How to build and maintain negative keyword lists in Google Ads

A good negative keyword routine has two parts. Set up a small number of themed lists once, then review the search terms report on a fixed schedule and file each unwanted term at the narrowest level that fixes it. Pick the match type on purpose each time, and once a month check your limits and look for negatives that block your own keywords.

Our guide to structuring a Google Ads account on a small budget explains the three negative match types.

Where should each negative keyword live?

Google Ads lets you exclude terms at four levels. Each has a different reach, so the level is the first decision.

Level	What it reaches	Use it for
Account	Every Search, Shopping, Performance Max, Local, Smart and App campaign, on Search and Shopping inventory only	Terms that are never right for the business
Shared list	Every campaign the list is applied to	A theme that applies to several campaigns
Campaign	One campaign	A term that is wrong for this campaign only
Ad group	One ad group	Steering a search to a better ad group

The account-level reach comes from Google’s page on account-level negative keywords (opens in a new tab), which caps that list at 1,000 terms. All limits here are as of November 2026. Shared lists hold up to 5,000 terms each and an account can have up to 20 of them, according to Google’s page on negative keyword lists (opens in a new tab).

Our rule: words that are never right, such as “jobs” for a service business, go straight into the account-level list. Everything else starts at the narrowest level and moves up only when it causes trouble in a second campaign.

Set up your lists once

Create a few shared lists named after the reason for excluding, for themes that suit some campaigns but not others. For a plumbing business with separate repair and installation campaigns, that might be:

• Do it yourself: parts, how-to videos and repair manuals, for the repair campaigns.
• Out of area: towns you serve for repairs but not for installations.
• Not offered: services one campaign covers and another does not.

When you launch a campaign, apply the lists that fit. Google’s page on adding negative keywords (opens in a new tab) says you can apply one list to up to 1,000 campaigns in a single action.

The search terms review, step by step

The cadence is a judgment call. Our suggestion: weekly, and every two weeks only for accounts with very few searches.

1. Open the report. In Campaigns, open Insights and reports, then Search terms. Google’s search terms report page (opens in a new tab) explains how to add the Keyword column, which is hidden by default and shows which of your keywords matched each search.
2. Sort by cost. Start with the terms that spent the most without converting.
3. Ask one question per term: would a person typing this ever buy from you? If not, it is a candidate.
4. Find the word that makes it wrong. If “plumber apprentice jobs” slipped through, the problem is “apprentice” and “jobs”, not the whole phrase.
5. Add it from the report. Select the terms and choose Add as negative keyword. Google’s instructions (opens in a new tab) show you can send them to an ad group, a campaign or a list. If one word is the problem, add that word as its own negative instead.
6. Note what you added and why in a simple change log, so the next review can tell new problems from old ones.

The report does not show every search. Google says (opens in a new tab) it only shows searches with enough volume and leaves rarer ones out to protect privacy. The search terms insights view groups some of those into themes instead.

If your ads now appear in AI Mode, look at the report more often for a while. Our article on ads in AI Mode explains why longer, conversational queries may start to show up there.

Pick the match type deliberately

In Search campaigns, terms added from the search terms report are saved as negative exact match by default, according to the same instructions (opens in a new tab). Exact is safe but narrow: it blocks that one search and nothing longer. Decide each time:

• Keep exact when the full search is wrong but its words appear in searches you want.
• Use phrase (the term in quotes, the syntax shown on Google’s matching options page (opens in a new tab)) when a word sequence is the problem wherever it appears.
• Use broad when one word makes any search irrelevant, such as “jobs” for a service business.

Remember the gaps. Google’s negative keywords page (opens in a new tab) says negatives do not match close variants, so plurals and synonyms need their own entries, while casing and misspellings are handled for you. The same page notes your ad can still show when a negative falls after the 16th word of a long search.

Monthly maintenance checklist

• Count account-level negatives against the 1,000 limit.
• Check that no list is close to 5,000 terms and that you have room under 20 lists.
• Look for negatives that match your own keywords. Google warns (opens in a new tab) that overlap stops those ads from showing.
• Scan broad negatives added in the last month for words that also appear in good searches.
• Confirm new campaigns have the right shared lists applied.
• Watch for falling impressions after big additions. Google cautions (opens in a new tab) that too many negatives can shrink your reach.

Frequently asked questions

Do negative keywords work in Performance Max?

Yes, for Search and Shopping inventory only. Google’s Performance Max page (opens in a new tab) says you can add them to a campaign or at the account level, and that they do not reach other inventory.

Do negative keywords work the same in Display and Video campaigns?

No. Google’s page on adding negatives (opens in a new tab) says all negatives there are treated as broad match, only up to 1,000 are considered, and your ads can still land on pages that mention the excluded words. It points to content exclusions as the better tool for those campaigns.