Negative keywords: a simple guide for small businesses
What negative keywords are, how to find the searches wasting your Google Ads budget, and how to block them without cutting off good customers.
When you run Google Ads, you pay for every click. Some of those clicks come from people who were never going to hire you: job seekers, students, people after a free how-to video, or people looking for a service you don’t offer. Negative keywords are how you tell Google to stop showing your ads to them.
They are one of the simplest fixes in any account, and one of the most often skipped. Here is how to find yours, which match type to use, and the mistakes that quietly block good customers.
What is a negative keyword?
A normal keyword tells Google when you want your ad to show. A negative keyword tells Google when you don’t. If you add “jobs” as a negative keyword, your ad won’t show for a search like “electrician jobs Newcastle”, even if “electrician Newcastle” is one of your keywords.
Google matches your keywords loosely. A plumber bidding on “plumber” can show for “plumber salary” or “how to become a plumber”, and none of those clicks will ever book a job.
Why small businesses need them more than big ones
A local business with a modest budget can’t absorb much waste. If part of your daily budget goes on the wrong searches, your ads stop showing earlier in the day, and the people who need you see a competitor instead.
Clean clicks also make your results easier to read: your cost per enquiry starts to tell you something real. We cover the other common budget leaks in our Google Ads audit checklist.
The negative keywords almost every local business needs
Most owner-run service businesses can start with a few common groups. Check each word against your own services first.
Jobs and careers
jobs, job, careers, hiring, salary, wages, apprenticeship, vacancy, employment, resume.
Training and study
course, courses, training, TAFE, certificate, licence test, how to become. Useful to block unless you actually run training.
Do-it-yourself searches
how to, DIY, tutorial, video, YouTube, step by step. Someone searching “how to fix a leaking tap” wants to do it themselves. Some will give up and call a pro, so watch this group rather than block it blindly.
Services you don’t offer
Only you can write this group: a cleaner who doesn’t do carpets, a mechanic who doesn’t work on trucks. List the jobs you turn down on the phone and add them.
Places you don’t service
Location settings handle most of this, but people still type places outside your area into their search. If you only work around Gosford and get clicks for “Penrith”, add it.
How to find your own negative keywords
Your best list comes from the searches people actually typed before clicking your ads, shown in the Search terms report.
- Sign in to Google Ads and open the campaign you want to check.
- Go to Insights and reports, then Search terms.
- Set the date range to the last 30 or 90 days, so there is enough data to see patterns.
- Sort by cost, highest first. The most expensive irrelevant searches are the ones worth fixing first.
- Tick any search that will never turn into work and choose Add as negative keyword.
Look for patterns. If you see “plumber jobs Sydney” and “plumbing jobs near me”, the fix is one negative keyword, “jobs”, not two entries.
Repeat this regularly, because new search terms keep appearing.
Negative match types, explained simply
Negative keywords have three match types, and the right one keeps good customers from being blocked by accident.
Negative broad match
Your ad won’t show if the search contains all the words in your negative keyword, in any order. Adding jobs blocks “jobs for plumbers” and “plumber jobs Sydney”. This is the default and works well for single words that are never relevant.
Negative phrase match
Your ad won’t show if the search contains those words in that exact order. A dog groomer who doesn’t run a self-serve wash could add “dog wash”. That blocks “self serve dog wash near me” but still allows “wash and groom for my dog”, which a broad negative would have blocked. Use phrase match when the words are only a problem together, in that order.
Negative exact match
Your ad won’t show only when the search is exactly that phrase. Adding [cheap plumber] blocks that search alone but still allows “cheap plumber Gosford emergency”. Use it sparingly, for one-off searches.
Mistakes that block good customers
These are the errors we see most often in small business accounts.
Blocking “free” when people want a free quote
Plenty of advertisers block “free” to cut out freebie hunters. But “free quote electrician” is one of the best searches a local business can get. Use phrase negatives like “free course” or “free template” instead of the single word.
Blocking “cheap” without thinking
Blocking bargain hunters is a fair choice for a premium business, but plenty of people type “cheap” when they mean “fair price”. Check your search terms before you decide.
Adding a negative that matches your own keyword
If you bid on “emergency plumber” and add “emergency” as a negative, your keyword stops working. After adding negatives, check that your main keywords are still eligible to show.
Forgetting campaigns you added later
Negatives added to one campaign don’t apply to the others. A shared negative keyword list, found in the shared library under Tools, lets you build the list once and apply it to every campaign. If you run Performance Max, check how your negatives apply there too, because it is set up differently from search campaigns.
What a good list looks like
A healthy account has a shared list of words that are never relevant, applied to every campaign, plus campaign-level negatives that steer each search to the right ads. If your account has no negative keywords at all, it is almost certainly paying for searches that won’t turn into work. That is often why owners decide Google Ads doesn’t work for them, when the real issue is setup. We explain how to judge that fairly in Is Google Ads worth it for a small business?
The short version
- Negative keywords stop your ads showing for searches that will never become a job.
- Start with jobs, training, DIY, services you don’t offer and places you don’t cover.
- Build your real list from the Search terms report, sorted by cost.
- Pick the match type with care: broad for single words, phrase for word combinations, exact for one-off searches.
- Don’t block “free” or “cheap” blindly, and check your main keywords still work after every change.
Not sure what your ads are paying for?
Our free Google Ads audit checks your account with read-only access and shows where money is being wasted, including searches that need to be blocked. You get the 3 most useful fixes, explained step by step, free to keep. If you would rather hand the whole job over, our Google Ads management starts from $490 a month + GST, and as a Google Partner we keep your negative keywords up to date as part of the work.
Get your free Google Ads audit
FAQ
What are negative keywords in Google Ads?
Negative keywords are words or phrases you add to Google Ads so your ads don’t show when someone searches for them. For example, adding “jobs” stops your ads appearing for people looking for work in your trade.
How many negative keywords should a small business have?
There is no set number. A small local account might start with a few dozen common words and grow the list from the Search terms report.
Can negative keywords stop my ads showing to real customers?
Yes, if they are too broad. Blocking a single word like “free” or “emergency” can cut out good searches such as “free quote” or “emergency plumber”, so check your search terms before and after adding them.
How often should I check for new negative keywords?
Check the Search terms report every week or two while an account is new, then at least monthly once it settles. New searches keep appearing, especially after you add keywords or change match types.
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