Of all the levers in Google Ads, negative keywords deliver the most savings for the least effort — yet they’re the most neglected. A negative keyword tells Google not to show your ad for searches containing that term, which stops you paying for irrelevant clicks that will never convert. Skip them and a meaningful chunk of your budget quietly leaks on searches that were never going to become customers. Here’s how to use them properly.
What negative keywords actually do
Imagine you run a premium aircon servicing business in Singapore and bid on “aircon servicing”. Without negatives, your ad can also show for “free aircon servicing”, “aircon servicing jobs”, “aircon servicing course” or “DIY aircon servicing” — none of which are your customers. Each of those clicks costs you money and converts nobody. Adding free, jobs, course and DIY as negative keywords stops your ad showing for those searches entirely. Multiply that across an account and the wasted spend is significant.
The search terms report is your goldmine
The best source of negative keywords isn’t guesswork — it’s your own search terms report, which shows the actual queries that triggered your ads. Reviewing it regularly reveals exactly where your budget is leaking:
- Look for irrelevant terms, wrong intent (informational when you want buyers), and off-target products.
- Add the bad terms as negatives, and add the good ones you weren’t targeting as keywords.
- Do this weekly — it’s the single highest-value routine in PPC.
This habit alone steadily lowers cost per lead, and it’s one of the first things we tighten on accounts we take over through our Google Ads management in Singapore.
Negative keyword match types
Like regular keywords, negatives have match types — but they behave a little differently (they don’t include close variants or misspellings, so be thorough):
- Negative broad match — blocks searches containing all your negative terms in any order. The most common choice.
- Negative phrase match — blocks searches containing your exact phrase.
- Negative exact match — blocks only the exact search term, nothing broader.
Use broad negatives to exclude clearly irrelevant themes (like “free” or “job”), and exact negatives when you want to block one specific query without accidentally excluding valid traffic.
Build negative keyword lists
For efficiency, group negatives into shared lists you can apply across campaigns:
- Universal junk list — terms irrelevant to almost any campaign: free, cheap, DIY, jobs, salary, course, reviews, complaints, second-hand.
- Brand/competitor handling — decide deliberately whether to bid on or exclude competitor and your own brand terms.
- Campaign-specific lists — terms that are negatives for one product line but valid for another.
Apply the universal list to every campaign, then layer specific ones where needed.
Watch for over-blocking
Negatives are powerful enough to hurt if used carelessly. A few cautions:
- Don’t add a broad negative that also blocks valid searches — “case” added carelessly could block “case study” you actually want.
- Check for conflicts where a negative blocks a keyword you’re actively bidding on.
- Be precise with single-word broad negatives; they’re the most likely to over-block.
Review your negatives periodically to make sure you’re not strangling good traffic.
Categories of negatives to consider
When you’re building out your lists, it helps to think in categories so you don’t miss obvious leaks. Common buckets for Singapore advertisers:
- Intent mismatches — “free”, “cheap”, “DIY”, “how to”, when you sell a paid professional service.
- Job seekers — “jobs”, “career”, “salary”, “vacancy”, “hiring” — people researching employment, not buying.
- Research and education — “course”, “training”, “tutorial”, “meaning”, “definition”.
- Wrong products or services — adjacent terms you don’t offer but that share a keyword.
- Location mismatches — other countries or regions if you only serve Singapore.
- Competitor or brand terms — depending on whether you’ve chosen to bid on or exclude them.
Run through these categories when you set up an account, then keep refining from the search terms report. The upfront list catches the obvious waste; the ongoing review catches the rest.
One nuance worth getting right: place negatives at the level that makes sense. Account-level negatives (via shared lists) apply everywhere — ideal for universal junk like “free” and “jobs”. Campaign-level negatives suit terms that are irrelevant to one campaign but valid in another. And occasionally you’ll use ad-group-level negatives to steer traffic between ad groups in the same campaign — for example, keeping generic “running shoes” searches out of a “trail running shoes” ad group so each group stays tightly themed. Matching the negative to the right level keeps your control precise without accidentally blocking traffic somewhere it was wanted.
Frequently asked questions
How many negative keywords should I have?
There’s no target number — it grows naturally as you review your search terms report. A mature account often has hundreds across its shared lists. Rather than aiming for a count, build the weekly habit of reviewing search terms and adding negatives as irrelevant queries appear.
Do negative keywords improve Quality Score?
Indirectly, yes. By stopping your ads showing for irrelevant searches, negatives concentrate your impressions on relevant queries that are more likely to be clicked and to convert — which supports expected click-through rate and overall relevance. They also lift your conversion rate by cutting wasted clicks.
Should I use negative keywords in Performance Max?
Performance Max historically gave limited negative keyword control, though Google has been expanding it. Where account-level or campaign negatives are available, use them to exclude clearly irrelevant or brand terms. It matters even more in automated campaigns because you have less direct control over where your ads show.
Stop paying for clicks that never convert. We tighten targeting and cut waste within our performance marketing service. Get in touch for an account review.
