A pest control company pays for a click from someone searching for pest control jobs. A plumber pays for a click from someone looking up how to fix a leaky faucet themselves. A bakery pays for a click from someone hunting for free cake recipes. Each of those clicks costs money, and none of them was ever going to become a customer. If you run Google Ads, some of your budget is probably going to searches just like these.

Doctor Ads, a Google Ads agency, analyzed tracked search-term spend for 84 advertisers between 2023 and 2025 and found the median advertiser spent 39.4 percent of it on search terms that never produced a recorded conversion. Not every one of those terms was irrelevant, since some simply had not converted yet. But the figure is a prompt to check two things: which searches you are paying for, and whether your conversion tracking records real leads. Negative keywords are one of the main tools for the first.

This guide explains what negative keywords are, how their match types work, where to add them and how to build a list that keeps growing. If an agency such as Optuno or anyone else manages your account, it is also a good basis for asking how often your negatives are reviewed.

What negative keywords do

A regular keyword tells Google when you would like your ad to appear. A negative keyword does the opposite: it tells Google not to show your ad when a certain word or phrase is part of the search. If a plumbing company adds "jobs" as a negative keyword, its ads stop appearing for searches such as plumber jobs near me, which come from job seekers rather than homeowners with a leak.

Negative keywords matter because modern keyword matching is generous. Google tries to show your ads for searches it considers related to your keywords, and its idea of related can be broader than yours. A keyword like water heater repair might lead to searches for water heater parts, water heater repair courses or how to repair a water heater yourself. Every one of those clicks can cost you money without producing a lead.

Used well, negatives save money, raise the share of clicks that turn into calls and keep your ads in front of people who are ready to hire. Used carelessly, they can also block searches you want, which is why it helps to understand exactly how they match.

How negative match types work

Negative keywords come in three match types, and they behave differently from the regular keywords you bid on. Google's own example uses the negative keyword running shoes.

A negative broad match keyword blocks your ad when the search contains all of the negative terms, in any order. So running shoes as a negative broad keyword blocks blue running shoes and shoes running, but your ad may still show for running shoe or blue tennis shoes.

A negative phrase match keyword blocks your ad when the search contains the exact terms in the same order. It blocks blue running shoes, but not shoes running.

A negative exact match keyword blocks your ad only when the search is exactly those terms in that order. Add any extra word and your ad may show again.

One rule catches many advertisers out. Negative keywords do not match close variants, so you need to add synonyms and singular or plural versions yourself if you want them excluded. Misspellings and capitalization are handled automatically, so you do not need to add those. A cleaning company excluding career would therefore also add careers, and probably jobs and hiring too.

Where negative keywords live

You can add negative keywords at several levels, and choosing the right one keeps your account tidy.

At the ad group or campaign level, a negative applies only to that ad group or campaign. This suits exclusions that make sense in one place but not another, such as excluding commercial in a residential cleaning campaign while keeping it in a commercial one.

Negative keyword lists sit in the shared library and can be applied to several campaigns at once. Google allows up to twenty lists per account and up to five thousand keywords per list, which is plenty for a small business.

Account-level negative keywords apply across all your Search and Shopping inventory, including Performance Max. Google allows up to one thousand of them per account. They are ideal for terms you never want to pay for anywhere, such as jobs, salary or careers.

Performance Max campaigns used to be awkward here. In 2025 Google rolled out campaign-level negative keywords to all Performance Max campaigns, applying to their Search and Shopping inventory, and negative keyword lists can now be applied to them too. If you run Performance Max, check that your exclusions reach it.

Build a starter list before you launch

You do not need to wait for wasted clicks to start a list. Most local businesses can predict the worst offenders in an afternoon by thinking through who else searches for words like theirs.

Start with job seekers: jobs, careers, hiring, salary, apprenticeship, training, course and license. Then the do-it-yourself crowd: how to, yourself, tutorial and video. Next come services and products you do not offer. A residential electrician might exclude industrial, while a dentist who does not offer braces might exclude orthodontist. If you sell services rather than products, consider parts, wholesale and supply.

Think about price words carefully. If you are a premium provider, excluding free or cheap may make sense. If you compete on value, those same words could bring your best customers, so leave them alone and watch the results.

Finally, think about place. If your business name or service shares words with another town or another business, those searches may need excluding too. Write the list down, add it as an account-level list or a shared list, and treat it as a first draft. Check every word against your own business rather than pasting in a stock list, since a trade school wants training searches and a supply store may welcome how-to searches.

Negative keywords trim wasted paid clicks, but they do nothing for your organic visibility. For that side, Optuno's free local SEO report gives a snapshot of your rankings, listings, and reviews.

Use the search terms report to find more

Your starter list will never catch everything, which is where the search terms report comes in. It shows the searches that triggered your ads, limited to terms that a significant number of people used, so some low-volume searches are left out. Even so, it is the best source of new negatives you have.

Review it weekly for the first month of a campaign and monthly after that. Sort by cost and read down the list, looking for searches that could not become customers. To add one as a negative, tick the box next to it and choose the option to add it as a negative keyword. By default, Google adds negatives from this report to a Search campaign as negative exact match, which blocks only that precise search. If a term reveals a pattern, such as several different job-related searches, add a broader negative like jobs instead so you catch the whole group.

Look for themes rather than one-off oddities. A single strange search is not worth worrying about. Ten searches that all include the word training are a clear signal, and one well-chosen negative will stop paying for all of them.

Mistakes that block good customers

The most expensive negative keyword mistake is blocking searches you want. A locksmith who excludes car to stop clicks from auto parts searches will also block car lockout, which might be one of its most profitable jobs. Before adding a single-word negative, picture every search that word might appear in.

A related problem is a negative that clashes with your own keywords. If you bid on emergency plumber and add emergency as a negative to another campaign's shared list, check which campaigns that list is applied to. Negatives always win, so a clash means your ad simply stops showing.

Watch the level, too. A negative added at the account level affects every campaign, so keep that level for terms you never want anywhere. And revisit your lists every few months, because services change and a word you excluded last year might describe a service you offer now.

Managing negatives is one of the routine jobs that keeps an account healthy. Optuno's Google Ads management lists negative keyword management among its services, along with that service's own pricing and fees.

Separately, if you'd rather hand off your website and local marketing, Optuno's plans cover them with no long-term contracts, no setup fees, and a dedicated contact.

Frequently asked questions

What is a negative keyword in Google Ads?
It is a word or phrase that stops your ad from showing when it appears in a search. Negative keywords keep you from paying for clicks from people who were never going to become customers, such as job seekers or do-it-yourselfers.

What is the difference between negative broad, phrase and exact match?
Negative broad blocks searches containing all your negative terms in any order. Negative phrase blocks searches containing the terms in the same order. Negative exact blocks only that precise search, so your ad can still show if extra words are added.

Do negative keywords block plurals and misspellings?
They handle misspellings and capitalization automatically, but they do not match close variants. Add plurals, singular forms and synonyms yourself if you want those excluded too.

Can you add negative keywords to Performance Max campaigns?
Yes. Google rolled out campaign-level negative keywords for Performance Max in 2025, and negative keyword lists and account-level negatives can apply to it as well.

How many negative keywords should I have?
There is no target number. Start with a list covering the obvious mismatches for your business, then let it grow from what you see in the search terms report.

How often should I review negative keywords?
Weekly for the first month of a new campaign, then monthly. Revisit the full list every few months to make sure nothing you exclude now describes a service you offer.