How to Set Up Negative Keywords in Google Ads

Setting up negative keywords in Google Ads is one of the fastest ways to stop paying for clicks that were never going to convert, yet most accounts either skip this entirely or build one list once and never touch it again. Here's why negative keywords in Google Ads deserve an ongoing process, not a one-time setup task.

Step 1: Pull the Search Terms Report

In Google Ads, go to Campaigns → Audiences, keywords, and content → Search keywords → Search terms. This shows the actual queries triggering your ads, often surprisingly different from the keywords you're bidding on.

Step 2: Identify Wasted Spend, Not Just Irrelevant Terms

Sort by cost and look for search terms with real spend but zero or low conversions, not just terms that sound obviously irrelevant. This is where setting up negative keywords in Google Ads actually protects budget, at the terms quietly draining it, not just the embarrassing ones.

Step 3: Add Negatives at the Right Level

Add a negative keyword at the ad group level if it's only irrelevant for that specific ad group, at the campaign level if it's irrelevant across the whole campaign, or as an account-level negative if it should never trigger any ad at all (a common competitor name, for example).

Step 4: Build a Shared Negative Keyword List

For terms that should be excluded across multiple campaigns, build a shared negative keyword list rather than adding the same negatives to each campaign individually. This keeps your account consistent and much easier to maintain as it grows.

Step 5: Review the Search Terms Report on a Schedule

Setting up negative keywords in Google Ads once and never revisiting it is almost as wasteful as skipping it entirely, new irrelevant queries appear constantly as your campaigns scale and match types evolve. Review the search terms report weekly for new accounts, monthly once spend patterns stabilize.

Match Types and Negative Keywords Work Together

Broader match types (broad match, phrase match) catch more search volume but also more irrelevant queries, which makes a disciplined negative keyword process even more important the broader your match type strategy is. Tight negative keyword lists let you run broader match types confidently instead of avoiding them out of fear of wasted spend.

How to Get Negative Keywords in Google Ads Right: Summary

The benefits of a disciplined negative keyword process compound over time. Less wasted spend, cleaner conversion data, and the confidence to run broader match types without fear. Negative keywords in Google Ads only deliver that value when reviewed on a schedule, not set once and forgotten.

Common Mistakes When Setting Up Negative Keywords in Google Ads

• Reviewing the search terms report once at launch and never again, missing new irrelevant queries as the account scales.
• Adding negatives only for obviously irrelevant terms while ignoring costly terms that just have low conversion rates.
• Adding the same negative keywords to every campaign manually instead of using a shared negative keyword list.
• Using exact match negatives when a broader match type negative would have blocked more irrelevant variations.
• Accidentally negating a converting search term because it superficially resembled an irrelevant one.

Negative Keywords in Google Ads: Checklist

Step	What to Do	Where
Pull Report	Review actual triggering search queries	Search keywords → Search terms
Identify Waste	Sort by cost, find high-spend/low-conversion terms	Search terms report
Add at Right Level	Ad group, campaign, or account-level negative	Negative keywords section
Build Shared Lists	Consolidate negatives used across campaigns	Account settings → Negative keyword lists
Schedule Reviews	Weekly for new accounts, monthly once stable	Recurring calendar task

In our experience managing Google Ads for clients in India and internationally, the accounts with the most efficient spend are always the ones with a scheduled, disciplined review of negative keywords in Google Ads, not the ones that built one list at launch and forgot about it. This is the exact PPC process our team at DigiGrowvity runs on every client account, since protecting budget from wasted clicks directly improves digital marketing ROI without needing to increase spend at all.

Once your negative keywords are cleaned up, our Google Ads conversion tracking tutorial covers making sure the clicks that remain are actually being measured correctly, and our keyword research for SEO tutorial covers finding the right terms to target in the first place. Our PPC advertising services cover full Google Ads account management, or start with a free growth audit of your current account. Browse our other marketing tutorials for more guides like this one.

Conclusion

Negative keywords in Google Ads aren't a one-time task, they're an ongoing discipline that protects your budget from wasted clicks as search behavior and campaign scale evolve. Review the search terms report on a schedule, not just at launch.

References

1. Google Ads Help: About Negative Keywords - Official Google documentation on how negative keywords work.
2. Google Ads Help: Add Negative Keywords to Campaigns - Official Google step-by-step setup documentation.
3. Negative Keyword, Wikipedia - Background on negative keywords as a search advertising concept.