Google Ads Negative Keywords: The Key to Smarter Ad Spend

Every irrelevant click drains your ad budget — and if you’re not using negative keywords, you’re paying for traffic that will never convert. According to WordStream, up to 30% of PPC budgets are wasted on unqualified clicks. That’s money lost to “free,” “jobs,” or “DIY” queries that have zero purchase intent.

Negative keywords act as filters in your Google Ads campaigns. They tell Google when not to show your ad, ensuring your budget only targets users with genuine buying intent. Whether you’re running Search, Shopping, or Performance Max, mastering exclusions is one of the simplest yet most impactful ways to improve efficiency.

Why It Matters

A strong negative keyword strategy helps you:

Eliminate wasted spend by blocking irrelevant queries.

Increase CTR by showing ads only to qualified audiences.

Boost Quality Score through higher ad relevance and engagement.

Improve ROAS by letting Smart Bidding learn from cleaner data.

Without it, you risk diluting your campaign’s performance, hurting Quality Score, and inflating CPCs over time.

How to Find the Right Negative Keywords

Start with your Search Terms Report — the single most valuable source for identifying wasted clicks. Review it weekly to spot irrelevant or low-intent terms. Tools like Keyword Planner or Google Autocomplete also reveal what users are searching, helping you proactively block unwanted phrases.

Advanced marketers go further by segmenting negatives by intent:

Informational: “how to,” “tutorial,” “guide”

Employment: “career,” “salary,” “job openings”

Non-commercial: “free,” “cheap,” “example”

Match Types That Matter

Broad match: Blocks searches containing all your excluded words, in any order.

Phrase match: Blocks searches containing the exact phrase.

Exact match: Blocks only that specific search term.

Use broad matches carefully — they can over-block valuable long-tail keywords.

Pro Tip

Negative keywords don’t just save money; they train Google’s algorithm to focus on profitable audiences. Combine them with Smart Bidding strategies like Target ROAS or Maximize Conversions for compounding gains in efficiency.

Learn how to build, organize, and optimize your exclusion lists in AGrowth’s full guide:

👉 https://agrowth.io/blogs/google-ads/google-ads-negative-keywords