A negative keyword should express a specific reason not to serve an ad. Adding exclusions because a phrase looks unfamiliar can remove the very demand the company needs to understand.
The decision has two parts: whether the search is a poor fit and how broadly to apply the exclusion. Getting the first right does not guarantee the second is safe.
Establish the mismatch
Write the reason in plain language. The search may concern a service you do not provide, an unsupported location, a different product meaning, or another clearly excluded buying situation.
If the reason depends on interpreting customer intent, inspect actual outcomes and the offer before applying a broad rule. “Not our usual wording” is weak evidence.
Choose the smallest appropriate scope
A term may be wrong for one campaign and useful in another. Decide whether the exclusion belongs at an account, shared-list, campaign, or more specific level supported by the current setup. Avoid turning a local exception into a global policy without checking its consequences.
Check the matching behavior
Google documents that negative keyword matching differs from positive matching and that negative keywords do not match close variants in the same way. Review the current negative-keyword rules when selecting broad, phrase, or exact exclusions.
Do not assume a positive keyword’s behavior transfers directly to a negative version of the same text.
Use a review record
- Proposed exclusion and match type:
- Business reason:
- Evidence reviewed:
- Intended campaigns or scope:
- Relevant searches that might also be affected:
- Owner and review date:
For a hypothetical software company, excluding a broad word used in both irrelevant support searches and valuable purchase searches may be excessive. A more specific phrase or exact exclusion can sometimes express the actual mismatch more accurately.
Audit the exclusions you already have
Review shared lists, inherited settings, and old assumptions after the product or target market changes. A once-reasonable restriction can become stale. Keep changes explainable so the team can reverse a mistaken exclusion without losing the original rationale.
The search-term process should supply the evidence. The objective is better customer acquisition, not a longer negative-keyword list.
Co-founder and CEO of Stackmatix, startup advisor, and former Head of Sales at MightyHive. Connect with Matt on LinkedIn ↗ · More about Matt →