Negative keyword guidelines for Google Ads

Updated 28 October 2026

Ten rules for adding negative keywords to Google Ads without blocking the people who buy. They are the same checks NexOper runs on every proposal; use them by hand, or let the tool apply them for you.

The 10 rules

1. Know what the business sells firstRead the website before reading the search terms. A coaching institute sells “courses”, a recruiter wants “jobs”, a template shop wants “template”. A word is only junk for a business that doesn't offer it.
2. Block the root word, not the whole search“web designer jobs in mohali” is a symptom; “jobs” is the cause. One root word stops every future variation, while blocking full searches only catches what already happened.
3. Never block a word that convertedBefore adding a negative, replay it against the last 90 days. If it would have blocked even one converting search, use a narrower phrase instead, or keep it.
4. Protect your own keywords and offer wordsKeep a never-block list: your keywords, brand name, and good uses of suspect words such as “free consultation”, “free quote” or “free delivery”.
5. Pick the match type on purposeBroad negative for one clearly wrong word (jobs), phrase for a two-word pattern ("how to"), exact only for one specific search. Microsoft Ads has no broad negatives: add them as phrase.
6. Put each negative at the right levelJunk for every advertiser goes in a shared list on all campaigns. A word that is wrong for one product only belongs on that campaign or ad group.
7. Add the variants yourselfNegative keywords don't match close variants. Add plurals, common misspellings, Hinglish spellings and Devanagari (naukri, naukari, नौकरी) as separate negatives.
8. Block only the places you don't serveA Mohali business wants “web design punjab” and “… india”. Block other cities, never the state or country around your own, and check they haven't converted first.
9. Decide a policy for other brandsSearches for competitors or big brands usually look for that company. Block them, or run them in a separate campaign on purpose; don't let them drift in a generic campaign.
10. Review every week, keep the winnersNew junk appears constantly with broad match and AI Max. Each week, block the new waste and add converting searches as keywords. Watch how much spend Google hides as “other search terms”.

All guides

A weekly routine that takes 20 minutes

1. Download the last 7–30 days of the search terms report (keep the “Other search terms” row).
2. Sort by cost; look at searches with spend and no conversions.
3. Group them by the word they share and pick the root word.
4. Check each root against 90 days of conversions and your keywords.
5. Add the safe ones at the right level, with their variants.
6. Add converting searches that aren't keywords yet as phrase-match keywords.