reach people who are more likely to be interested.

Every keyword you bid on can match searches you never wanted. A packers and movers firm on Sohna Road bidding on “packers and movers Gurgaon” can also show for “packers and movers jobs Gurgaon”. A coaching centre in Sector 29 can show for “tutor vacancy”. A CCTV installer near Udyog Vihar can show for “cctv operator salary”. Each of those clicks costs money and brings no customer. Negative keywords are how you tell Google: not these searches.

• Cut wasted clicks: job seekers, students, suppliers and researchers stop seeing your ad.
• Cleaner numbers: fewer junk clicks make your cost per lead and conversion rate easier to read.
• Better routing: a negative in one ad group can push a search to the ad group with the more suitable ad and landing page.
• Reach still matters: Google warns that “if you use too many negative keywords, your ads might reach fewer customers”, so every negative should earn its place.

This guide covers how the three negative match types work, where to add negatives, how to find them, and starter lists for movers, clinics, coaching centres, CCTV installers and solar installers. For mover keywords and a longer movers negative list, see our packers and movers keyword setup guide.

How do negative broad, phrase and exact match work?

Negative broad match blocks a search that contains all your negative words, in any order. Negative phrase match blocks the words in the same order, even with extra words around them. Negative exact match blocks only that exact search, with no extra words.

Broad is the default. You write negatives with the same symbols as normal keywords: plain text for broad, quotation marks for phrase and square brackets for exact, as Google’s keyword matching options page describes. The table applies Google’s rules to a mover’s negative keyword, driver job, entered in each match type.

Look at the fourth row. The plural “jobs” slips past every version, because negatives do not cover plural forms (more on that below). A practical rule of thumb:

• Negative broad for single words that are never relevant to you, such as salary, vacancy or internship.
• Negative phrase for word pairs where the order carries the meaning, such as "tempo for sale" or "free pdf".
• Negative exact when you want to block one precise search but keep longer searches that contain it.

Why don’t negative keywords block plurals and close variants?

Normal keywords match close variants such as plurals and similar meanings, but negative keywords do not. Google says you need to add synonyms and singular or plural versions yourself, while negatives already account for casing and misspellings.

Google’s own example: excluding the negative broad keyword flowers does not block the search “red flower”. For a local business that means a list with only “job” still lets “jobs” through, and a list with “course” still lets “courses” and “classes” through. Build each theme with its variants:

• Jobs: job, jobs, vacancy, vacancies, hiring, recruitment, salary, internship, and Hindi words typed in English such as bharti.
• Education: course, courses, training, certificate, certification, syllabus, pdf, notes.
• Business opportunity: franchise, franchisee, dealership, dealer, distributor, business plan.
• Suppliers: wholesale, wholesaler, manufacturer, bulk supplier.
• Research: meaning, definition, wikipedia, project report, how to make.

The same page lists which symbols negatives accept. Ampersands, accent marks and asterisks are allowed, but an ampersand version counts as a different negative, so "packers & movers jobs" and "packers and movers jobs" are two separate entries. Characters such as !, @, %, round brackets and commas cause an error.

Where should you add negatives: ad group, campaign, list or account level?

Add each negative at the narrowest level that solves the problem. Ad group and campaign negatives fix one campaign, shared negative keyword lists apply one theme to many campaigns, and account-level negatives block terms across the whole account.

Shared lists. Google’s negative keyword lists page says a change to a list carries over to every campaign that uses it, which is why lists suit owners who run several campaigns. You can create one while adding negatives to a campaign by ticking “Save to new or existing list”. To apply a list to more campaigns, Google’s add negative keywords page gives the path: Tools, then Shared library, then Exclusion lists, the Negative keyword lists tab, then Apply to campaigns.

Account-level negatives. According to Google’s account-level negative keywords page, you click the Admin icon, open Account settings, expand Negative keywords, click the plus button, enter one word or phrase per line and choose broad, phrase or exact in the Match type column. The list applies to Search and Shopping inventory in Search, Performance Max, Shopping, App and Smart campaigns. There is no option to apply it to only some campaigns, so keep it for words that are wrong everywhere.

How do you find negative keywords in the search terms report?

Open the search terms report, tick the searches that are not customers, click “Add as negative keyword” and choose an ad group, campaign or list. Google adds them to Search campaigns as negative exact match by default, so change the symbols when you want to block wider.

The search terms report shows the actual searches that triggered your ads. Google’s negative keyword ideas page gives these steps:

1. Click the Campaigns icon, open Insights and reports in the section menu, then click Search terms.
2. Choose the scope: all keywords, or tick specific keywords first to see only their searches.
3. Tick the search terms you want to exclude and click “Add as negative keyword”.
4. Choose where they go: Ad group or Campaign (each negative goes to the ad group or campaign linked to that search), an existing negative keyword list, or “Save as new list and apply negative keywords”.
5. Check the match type before you click Save. Edit the text so the negative blocks the whole problem, not just one search.
6. Note the date and what you changed, so next week you can see whether the junk searches stopped.

Step five matters most. If you tick “cctv operator job gurgaon” and save it unchanged, you block only that exact search. Shortening it to the word job as negative broad blocks every search that contains job. Before you do that, make sure job is not part of a keyword you actually bid on.

Google also says some search terms with low query activity are left out of the report for privacy, so the report never shows everything. That is one more reason to add the obvious variants of each word up front. Each week, scan for:

• Job, salary, course and training words, in English and in Hindi typed in English.
• Towns or sectors you do not serve, when people type them in the search.
• Supplier, wholesale and dealership searches.
• Do-it-yourself and how-to searches that rarely turn into bookings.
• Products or services you do not offer, such as solar water heaters for a rooftop panel installer.

If you are setting up a campaign from scratch, our step-by-step Google Ads campaign guide shows where a starter negative list fits in the build.

What should a negative keyword list contain for local businesses?

Start with a generic list of job, education, supplier and research words, then add a short list for your trade. Check every word against what you sell: “course” is wasted spend for a solar installer but the main search word for a coaching centre.

These are starter ideas, not a fixed list. Your search terms report is the final judge, and a word that is junk for one business can be a buyer for another.

Each trade also has its own policy points and keyword groups. Our guides to Google Ads for coaching institutes and schools and Google Ads for doctors and clinics cover those.

Do negative keywords work in Performance Max, Display and Video campaigns?

Yes, with limits. In Performance Max, negatives apply to Search and Shopping inventory only. In Display and Video campaigns they exclude content on the topic of the term, every negative is broad match, and some pages may still contain the excluded words.

• Performance Max: Google’s Performance Max negative keywords page says you go to Keywords under the Campaigns icon, open the Negative keywords tab, click the plus button, select the Performance Max campaign and add keywords one per line or pick an existing negative keyword list. Account-level negatives also apply to Performance Max automatically.
• Display and Video: Google says negatives here exclude content on the topic of the term, even if the exact words are not on the page, and that some placements may still include excluded terms. Google’s add negatives page adds that all Display and Video negatives are broad match and the match type cannot be changed.
• Excluded content keywords: a separate setting under Account settings, then View suitability settings, with a limit of 1,000. Google says it applies to campaigns running on YouTube or the Display Network, and it is the tool for keeping ads away from content that does not suit your brand.

For most local trades, Search is still where negatives do the most work, because you see the exact searches and pay per click. Our guide to Google Ads campaign types explains when Performance Max or Demand Gen is worth adding.

Why is a negative keyword not working, or blocking good searches?

Most problems come from five causes: a missing variant, a list not applied to the campaign, the wrong date range, a very long search, or a negative that overlaps one of your own keywords. Google’s Fix issues with negative keywords page covers each one.

1. Missing variant: Google’s example is that a negative broad house blocks “red house” but not “blue houses”. Add the exact form people searched.
2. List not applied: negative keyword lists are managed at account level, but Google says they need to be associated with specific campaigns to be active. Check the Negative keywords tab of each campaign.
3. Wrong date range: if the search appeared before you added the negative, it will still show in the report. Compare dates using Change history.
4. Very long searches: Google says an ad might still show for a search longer than 16 words when your negative comes after the 16th word.
5. Overlap with your keywords: Google’s add negatives page warns that if negatives overlap your regular keywords, your ad may not show. The keyword diagnostic tool can report that a negative keyword is preventing your ad from showing, but Google notes the test isn’t comprehensive, so also check your Shared library lists.

If a whole campaign has stopped getting impressions, a broad negative that blocks your main keyword is one of several possible causes. Our campaign not running guide walks through the rest.

How DVM Techno can help

Our Google Ads team works from Sector 84, Gurgaon, with a local office in Kasni, Jhajjar. We plan, set up and manage Search, Display and YouTube campaigns with call and location assets and remarketing, build negative keyword lists for your trade, write the ad copy, build landing pages where needed and set up conversion tracking correctly.

You get weekly reports on reach, clicks, leads and cost per lead, plus a monthly review call. Ad spend is paid directly to Google, separately from our fee. If you already run ads, we start with a free audit within 48 hours that shows where the budget goes, including the searches you may be paying for that will never call. See our Google Ads management page for details.

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