The keywords we add to our Google Ads account are very important. But what about the keywords we shouldn’t add? Are we spending our money in the right places? The places where we don’t spend our money are just as important. Are we reaching the right people? The answer to all these questions lies in proper negative keyword usage.
4 Key Areas Impacted by Negative Keywords:
1.Quality Score:
We have previously discussed the importance of quality score (link will be added). Simply put, the higher the quality score, the lower the cost. As ad relevance increases, our quality scores will rise, allowing us to obtain traffic at lower costs.
2.Budget Optimization:
If we are a flower seller, we want to allocate our budget to people looking to buy flowers, not to those searching for how to make origami flowers, right?
3.Relevant Ads:
By preventing your ads from appearing in unwanted searches, you can increase both your click-through rate and conversion rate.
4.Brand Building:
You want to associate your brand only with relevant searches. By managing your negative keywords, you can ensure your brand remains within the image you want to create.
How to Add Negative Keywords:
1.Check Your Search Terms:
You can directly add irrelevant search terms to your negative list from here
2.Upload Ready Lists in Bulk:
If you have a ready list, you can upload it in bulk.
3.Add to Negative Frequently Triggered Common Keywords:
If there is a common keyword that is frequently triggered, it is more practical to add negative it across all campaigns.
Which Match Type Should You Use for Keywords?
This depends on the relevance of the negative keyword to your targeted keywords. Here are some examples provided by Google:
Negative broad match keyword: running shoes
| Search Query | Ad Shown? |
| blue tennis shoes | ✅ |
| running shoe | ✅ |
| blue running shoes | ❌ |
| shoes running | ❌ |
| running shoes | ❌ |
• If all the words are present in the search query, the ad will not be shown, regardless of word order.
Negative Phrase Match
Negative phrase match keyword: running shoes
| Search Query | Ad Shown? |
| blue tennis shoes | ✅ |
| running shoe | ✅ |
| blue running shoes | ❌ |
| shoes running | ✅ |
| running shoes | ❌ |
• The ad will not be shown if the search query contains the exact phrase in the same order.
Negative Exact Match
Negative exact match keyword: running shoes
| Search Query | Ad Shown? |
| blue tennis shoes | ✅ |
| running shoe | ✅ |
| blue running shoes | ✅ |
| shoes running | ✅ |
| running shoes | ❌ |
• The ad will not be shown if the search query contains the exact keyword phrase in the same order without any extra words.
For more detailed information from Google, you can read their article:
https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/2453972?sjid=13244785953686172699-EU&hl=en