Google Ads Negative Keywords List: Starter Terms and How to Build Yours

Performance Marketing · Rama Krushna Pati · 2026-11-05

Quick answer: A negative keywords list is a set of search terms you tell Google Ads to never show your ads for, such as "free", "jobs", "DIY" or competitor names you do not want. Start with a category-based starter list, apply it as a shared list across campaigns, then add new negatives weekly from your search terms report.

If you run Google Ads for a small business or SaaS company in the US, negative keywords are the fastest, cheapest lever you have against wasted spend. Broad match and AI-driven matching keep expanding your reach, including searches that will never convert.

Why a negative keywords list matters more in 2026

Google has steadily loosened keyword matching. Phrase and exact match now include close variants and same-meaning searches, and broad match paired with Smart Bidding is the default recommendation for many advertisers. Performance Max and AI Max for Search can also show ads on queries you never typed into a keyword list.

That shift makes negatives your main control mechanism. Without them, you are trusting the algorithm to know that "accounting software jobs in Dallas" is not the same intent as "accounting software for small business".

A well-built list does three things:

• Cuts wasted spend on job seekers, students, DIY researchers and bargain hunters.
• Improves conversion data quality, so Smart Bidding learns from relevant clicks instead of noise.
• Protects brand and positioning, for example blocking "free" if you only sell paid plans.

If your tracking is not clean yet, fix that first with my GA4 conversion tracking checklist for lead gen, because you need conversion data to judge which terms are truly wasteful.

Negative keyword match types explained

Negative keywords use the same three match types as positive keywords, but they behave differently. The biggest difference: negatives do not match close variants, plurals or misspellings automatically.

My default is single-word negative broad terms for clearly irrelevant concepts (jobs, salary, free) and negative exact for specific queries you only want to block in that exact form, such as a competitor brand you still want to appear for in longer comparison searches.

Starter negative keywords list by category

Below is a starter negative keywords list grouped by intent. Do not paste all of it blindly. Read each group and delete anything that could describe your real customers. A company selling career coaching, for example, should never block "jobs" or "resume".

Employment and career searches

• jobs, job, career, careers, hiring, hire, employment, salary, salaries, wage, internship, intern, resume, interview, recruiter, part time, full time, remote job, work from home, glassdoor, indeed

Education and research

• course, courses, class, classes, training, certification, tutorial, how to, what is, definition, meaning, example, examples, template, pdf, ppt, thesis, essay, homework, study, degree, university, college

Free, cheap and DIY intent

• free, freeware, cheap, cheapest, discount code, coupon, promo code, crack, cracked, torrent, download free, diy, do it yourself, homemade, used, secondhand, rental (only if you do not rent)

Support, login and existing-customer searches

• login, log in, sign in, password, customer service, phone number, contact number, cancel, cancellation, refund, complaint, reviews (optional), lawsuit, scam

Wrong audience or location

• Out-of-area city or state names if you serve only certain regions (for example "texas" or "houston" for a service business limited to Arizona)
• Countries you do not serve, such as "uk", "india", "canada", "australia"
• Consumer terms if you are B2B: "personal", "for kids", "for students", "home use"

How to build your own negative keywords list step by step

A starter list prevents the obvious waste. Your account-specific list is where the real savings come from.

1. Pull the search terms report. In Google Ads, go to Insights and reports, then Search terms. Set the date range to the last 30-90 days.
2. Sort by cost, not clicks. Expensive irrelevant queries matter more than cheap ones.
3. Filter for zero conversions with meaningful spend. For example, any term that spent more than your target CPA without converting deserves a look.
4. Tag each irrelevant term by theme. Jobs, DIY, wrong product, wrong location. Themes become shared lists.
5. Choose the shortest blocking word. If you see "plumber salary in Ohio" and "plumber salary Texas", add "salary" as negative broad rather than both full queries.
6. Check for collateral damage. Before adding a negative, search your converting terms to make sure none contain that word.
7. Add at the right level. Account level for universal waste, shared lists for themes, campaign or ad group level for routing.

A worked example (hypothetical numbers)

Imagine a Phoenix HVAC company spending $4,000 per month. The search terms report shows "hvac technician jobs phoenix" ($180, 0 conversions), "how to fix ac yourself" ($95, 0 conversions) and "hvac school arizona" ($140, 0 conversions). Adding "jobs", "how to", "yourself" and "school" as negatives would have redirected about $415 that month (example figures only) toward searches like "ac repair near me".

Using shared negative keyword lists the right way

Shared lists live in the Shared library (under Tools) and can be applied to many campaigns at once. Google Ads limits how many lists and terms you can have, so organize them by theme rather than creating one giant list.

A structure that works well:

• Universal waste - jobs, free, DIY, login. Applied to every non-brand campaign.
• Wrong geography - out-of-area cities and countries.
• Competitors - only applied where you do not want to bid on competitor names.
• Brand terms - applied to non-brand campaigns so brand queries route to the brand campaign.

Negative keywords for query routing

Negatives are not only for waste. They also control which campaign answers which query. If you have a "CRM software" campaign and a separate "CRM for real estate" campaign, add "real estate" as a negative in the general campaign so real estate searches go to the specific ad and landing page. Better message match usually helps Quality Score and conversion rate, which I cover in my guide on how to improve Quality Score.

Negative keywords in Performance Max and broad match campaigns

With Performance Max, you have fewer levers. Google Ads supports account-level negative keywords that apply to Search and Shopping inventory, and campaign-level negatives for Performance Max have been rolling out. Brand exclusions are also available. Confirm current options in your account.

For broad match Search campaigns, I review search terms at least weekly in the first month. If you sell products, the same logic applies to Google Shopping ads, where negatives are often the only query control you have besides product feed data.

Monthly maintenance checklist

Google Ads flags some negative keyword conflicts in Recommendations, but not all of them.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Blocking "near me" in a local business account. Those are often your best leads.
• Adding a competitor name as negative broad when you actually wanted to bid on "competitor vs yourbrand" comparisons.
• Forgetting plurals and misspellings, since negatives do not match close variants.
• Using one 2,000-term list for everything, which makes auditing impossible.

Key takeaways

• A negative keywords list is your main control against loose matching, broad match and AI-driven campaign types.
• Start with category-based negatives (jobs, free, DIY, login, wrong location), then build account-specific lists from the search terms report.
• Negatives do not match close variants, so add plurals and misspellings yourself.
• Organize shared lists by theme and use negatives for query routing, not only for blocking waste.
• Review search terms weekly at first, then biweekly, and audit for over-blocking every quarter.

Negative keywords list FAQ

How many negative keywords should a Google Ads account have?

There is no ideal number. A new account might start with 50-200 negatives across a few shared lists, and mature accounts often have far more. What matters is that every recurring irrelevant search term in your search terms report is blocked.

Do negative keywords work with Performance Max?

Yes, in a more limited way. Google Ads supports account-level negative keywords and has been rolling out campaign-level negatives for Performance Max, but the options are less granular than in Search campaigns. Check the current settings in your account before relying on them.

Can negative keywords block close variants?

No. Negative keywords do not expand to close variants, synonyms or misspellings the way positive keywords do. If you want to block "free" and "freebie", you need to add both terms separately.

What is the difference between a negative keyword and a shared negative keyword list?

A negative keyword is a single term added to one campaign or ad group. A shared list is a reusable library of terms you can apply to many campaigns at once, so one update protects every campaign that uses it.

Can adding negative keywords hurt my Google Ads performance?

It can if you over-block. Adding a broad negative like "cheap" or "near me" may remove searches that actually convert for your business. Always check the search terms report and conversion data before adding a negative that could match valuable queries.

Sources and further reading

• Google Ads Help Center
• Google Ads product overview

Written by Rama Krushna Pati — Growth & Performance Marketing Manager with 7+ years in B2B SaaS, Tech and EdTech. Need help? Book a consultation or see my services.