The short answer
To add negative keywords, open Campaigns → Insights and reports → Search terms, sort by cost, and tick searches that will never become customers, such as “free”, “jobs” or wrong services. Click “Add as negative keyword”, choose the campaign or a shared negative list, and use phrase match for words that are always irrelevant. Review search terms weekly for new campaigns and monthly after that.
Before you start
By the end of this SOP
Irrelevant searches are blocked, a shared negative list is applied to every Search campaign, and you know what share of spend was wasted.
- Time
- 15–30 minutes a week
- You’ll need
- A Search or Performance Max campaign that has run for at least a few days.
- Who does this
- The person managing Google Ads.
About this SOP: why it matters, where and when
Why it matters: Every rupee spent on a search like “dental assistant jobs” is a rupee not spent on a patient. Negatives also improve CTR and Quality Score.
Where: Google Ads → Insights and reports → Search terms, and Tools → Shared library → Exclusion lists.
When: Weekly for the first two months of a campaign, then every two to four weeks.
Stage 1
Open and sort the search terms report
- 1
Open Campaigns → Insights and reports → Search terms. Set the date range to the last 30 days (7 days for a brand-new campaign).
- 2
Add the Conversions and Cost / conv. columns if they aren’t showing.
- 3
Sort by Cost, highest first. The expensive terms with no conversions are where to start.
Stage 2
Decide: keep, add or block
- 1
Block (add as negative) searches that will never buy:
- Jobs and careers: “jobs”, “salary”, “vacancy”, “hiring”.
- Learning: “course”, “training”, “how to” (unless that’s what you sell).
- Free and DIY: “free”, “pdf”, “home remedy”.
- Wrong service, wrong place or competitor names you don’t want.
- 2
Add as keyword: searches that converted well and aren’t already keywords. Add them to the matching ad group.
- 3
Keep and watch: relevant searches without conversions yet. Check again next week before blocking.
Stage 3
Add negatives with the right match type
Negative keywords don’t match close variants or plurals the way normal keywords do.
- 1
Tick the terms, click “Add as negative keyword” and choose ad group, campaign or a negative keyword list.
- 2
Edit the negative to the right match type:
- Phrase (“free”) blocks any search containing that word: good for always-irrelevant words.
- Exact ([root canal cost]) blocks only that exact search: good when the words are fine in other searches.
- Broad (free course) blocks searches containing all the words in any order.
- 3
Add both singular and plural forms where it matters (job, jobs).
Watch out
Don’t block a word you also bid on. A negative “price” would stop ads for “implant price kochi”.
Stage 4
Build a shared negative list
- 1
Go to Tools → Shared library → Exclusion lists → Negative keyword lists and create a list, for example “Always exclude – jobs, free, DIY”.
- 2
Paste your always-irrelevant words, one per line, in quotes for phrase match.
- 3
Apply the list to every Search campaign. Add new words to the list instead of each campaign.
- 4
Write down how much the blocked terms cost in the last 30 days. That is the money you saved, and a good line for the monthly client report (SOP 307).
Practice & check
Now do it for real
Reading is not doing. Open your own account and complete this task before you move on.
Practice task (5 min)
Take a 30-day search terms export (or use our sample in the community), mark every term keep, add or block, and calculate the wasted spend.
Prove it
Two questions. Get both right and this SOP is done.
Common questions
How often should I add negative keywords?
Weekly in the first two months of a campaign, then every two to four weeks. Big accounts may need it weekly forever.
Why can’t I see all my search terms?
Google hides search terms that very few people searched, for privacy. Block obvious irrelevant themes in advance so you don’t rely only on the report.
Can I add negative keywords to Performance Max?
Yes. Performance Max now supports campaign-level negative keywords, and account-level negatives and brand exclusions also apply.
Done. That’s a real skill, not a certificate.
Next: SOP 306 — Audit a Google Ads Account and Write a Fix-First Plan →
Want to do this on real client budgets, with a mentor checking your work? That’s Level 2 at Unlearn. See the Digital Marketing track