{"id":18435,"date":"2022-01-14T22:41:33","date_gmt":"2022-01-14T17:11:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/?p=18435"},"modified":"2026-04-20T09:56:02","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T04:26:02","slug":"best-practices-negative-keywords","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/best-practices-negative-keywords\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Must-Do Checks Before Adding Negative Keywords"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"lead\"><strong>We have updated this post:<\/strong> Negative keywords are no longer just a periodic cleanup tactic\u2014they now play a key role in shaping and controlling traffic. For a more current, strategic approach to using negatives beyond filtering, read: <strong>\u201c<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/negative-keywords-in-google-ads-2026-are-you-using-them-to-filter-traffic-or-control-it\/\">Negative Keywords in Google Ads (2026): Are You Using Them to Filter Traffic or Control It?<\/a><strong>\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Negative Keywords<\/a>&nbsp;help you save on your ad spend by only showing your ads to those who are interested in them. It helps you boost your PPC strategy and achieve more conversions by driving dependable traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The impact of negative keywords is highly dependent on the negative keywords you chose and the match type assigned. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">*Negative keywords: It is common to create campaigns and forget completely about the negative keywords or terms that you don&#39;t want to pay for when a users types into the google search. Negative keywords can help save money and optimization tasks.<\/p>&mdash; Eli Reyes Marketing (@elireyesmkt) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/elireyesmkt\/status\/1482076262159978500?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 14, 2022<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>In this post, we&#8217;ll go over some of the best practices for using negative keywords to their full potential. So here they are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-finding-negative-keywords-from-your-search-terms-report\"><strong>Finding Negative Keywords from your Search Terms Report<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/identify-negative-keywords-through-google-ads-search-terms-report\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Search terms report<\/a> is the best source for finding out negative keywords. Regularly reviewing your search phrases will provide you with insight into which search terms are triggering your ads. You&#8217;ll eventually have to decide which of those terms to include as negative keywords and which to keep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-pale-cyan-blue-background-color has-background\"><strong>Here is an interesting<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/impact-google-ads-search-terms-report-changes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><u>Case Study of Google Ads \u2018Search Terms Report\u2019 Change &amp; Its Impact <\/u><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-find-related-keywords-nbsp\"><strong>Find related keywords&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Adding terms related to your negative keywords will further prevent your ad from showing for irrelevant searches. So it is a wise step to find similar terms to block the search term altogether<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-adding-all-variants-as-negative-keywords\"><strong>Adding all variants as negative keywords<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>While adding a keyword as a negative keyword you might want to add its close variants as a negative keyword too. Negative keywords don\u2019t consider close variants, so if you want to block your ad from showing for the keyword altogether, add them too.&nbsp;Close variants&nbsp;are any misspelling, similarities, and singular or plural form of your keyword.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-redirecting-to-the-correct-campaign-ad-group\"><strong>Redirecting to the correct campaign\/ ad group<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>You may have noticed that a single search query can occasionally trigger keywords in multiple campaigns. The use of negative keywords ensures that the search query aligns with the most pertinent keyword, resulting in the display of a relevant ad. This action not only enhances the quality score but also increases the probability of a visitor converting because their query obtains the desired responses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-conflicting-with-bidded-keywords\"><strong>Conflicting with bidded keywords<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>If you are handling an account with multiple campaigns you might skip noticing that a negative keyword you added is conflicting with a bidded keyword. What it means is, your negative keyword is blocking an ad from showing for a keyword you are bidding on. This needs to be immediately corrected to avoid missing out on any relevant clicks to your ads. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For e.g. if you have added a negative keyword&nbsp;<em>free<\/em>&nbsp;and simultaneously you are running an ad with the keyword<em>&nbsp;sugar free juice<\/em>, then your ad gets blocked. Google in such a case raises an alert. So, before adding a negative keyword you might want to re-check your existing keywords list too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-create-negative-keyword-lists\"><strong>Create Negative Keyword Lists<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>If you have a list of keywords that is applicable to all your campaigns, and will never match your brand\u2019s objective, then instead of individually adding those keywords to each campaign, create a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/what-negative-keyword-lists-to-create-in-google-ads\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">negative keyword list<\/a>&nbsp;in your Shared Library.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-choosing-appropriate-match-types\"><strong>Choosing appropriate match types<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;if you do not wish to show for search terms as&nbsp;<em>buy sugar free juice for free<\/em>&nbsp;or<em>&nbsp;free sugar free juice<\/em>, adding&nbsp;<em>free<\/em>&nbsp;as a broad match negative keyword will block all relevant search queries from showing your ad. In this case, it is better to add the entire search query as an exact or phrase match negative keyword.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-pale-cyan-blue-background-color has-background\"><strong>Find out if you are<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/negative-keyword-match-types-with-examples-in-google-ads\/\"><u>Using the Right Negative Keyword Match Types in Google Ads?<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Let us just dig into this a little more. Now choosing what match type suits your negative keyword, ideally depends on the range of terms that you wish to block. Considering that you are certain about blocking the term, here are a few things that you can keep in mind while making the decision:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Single Word Keywords:\u00a0<\/strong>If the negative keyword is a single word, it shows that you are certain not to show your ad for that particular keyword. In this case, a broad match will perfectly suit your requirements as it will remove all the search queries related to that particular word.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Short Tail Keywords:\u00a0<\/strong>These keywords contain three or less than three words. Here phrase match type best suited, as it will largely cover search terms that mention the phrase. Using broad match could block a large number of search terms, so play safe with phrase match type.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Long Tail Keywords:\u00a0<\/strong>These are phrases with a low search volume and the number of search terms with low volume are larger in number. Spending on these low volume keywords will not help you drive the traction you wish for. Such keywords have a one-in-a-million chance of becoming a winner. It is preferable to use broad match or broad match modifier match type for these keywords. This could make it easier for you to approach the search phrases.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>We&#8217;ve offered our thoughts based on our own experiences with it. However, no one can declare with certainty that a specific match type is the best for negative keywords. What it depends on, reiterating it again, is the range of terms that you intend to block.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Is there any other best practice that we missed mentioning here? Let us know in the comments below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-black-color has-pale-cyan-blue-background-color has-text-color has-background\"><strong>An Important Note:<\/strong>&nbsp;Our Negative Keywords Tool is&nbsp;<strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/pricing\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Free<\/span><\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;for accounts with ad spend less than&nbsp;<strong>$10,000<\/strong>&nbsp;per month. Save 10-20% of your search ad spend for free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Related Links:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/how-to-use-karooyas-negative-keywords-tool-for-google-ads\/\">How to Use Karooya\u2019s Negative Keywords Tool for Google Ads<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/optimize-negative-keywords-google-ads\/\">How to optimize negative keywords?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/must-have-negative-keywords-list-google-ads\/\">Must Have Negative Keywords List For Your Google Ads Account<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We have updated this post: Negative keywords are no longer just a periodic cleanup tactic\u2014they now play a key role in shaping and controlling traffic. For a more current, strategic approach to using negatives beyond filtering, read: \u201cNegative Keywords in Google Ads (2026): Are You Using Them to Filter Traffic or Control It?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-googl-search-tips","category-negative-keywords"],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Kirti","author_link":"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/author\/kirti\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18435"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18435\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27616,"href":"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18435\/revisions\/27616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}