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Campaign Structure

Negative Keywords

In short

Negative Keywords are search terms for which your ad should NOT appear. They prevent irrelevant clicks and save budget.

In-depth guideGoogle Ads Keyword Research: Complete Guide 2025Read the article

What are Negative Keywords?

Negative Keywords are an essential budget optimization tool. If you have "lawyer Munich" as a keyword, you don't want to appear for "lawyer Munich salary" or "lawyer Munich training" — those searchers don't want to hire you.

Why Negative Keywords Matter

Without negative keywords, typical campaigns waste 20-40% of their budget on irrelevant clicks.

How to Find Negative Keywords

  • Search Terms Report: Check weekly which actual search terms triggered clicks
  • Pre-built lists: Create lists with typical exclusions: "free," "jobs," "salary," "training," "wiki"
  • Competitors: Exclude competitor names if you don't want to appear in comparison searches

Pro Tip: Create a shared negative keyword list at account level for universal exclusions and additional lists at campaign level for specific ones.

Further resources

Frequently Asked Questions

A well-optimized campaign typically has 50-200 negative keywords. Start with 20-30 universal exclusions and expand weekly based on the Search Terms Report.

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