Insights · Paid traffic · Google Ads
Negative keywords: the Google Ads list every service business needs
By Hafeez R, Senior Paid Media Specialist
Published · 3 minute read
The short answer
Negative keywords stop your Google Ads showing for searches that will never become clients, such as jobs, training, free advice and do it yourself. Add them at account level from a starter list, then review the search terms report every week and add new ones. Remember that negative keywords do not match close variants, so plurals and misspellings need adding separately.
In almost every account I audit, negative keywords are the fastest way to stop wasting money. It is not glamorous work. It is just reading what people actually searched and blocking what you do not want.
What are negative keywords?
They are words or phrases that stop your ads showing. If you add "jobs" as a negative keyword, someone searching "solicitor jobs Birmingham" will not see your ad for "solicitor Birmingham".
How do negative match types work?
| Type | Example | Blocks |
|---|---|---|
| Negative broad | free advice | Any search containing both words, in any order |
| Negative phrase | "free advice" | Searches containing that exact phrase in that order |
| Negative exact | [free advice] | Only that exact search |
A starter list for any service business
- Jobs: job, jobs, career, careers, vacancy, vacancies, salary, recruitment, apprenticeship.
- Training: course, courses, training, qualification, how to become, degree.
- Free: free, cheap only if you are not a budget provider, template, example.
- Do it yourself: diy, how to, yourself, tutorial, video.
- Research: definition, meaning, wiki, pdf.
Sector examples
| Sector | Negatives worth testing |
|---|---|
| Solicitors | legal aid (if you do not offer it), pro bono, law school, paralegal |
| Accountants | software, hmrc login, calculator, accounting jobs |
| Trades | parts, spares, b&q, screwfix, how to fix |
| Financial advisers | calculator, government pension, state pension age |
The weekly routine
- Open the search terms reportLast 7 days, sorted by cost.
- Read the top searchesAsk of each: could this person become a client?
- Add the misses as negativesAt account level if they apply everywhere, campaign level if not.
- Check you have not blocked good searchesReview your negative lists every few months.
About the author
Hafeez R, Senior Paid Media Specialist. Hafeez runs paid search and paid social, from Google Ads and Microsoft Ads to retargeting and ChatGPT Ads, with every campaign judged on lead quality, not clicks.
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