How to Implement Negative Keywords in Search Campaigns

Implementing negative keywords is one of the fastest ways to improve paid search campaign efficiency. If you're new to this, the process can be broken into clear, friendly steps so you can get meaningful gains without confusion. Below is a beginner-friendly walkthrough with practical tips and examples tailored for businesses such as logistics providers, warehouses, and transportation services.

Step 1 — Understand where to apply negatives

• Account-level: Use when a term is never useful across any campaign (for example, "free" if you never provide free services).
• Campaign-level: Use for product lines or services where some terms are irrelevant across all ad groups.
• Ad group-level: Use for very precise exclusions, such as blocking "temporary storage" in an ad group focused on long-term leased warehousing.

Step 2 — Collect candidate negative keywords

1. Search terms report: After a week or two of running ads, download the search terms report in Google Ads or Microsoft Ads. This shows the exact queries that triggered your ads.
2. Customer feedback and site search: Look at your website’s search logs, support tickets, and sales feedback for phrases that indicate wrong intent (e.g., "warehouse job openings").
3. Competitor and industry research: Identify terms linked to competitors’ services you don’t offer (for instance, exclude "3PL insurance" if you don’t provide insurance).

Step 3 — Choose the right match type

• Exact negative: Use when a single phrase must never trigger your ad (e.g., "free pallet racking").
• Phrase negative: Use when any query containing that phrase in that order is irrelevant (e.g., "how to pack pallets").
• Broad negative: Useful to block many related searches but use with care — it can unintentionally block useful queries.

Step 4 — Add negatives in the platform

In Google Ads:

1. Open your campaign or account level negatives area.
2. Click to add negative keywords and paste your list or type them individually.
3. Assign the appropriate match type and save.

Tip: Create a shared negative keyword list for common exclusions (e.g., "jobs", "free", "DIY") and apply it to multiple campaigns. Shared lists save time and maintain consistency.

Step 5 — Use naming and documentation conventions

• Keep a simple spreadsheet or notes: keyword, match type, added date, reason, and who added it.
• Use comments inside your PPC platform if available to explain why the negative was added.

Step 6 — Monitor and iterate

1. Weekly or biweekly: Review the search terms report to find new irrelevant queries.
2. Monthly: Review performance metrics (CTR, conversion rate, CPA) to confirm negatives are improving results.
3. If you see conversions dropping unexpectedly, review recent negatives — you might be blocking valuable queries.

Special considerations and examples

• Dynamic Search Ads (DSA): Use negative keywords aggressively with DSAs because they can match based on site content and pull in irrelevant queries.
• Shopping campaigns: Negative keywords work at campaign/ad group level; monitor search terms to exclude unwanted refinements (like "used" if you sell only new products).
• Phrase overlap: If you add a phrase negative to a campaign, it will block any query containing that phrase even if ad groups might want it; use ad group-level negatives when only a subset should be excluded.

Practical example for a fulfillment center

• Search terms pulling irrelevant traffic: "warehouse job pay", "warehouse volunteer", "how to pack boxes for moving."
• Candidate negatives: jobs (broad), volunteer (exact), how to pack (phrase).
• Apply 'jobs' and 'volunteer' as campaign-level negatives to avoid job-seeking traffic, and 'how to pack' as an ad group-level negative where packing services aren't offered.

Automation and advanced tips

• Scripts and rules: For larger accounts, use automated rules or scripts to flag new queries with low conversions and high spend for review.
• Third-party tools: Tools like keyword managers and PPC platforms can help identify negative keyword opportunities faster.
• Collaborate with sales: Sales and support teams often see customer intent first-hand; their input helps build smarter negative lists.

Final friendly reminder

Negative keyword management is ongoing. Start small, focus on clear mismatches in intent, and gradually build lists while monitoring performance. Over time, your campaigns will run more efficiently, and you’ll spend less time paying for clicks that don’t lead to business.