How to Use Negative Keywords in Google Ads: Expert Tips

Understanding Negative Keywords: Your Foundation for Success

If you really want to get good at using negative keywords in Google Ads, you need to dig a bit deeper than just knowing they exist. Lots of folks are aware of negative keywords, but it’s the smart way you use them that makes the difference between a campaign that really works and one that just eats up your ad money. Picture them as the bouncers for your campaign, making sure only the right crowd gets in to see your ads.

So, what are negative keywords? Simply put, they are specific words or phrases you tell your campaigns or ad groups to avoid. This is super important because you don’t want your ads popping up when people search for things you don’t actually offer. That’s not just a waste of time; it costs you money for clicks that won’t turn into sales and can even make your ads seem less relevant. For instance, if you’re selling brand new cars, you definitely don’t want your ad showing up for searches like “used car removal” – that’s a wasted click and a lost opportunity.

The Different Flavours: Negative Keyword Match Types Explained

Just like the regular keywords you bid on, negative keywords also come in different ‘match types’. These types control how strictly Google looks at a search query when deciding if your negative keyword applies. Nailing these match types is a big part of truly understanding how to use negative keywords in Google Ads effectively.

There are three main types to get familiar with:

• Negative Broad Match: You set this up by putting a minus sign right before your keyword (like -free). Your ad won’t show up if someone’s search includes all the words in your negative keyword, no matter what order they’re in. This type gives you broad protection, but you need to be careful because it can sometimes block searches you actually want if you’re not precise. For example, if you sell high-end dog food and use -cheap as a negative broad match, you’ll block “cheap dog food deals,” but you might also unintentionally block “best cheap puppy toys” if you happen to sell toys too.

• Negative Phrase Match: To use this, put a minus sign before your keyword, and wrap the keyword in quotation marks (for instance, -"DIY repair"). With this, your ad stays hidden if the search query includes that exact phrase, in that exact order. Other words can be before or after the phrase, but the phrase itself must match. This gives you a tighter grip compared to broad match.

• Negative Exact Match: This one is shown by a minus sign before the keyword, with the keyword inside square brackets (e.g., -[jobs for teens]). It’s the strictest of the lot. Your ad will only be blocked if the search query is an identical match to your negative keyword – no extra words allowed. It’s very precise, but be mindful not to accidentally block useful, very specific long-tail searches.

Let’s paint a picture with a local business. Say you’re a plumber in Sydney who specialises in emergency repairs, but you’re not looking to hire apprentices and don’t give out free quotes over the phone. If you add -"plumber jobs" as a negative phrase match, your ad won’t appear for searches like “Sydney plumber jobs” or “entry level plumber jobs.” If you needed to be even more specific, using -[plumber jobs] as a negative exact match would block only the exact search “plumber jobs.” Getting these differences is really important.

The great thing is, Google Ads gives you plenty of room to get this detailed. Advertisers can add up to 5,000 negative keywords per list and create up to 20 such lists within a single account. This kind of flexibility is a real bonus, especially for businesses trying to fine-tune their targeting to very specific local consumer behaviours and search patterns. You can find out more about these limits on Google’s support page.

When you really get a handle on these match types and think carefully about the searches you don’t want triggering your ads, you’re building a strong base for your campaigns. It’s not just about dodging a few irrelevant clicks; it’s about making your targeting laser-focused. This way, you pull in the customers you actually want and see genuine returns from your Google Ads investment.

Building Your First Negative Keyword Strategy That Works

Once you understand what negative keywords are, the immediate next task is to build a strategy. This plan should actively prevent wasted clicks and guide your advertising budget toward genuinely profitable conversions. The effectiveness of how to use negative keywords in Google Ads truly comes from a structured way of finding and weeding out searches that don’t match your business objectives. It’s about making your ad spend a highly focused tool.

Seeing the results of a well-tuned negative keyword strategy can be striking. This infographic illustrates how advertisers can markedly improve their ROI by managing their ad spend with care.

The main point is that consistent review and strategic exclusion of irrelevant terms directly lead to better campaign performance and a stronger return on investment.

Uncovering Irrelevant Searches in Your Search Term Report

Your most valuable resource for finding out which actual search queries trigger your ads is the Search Term Report (STR), found within Google Ads. This report is a treasure trove, revealing the exact phrases people typed into Google before they clicked on your ad. Checking your STR regularly is essential; it’s where you’ll spot those terms that consume your budget without any real chance of converting.

When examining your STR, pay attention to:

• Completely irrelevant terms: Searches that have absolutely no connection to your products or services.
• Terms with undesired intent: For instance, queries including words like “free,” “DIY,” “jobs,” “reviews,” or “complaints” if these don’t fit your offerings.
• Competitor brand names: Unless you have a deliberate strategy to target competitors, these clicks can be costly and yield few conversions.
• Misspellings or related terms that point to a different product/service: Small variations can sometimes signify entirely different user needs.

For example, a Melbourne-based law firm focused on commercial litigation noticed their ads were showing for “free legal advice Melbourne.” While somewhat related, these searchers were not their ideal clients. By adding “free” and “pro bono” as negative keywords, they directed their budget towards attracting serious commercial prospects, which significantly improved their lead quality. In this case, the effective use of negative keywords meant filtering out individuals seeking information who weren’t prepared for paid services.

Understanding the different match types for negative keywords is crucial for applying them correctly. The following table outlines these types and how they function.

Negative Keyword Match Types Comparison

A detailed comparison of broad, phrase, and exact match negative keywords showing when to use each type

By choosing the right negative match type, you gain finer control over which searches your ads don’t appear for, further optimizing your ad spend.

Strategic Placement: Campaign vs. Ad Group Level

After you’ve pinpointed terms to exclude, the next decision is where to add them: at the campaign level or the ad group level. This choice directly influences how to use negative keywords in Google Ads for the best possible control over your ad visibility.

• Campaign-Level Negative Keywords: These are for terms you never want your ads to show for, across any ad group within that particular campaign. Think of universal exclusions like “jobs” if your campaign is strictly for sales, or terms indicating a completely unrelated industry. For instance, an Adelaide restaurant promoting its dining experience would add terms like “chef jobs Adelaide” or “restaurant manager vacancy” at the campaign level to prevent job seekers from seeing their dining ads. This provides broad protection.

• Ad Group-Level Negative Keywords: Use these for more targeted exclusions specific to an individual ad group. This is helpful for preventing overlap between different ad groups or for fine-tuning targeting for closely related product or service categories. For example, if you have one ad group for “red running shoes” and another for “blue running shoes,” you might add “blue” as a negative keyword to the “red running shoes” ad group. This ensures hyper-focused ad delivery.

Grasping this distinction is vital. Adding a negative keyword at an inappropriate level can either render it ineffective or, more problematically, block relevant traffic from other areas of your campaign. Timing is also a factor; while starting with a basic list of obvious negatives is a good practice, ongoing refinement based on performance data yields the most significant wins. Regularly reviewing your STR enables you to adapt and maintain lean, effective campaigns.

Advanced Techniques That Separate Pros From Amateurs

Once you’ve got a good handle on building and polishing your basic negative keyword lists, it’s time to explore some more refined approaches. These are the kinds of advanced methods that experienced Australian advertisers use to really get the most out of every ad dollar. They keep campaigns trim and incredibly effective, while others might be unintentionally spending money on clicks that just don’t matter. Understanding how to use negative keywords in Google Ads at this deeper level can truly set you apart.

Creating Dynamic Negative Keyword Lists

A really effective strategy involves using dynamic negative keyword lists. These are lists that you adjust based on what’s happening at the moment, like seasonal shifts or special sales events.

Think about an Australian retailer selling camping equipment. They might add “winter jackets” to their negative keywords during the hot Queensland summer. Similarly, “Christmas gift ideas” could be excluded from campaigns starting in January. This kind of forward-thinking management keeps your ad spending in tune with what customers are actually looking for.

Implementing Strategic Location-Specific Exclusions

Beyond just timing, location-specific exclusions are incredibly important, particularly in a large and varied country like Australia. If your business only serves certain states or territories – say, a handyman service operating exclusively in Victoria – you’ll want to add other state names like “NSW,” “Queensland,” or “WA” as negative keywords.

This simple step stops your ads from appearing to people in places you can’t service. It saves you money and makes sure the clicks you do get are much more relevant. For local businesses, this is a core part of figuring out how to use negative keywords in Google Ads to their advantage.

Leveraging Competitor Insights for Negative Keywords

Clever advertisers also gain an edge by doing a bit of competitor analysis to help shape their negative keyword strategy. Take a look at the search terms your competitors are showing up for, particularly if it looks like they’re drawing in clicks that aren’t a good fit for them.

You might discover terms they’re bidding on (maybe by accident) that you can add to your own negative keyword list. This helps you sidestep the same mistakes and guards your advertising budget.

Separating Search Intent with Surgical Exclusions

A key characteristic of advanced negative keyword management is the ability to separate different levels of search intent. Often, your main aim is to make sure your most valuable campaigns – those focused on getting immediate sales or leads – attract only ready-to-buy searchers.

This means carefully excluding terms that suggest someone is just researching or browsing without immediate intent to purchase. Examples include:

• “reviews”
• “how to”
• “free alternative”
• “compare prices” (unless, of course, you run a price comparison site)
• “jobs” or “careers”

By doing this, you concentrate your budget on users who are genuinely close to making a purchase, which can greatly improve your return on ad spend. These aren’t just theoretical concepts; they are practical methods that produce real outcomes. The benefits of careful negative keyword work are clear. For instance, in Australia, effective use of negative keywords is a major element of successful campaigns. A 2023 analysis showed that campaigns with well-thought-out negative keyword lists experienced an average reduction of 20-30% in irrelevant clicks. You can discover more insights about this Australian study here.

Putting these advanced negative keyword techniques into practice for your Google Ads will certainly polish your campaigns. If you’re looking for a wider view on optimizing your campaigns, you might find this useful: Google Ads Best Practices for Australian Businesses. Taking this kind of planned approach ensures your advertising budget is working more intelligently for you.

Costly Mistakes That Destroy Campaign Performance

Even if you’re pretty savvy with advanced tactics for how to use negative keywords in Google Ads, common slip-ups can still sneak in and really hurt your campaign results—and your wallet. It’s a frequent issue for many Australian businesses, seasoned or not, to stumble into these usual pitfalls. Knowing what these mistakes are is the first step to protecting your ad budget and making sure your campaigns deliver.

A classic error is getting too heavy-handed with your exclusions. The idea is to weed out clicks that don’t matter, but going overboard can stop genuine customers from seeing your ads. Imagine a business selling “luxury travel packages Australia” adds “cheap” as a broad negative. This move could accidentally prevent someone searching “best luxury travel packages Australia not cheap”—a very interested buyer—from finding them. It’s about finding that sweet spot: filter effectively, but don’t choke off good leads.

Another sneaky mistake that can cause real damage is getting negative keyword match types wrong. If you use a broad match negative when a phrase or exact match would have been better, you might find your budget draining away or good search queries getting blocked. Data from the Australian digital advertising scene in 2024 points this out clearly: misusing negative keywords can really mess with campaign outcomes. In fact, studies showed that 17% of Google Ads campaigns saw fewer sales because of negative keywords that were too broad or just not right. You can delve deeper into negative keyword lists on the Level Agency website. A small mistake in settings can hit your profits directly.

Recognizing Warning Signs Before They Cost You

So, how can you spot these issues before they turn into expensive headaches? The answer lies in regularly auditing your existing negative keyword lists. You’re looking for negative keywords that are perhaps too close to your successful positive keywords, or terms that people might interpret in different ways. For example, if you sell “dog beds” and add “free” as a negative to sidestep “free dog adoption” searches, double-check it isn’t blocking searches for “free delivery dog beds” if that’s a service you provide.

A good, hard look at your list can uncover these kinds of conflicts and other lurking problems. For a detailed walkthrough on spotting areas to improve in your account, take a look at our guide on How to conduct a comprehensive Google Ads Audit. Being proactive like this is vital for keeping your campaigns in good shape.

Navigating Australian vs. American English Search Variations

A specific hurdle, especially if your business looks beyond Australia or relies on standard keyword lists, is the difference between Australian English and American English. These linguistic quirks can easily catch out advertisers trying to figure out how to use negative keywords in Google Ads for the Australian market. Here are a few well-known examples:

• An Australian searching for “thongs” wants footwear; in the US, it’s underwear.
• “Ute” is a standard Aussie term for a utility vehicle, which an American advertiser would likely call a “pickup truck.”
• In Australia, “holiday” usually means a vacation, while Americans often use it for specific public holidays.

If you just slap on a generic “American English” negative keyword list, you could easily block good Australian search terms. Or, you might fail to filter out searches from the US if your campaign targeting is too wide. For businesses concentrating on Australia, building and refining negative keyword lists with local slang and terminology is essential. Overlooking these differences is a quick way to waste ad spend and lose out on local customers.

Monitoring Systems That Keep Performance Optimised

Simply setting up your negative keywords and walking away isn’t going to cut it. To get steady results from your Google Ads campaigns, you really need to keep an eye on things. Many advertisers only look at their negative lists when a problem pops up, but a planned approach helps spot issues and chances early on. This is super important for fine-tuning how to use negative keywords in Google Ads and keeping your campaigns running smoothly.

While the initial setup is vital, the true test of your negative keyword strategy lies in its ongoing effectiveness, which requires frequent checks.

Key Metrics for Gauging Negative Keyword Effectiveness

To figure out if your negative keywords are actually doing their job, it’s important to keep tabs on certain Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). These numbers will show you the real effect of the terms you’re excluding:

• Click-Through Rate (CTR): Well-chosen negatives usually mean your ads are shown to a more fitting audience, which can often boost your CTR.
• Conversion Rate & Cost per Conversion (CPA): Fewer off-target clicks should lead to more conversions from the clicks you do receive, and ideally, a lower CPA.
• Search Impression Share: If this number suddenly takes a big dive, it might mean your negatives are too tight, blocking relevant searches you actually want to appear for.
• Search Term Report (STR) Analysis: Make it a habit to go through the actual search queries people use. This is your best bet for finding new negative keywords to add, or spotting current ones that might be too general or mistakenly stopping good traffic.

Seeing these metrics move in a positive direction after you’ve tweaked your negative keyword lists is a promising sign. Having accurate data is crucial for making these decisions; for more on ensuring your data is dependable, check out our article about how to master Google Ads conversion tracking. Regular reviews help you understand if your choices are paying off, which brings us to how often you should be doing these checks.

Setting a Regular Review Schedule

Successful advertisers weave a consistent review routine into their campaign management. For brand-new campaigns or after you’ve made big changes, a weekly review of your Search Term Report and key performance metrics is a sensible place to start. This helps you make quick fixes before too much of your ad budget is spent unwisely.

For campaigns that are stable and have been running for a while, looking things over every two weeks or monthly could be enough. The most important thing is regularity. Checking sporadically means you could miss new problems or chances to make your negative keyword lists even better. Think of it like keeping up with car maintenance; it stops bigger, more expensive issues from developing later on. This consistent rhythm ensures your negative keyword strategy remains sharp and effective. Once you have a schedule, you can then concentrate on the details of your filtering.

Finding the Sweet Spot: Filtering vs. Reach

One of the ongoing puzzles when you use negative keywords in Google Ads is getting the balance just right. You need to be assertive enough to weed out irrelevant clicks that eat up your ad budget, but not so restrictive that you prevent potentially valuable traffic from real customers from seeing your ads.

If your negative keyword lists are too general, or if they include terms too close to your main keywords, you might unintentionally block customers who are genuinely searching for what you provide. For instance, adding “cheap” as a broad match negative could stop someone looking for “best quality [your product] not cheap,” which is a search showing strong interest. On the flip side, being too timid means you’ll keep paying for clicks that don’t convert.

To handle this delicate balance:

• Carefully examine your Search Term Report: Look for irrelevant queries that you can add as negatives. Just as importantly, keep an eye out for any genuine search terms that your current negative keywords might be accidentally blocking.
• Use match types thoughtfully: Go for exact or phrase match negatives when you need precise control. Keep broad match negatives for terms you are absolutely sure you never want your ads to show for.
• Test and make adjustments: Sometimes, you won’t see the full effect of a negative keyword until the data starts coming in. Don’t hesitate to tweak your lists based on how they perform.

This balancing act helps make sure your ads reach people in Australia who are genuinely interested, without throwing money away on those who aren’t. Next, let’s look at how to handle this process as your campaigns get bigger.

Tools and Workflows for Efficient Management

As your campaigns grow, or if you’re juggling multiple accounts, updating negative keywords by hand can quickly become a major time drain. Luckily, there are tools and established methods that can make managing your negative keywords much more streamlined and scalable, even for busy Australian businesses.

Here are a couple of useful options:

• Google Ads Editor: This free desktop tool lets you make changes to your campaigns in bulk. This includes adding or removing negative keywords across several ad groups or campaigns all at once. It’s a massive timesaver for larger accounts.
• Shared Negative Keyword Lists: Within Google Ads, you can create lists of negative keywords and apply them to many campaigns. This is brilliant for keeping things consistent. For instance, if you have typical exclusions like “jobs,” “free,” or specific competitor names you don’t want to bid on, a shared list ensures they are used everywhere they should be without you having to add them to each campaign manually. Any updates to the list automatically apply to all linked campaigns.

Creating a repeatable system for finding, adding, and reviewing negative keywords is essential. This might involve using a checklist or setting a regular schedule for using these tools, ensuring that nothing gets missed. These systematic approaches help you adapt effectively when market conditions change.

Adapting Your Strategy to Change

Your business and the market it operates in are always evolving. Seasonal shifts, new product introductions, or changes in your service offerings all mean your negative keyword strategy needs to adjust too. If you don’t adapt, your once-optimised campaigns can quickly lose their effectiveness.

For example:

• Seasonal Adjustments: An Aussie retailer selling “summer dresses” might add “winter coats” as a negative keyword. As the seasons turn, these negatives might need to be paused or taken out, and new ones (like excluding “beachwear” in winter for a general clothing store) might be necessary.
• Product or Service Changes: If you stop selling a particular product line or no longer offer a certain service, make sure to add related terms as negatives. This stops you from misleading potential customers and wasting ad spend. Conversely, if you launch a new premium service, you might add negatives like “cheap” or “discount” to that specific campaign to attract the right kind of customer.
• Promotional Periods: During a major sale, you might temporarily pause negative keywords like “discount code” if you actually want people searching for deals to find your special offers.

Proactively managing these changes is a key part of using negative keywords effectively in Google Ads. It ensures your campaigns stay aligned with your current business goals and market realities, helping to maintain strong performance.

To help you keep a close watch on how well your negative keywords are performing, here’s a breakdown of important metrics.

Negative Keyword Performance Metrics to Track

Essential KPIs and metrics for measuring the effectiveness of your negative keyword strategy

This systematic approach to monitoring, paired with a readiness to adapt, transforms managing your negative keywords from a routine task into a powerful method for continuous campaign improvement.

Industry-Specific Strategies for Australian Markets

Using a one-size-fits-all method for negative keywords just doesn’t deliver the best outcomes. Across Australia, various industries see unique customer search habits and have different business goals. This means adjusting your negative keyword list to your specific field isn’t merely helpful; it’s vital for getting the most out of your Google Ads budget. Knowing how to use negative keywords in Google Ads with this specific focus puts you on the front foot, helping to stop wasted ad spend and boost your campaign’s effectiveness.

Retail Therapy: Shielding Your Product Ads

Australian retailers, whether they sell online or in a brick-and-mortar shop, often face a broad spectrum of search terms. A key aim is to filter out searches for products or brands they don’t offer. For example, if a store only sells new merchandise, adding terms like “used,” “second-hand,” or “refurbished” as negative keywords is a smart move. Likewise, if you don’t stock a popular competitor’s brand, making that brand a negative keyword can save a good chunk of your budget.

It’s also important to think about the searcher’s intent. Terms such as “product review” or “complaint” could bring clicks from people who aren’t ready to buy, or even worse, from those having problems with items you don’t even sell. A Melbourne boutique that specialises in high-end Australian designer clothing, for instance, would do well to add names of mass-market international brands or phrases like “cheap summer dress clearance” to its negative list. This helps make sure their ads are seen by shoppers actively looking for quality and specific designer items.

Service Providers: Filtering for Genuine Intent

For service-based businesses in Australia, from local tradies to expert consultants, the main task is often to weed out inquiries that are unlikely to convert or are completely off-topic. This is a crucial part of understanding how to use negative keywords in Google Ads for service-based models. Many Australian tradies, like plumbers or electricians, consistently block terms such as “DIY plumbing fix,” “how-to wire a house,” or “electrician course online.”

Terms related to job hunting are another common exclusion. Unless you’re actively hiring, phrases like “plumber apprenticeship Sydney” or “admin jobs Perth” should definitely be on your negative keyword list. An IT support company in Brisbane, for example, would probably add “free IT troubleshooting” or “learn basic coding” as negatives. This ensures their ads primarily reach businesses looking for professional, managed IT services, not individuals hunting for free advice. Such precision is key to attracting clients ready to pay for services.

Professional Practices: Navigating Compliance and Client Quality

Professionals like lawyers, accountants, and financial advisors in Australia often need to be mindful of particular regulatory rules in their advertising. Negative keywords are very useful here, helping to avoid terms that might suggest unrealistic outcomes or attract clients seeking services beyond their ethical or legal offerings. For instance, a financial advisory firm in Adelaide might block phrases like “guaranteed high returns” or “get rich quick schemes.”

Attracting the right type of client is also extremely important. A Sydney law firm that focuses on corporate law would add terms like “free legal aid clinic” or “no win no fee personal injury lawyer” (if these aren’t services they offer) to their negative keyword list. This careful selection not only helps uphold professional standards and compliance but also greatly improves ad spend efficiency by targeting truly relevant potential clients.

E-commerce: Directing Desired Shopper Traffic

E-commerce businesses across Australia are always fine-tuning how they handle price-related searches and maintain brand consistency. While some online shops might want to attract bargain seekers with terms like “discount codes” or “clearance sale,” premium brands frequently do the opposite by adding these as negative keywords. This approach helps protect their brand image and draw in customers who are prepared to pay more for better quality or exclusive products.

Another point to consider is managing traffic from users looking for specific online marketplaces or price comparison websites. If an e-commerce site aims to boost direct sales instead of competing on aggregator sites, adding terms like “[competitor marketplace] prices” or “compare [product type] eBay” as negatives can be quite effective. For example, an online store selling unique, Australian-made furniture might add “flat pack furniture deals” or “IKEA alternatives” as negatives to steer clear of shoppers looking for mass-produced, cheaper items.

Hospitality Hotspots: Attracting the Right Patrons

For Australian businesses in the hospitality industry – think restaurants, hotels, and tourism operators – negative keywords are essential for sharpening audience targeting. This ensures marketing funds are spent attracting the ideal customers. For instance, a high-end resort in the Blue Mountains might exclude search terms like “cheap Sydney backpackers” or “budget family accommodation NSW.”

In a similar vein, a fine-dining restaurant in Melbourne that concentrates on a particular cuisine, such as modern Australian, would add terms like “all you can eat buffet” or “BYO restaurants Fitzroy” (if these don’t apply to their establishment) as negatives. This precise filtering means ads are displayed to people whose searches match the restaurant’s specific offerings, price range, and ambiance, leading to higher-quality inquiries and bookings.

Starting Points for Australian Businesses

While industry-specific details are crucial, some general negative keywords are useful for many types of Australian businesses:

• Irrelevant Locations: Other states, territories, or specific cities you don’t serve (e.g., “Darwin” if your business is only in Melbourne).
• Employment Seekers: Common terms like “jobs,” “careers,” “vacancy,” “positions,” “hiring” (unless you’re running specific recruitment ads).
• Information Gatherers (Non-Commercial Intent): Think about “free,” “DIY,” “how to,” “tutorial,” “course,” “guide” (if your main aim is to sell a product or service directly).
• Research/Academic Terms: “statistics,” “research paper,” “study,” “analysis” (unless your business directly relates to these).
• Undesired Product/Service Attributes: Depending on your brand, terms like “cheap,” “used,” “broken,” or “free trial” (if you don’t offer one) could be good negatives.

Remember, these are just initial ideas. The real effectiveness of how to use negative keywords in Google Ads stems from regularly checking your Search Term Report and making ongoing adjustments based on your unique business data and industry trends.

Adopting an industry-specific and localised strategy for your negative keywords can significantly boost your campaign’s success and your overall return on ad spend. If fine-tuning your Google Ads strategy with this kind of precision sounds like the next move for your business, the team at Click Click Bang Bang is here to help. Our specialists create focused PPC campaigns aimed at connecting you with your ideal Australian customers.

Ready to discover how carefully managed PPC can help your business expand? Learn more about our tailored Google Ads management services and begin your path to better results with Click Click Bang Bang today!