Ajay KumarQuick answer: what are negative keywords?
Negative keywords are words or phrases you tell Google Ads not to show your ads for. If you sell premium shoes, adding "free", "second hand" or "job" as negatives stops you paying for clicks from people who will never buy. Find them in the search terms report, add them at campaign level or in a shared negative keyword list, and review them every week.
Open the search terms report in almost any Google Ads account that has run for a month without care and you will find surprises. A furniture brand paying for "carpenter job vacancy". A skincare brand paying for "how to make face serum at home". A coaching institute paying for "free pdf notes".
Every one of those clicks costs money and none will ever convert. In an account spending ₹10 lakh or more a month, they add up fast. Negative keywords are the simplest fix in Google Ads - and one of the most skipped.
What are negative keywords in Google Ads?
A negative keyword tells Google: do not show my ad when a search contains this. Normal keywords decide where your ads can appear; negative keywords decide where they can't.
They matter more every year because Google's matching has become broader. Broad match keywords, Performance Max and AI Max for Search all reach searches you never typed in - which is good for growth, but means you need a filter.
Negative keyword match types explained
Negative keywords have three match types, and they work a little differently from normal keywords.
| Match type | How to add it | Blocks the ad when the search... | Example negative: running shoes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Negative broad | running shoes | contains all the words, in any order | Blocks "shoes for running", not "running shoe" |
| Negative phrase | "running shoes" | contains the exact words in the same order (extra words allowed) | Blocks "best running shoes", not "shoes for running" |
| Negative exact | [running shoes] | is exactly those words, nothing more | Blocks only "running shoes" |
The rule most people miss: no close variants
Normal keywords automatically match plurals, misspellings and similar meanings. Negative keywords don't. A negative "job" does not block "jobs". A negative "free" does not block "freee" or "muft". Add the variants you see in your search terms.
How to find negative keywords
1. The search terms report (your best source)
In Google Ads, go to Insights and reports > Search terms. Sort by cost, set the date range to the last 30 days, and look at terms that spent money with no conversions. For each one ask: could this person ever buy from me? If not, add the irrelevant word as a negative.
Performance Max has a search terms report too
Since 2025, Performance Max shows search terms as well. Check it the same way, and add negatives at campaign level or through a shared list.
2. Google autocomplete and "People also ask"
Type your main keyword into Google and look at the suggestions. Anything that shows the wrong intent ("... job", "... course", "... recipe") is a negative candidate before you spend any budget on it.
3. Keyword Planner
When researching keywords, Keyword Planner also shows you the irrelevant ideas. Note them down as negatives.
Starter negative keyword list for Indian businesses
Use this as a starting point and remove anything that is relevant to your business. A coaching institute obviously wants "course"; a manufacturer may want "wholesale". The list is built for India. If you also run campaigns in the Gulf, UK, US, Australia or South-East Asia, swap in the local job sites, marketplaces and language variants you see in each market's search terms.
| Theme | Negative keywords to consider |
|---|---|
| Jobs and careers | job, jobs, vacancy, vacancies, hiring, salary, career, careers, naukri, internship, recruitment, resume |
| Free and freebies | free, freebie, free sample, muft, giveaway, coupon free |
| DIY and how-to | how to make, homemade, at home, ghar par, kaise banaye, diy, recipe, tutorial |
| Learning and research | course, training, syllabus, notes, pdf, project report, meaning, definition, wikipedia, essay |
| Media and downloads | image, images, photo, wallpaper, png, logo, video download, song, status |
| Second-hand and rental | second hand, used, refurbished, olx, rent, rental, on rent |
| Wholesale and B2B (for D2C brands) | wholesale, wholesaler, bulk, manufacturer, distributor, dealership, franchise, supplier |
| Existing-customer and support searches | customer care number, complaint, refund status, order status, tracking, login |
Words to think twice about
Don't add these automatically - for many businesses they bring buyers:
- cheap, sasta, price, rate, cost - often searched by people comparing before they buy.
- near me - essential for local services.
- amazon, flipkart - blocking them can be right or wrong depending on whether you sell there too.
- review, best - research searches that often convert later.
Where to add negative keywords
| Level | Use it for | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Ad group | Steering searches between ad groups (e.g. keep "men's" out of the women's ad group) | - |
| Campaign | Terms irrelevant to one campaign only | - |
| Shared negative keyword list | Themes you want blocked in many campaigns (jobs, free, DIY) | Up to 20 lists, 5,000 keywords each |
| Account level | Terms you never want anywhere - also applies to Performance Max | Up to 1,000 keywords |
A simple structure that works
Create shared lists named by theme - "Neg - Jobs", "Neg - Free", "Neg - DIY & learning" - and apply them to every Search and Performance Max campaign. Add one-off terms at campaign level. This keeps things tidy and easy to review.
Example: a shared list for a skincare brand
Neg - Jobs and DIY list
Sample keywords
job, jobs, vacancy, salary, naukri, "how to make", homemade, "at home", "ghar par", recipe, diy - applied to every Search and Performance Max campaign.
A 15-minute weekly negative keyword routine
- Open the search terms report for the last 7 days, sorted by cost.
- Mark every term with spend but no conversions that clearly has the wrong intent.
- Add the irrelevant word (not always the whole search) as a negative, in the right list.
- Add obvious variants - plurals, Hindi-English or other local-language spellings.
- Check Recommendations for any conflicting negative keywords that block your own keywords.
Do this every week for the first two months. Most accounts see wasted spend fall noticeably - money that can go to searches from real buyers instead.
Key takeaways
- Negative keywords stop your ads showing for searches that will never convert.
- The search terms report is your best source - check it weekly.
- Negative broad, phrase and exact behave differently, and none of them match close variants - add plurals yourself.
- Use shared negative keyword lists for themes (jobs, free, education) and apply them to every campaign, including Performance Max.
- Be careful not to block words real buyers use.
Negative keywords: frequently asked questions
How many negative keywords can I add in Google Ads?
Do negative keywords work in Performance Max?
Do negative keywords block plurals and misspellings?
Can negative keywords hurt my campaign?
How often should I review negative keywords?
Ajay is the founder of ScaleWin. He works hands-on with Meta Ads, Google Ads and SEO for Indian D2C and service brands, and built ScaleWin so that the daily work of a performance marketer - reading numbers, pausing losers, scaling winners - happens automatically.
Drafted with AI assistance. How these articles are written
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