How to Build and Use Google Ads Negative Keyword Lists (Step-by-Step)

Google Ads will match your keywords to search terms you never intended to pay for. That's not a bug—it's how broad and phrase match work by design. The problem is that without a systematic way to block irrelevant searches, your budget quietly drains on clicks that will never convert.

Negative keywords are the fix. But there's an important distinction most guides skip: there are two ways to apply them, and they work very differently.

Campaign-level negative keywords apply only to the campaign where you add them. They're useful for campaign-specific exclusions, but if you manage multiple campaigns, you'd have to repeat the work in every single one.

Shared negative keyword lists live in your Shared Library and can be applied to multiple campaigns at once. Add a term to the list once, and it's blocked everywhere the list is attached. For agencies and multi-campaign accounts, this is where the real efficiency lives.

This guide walks through the exact process: understanding what shared lists are, finding the search terms worth blocking, creating and naming your list, applying it to campaigns, choosing the right match types, and keeping everything maintained over time. By the end, you'll have a repeatable system—not a one-time setup you'll forget about in three months.

If you've been adding negative keywords one campaign at a time, or you set up a list once and never touched it again, this guide is for you. Let's get into it.

Step 1: Understand What Negative Keyword Lists Are (and Aren't)

Before you build anything, it helps to be clear on what you're actually working with. Shared negative keyword lists and campaign-level negative keywords are not the same thing, and using the wrong one for the job creates more work later.

A shared negative keyword list lives in your Shared Library (Tools & Settings > Shared Library > Negative Keyword Lists). You create it once, populate it with terms, and then attach it to as many campaigns as you want. When you update the list, every attached campaign is updated simultaneously. This makes shared lists the right tool for account-wide exclusions: irrelevant verticals, job-seeking queries, competitor brand names you consistently want to suppress.

A campaign-level negative keyword is added directly to a single campaign and only affects that campaign. Use these for exclusions that are specific to one campaign's context—for example, blocking a product category that one campaign doesn't cover but others do.

For a deeper look at when to use each approach, see our guide on the difference between shared and campaign-specific negative keywords.

Now, match types. Negative keywords in Google Ads support three match types, and they do not behave the same way as positive keyword match types. This trips up a lot of advertisers.

Negative broad match: Blocks any search query that contains the negative keyword term, regardless of word order or additional words in the query. If you add free as a negative broad match, any query containing the word "free" will be blocked. This is more restrictive than positive broad match, which uses semantic matching and intent signals. With negatives, broad means broad.

Negative phrase match: Blocks searches that contain your negative keyword as an exact phrase, in that order, within the query. More precise than broad. Use this for multi-word irrelevant phrases where the order matters.

Negative exact match: Blocks only searches that match your negative keyword exactly, with no additional words. The most surgical option—use it when you want to exclude one specific query without affecting anything related to it.

The syntax when adding negatives: no formatting means broad match, quotation marks mean phrase match, and square brackets mean exact match. This is the same syntax as positive keywords.

One common misconception: because negative broad match is so restrictive, it can accidentally block good traffic. A word like "how" added as a negative broad match would suppress every informational query containing that word. Start conservatively and move to broader negatives only when you're confident a term is never relevant.

Step 2: Find the Search Terms Worth Blocking

You can't build a useful negative keyword list without data. The source of that data is the Search Terms report, and understanding what you're looking at matters before you start flagging terms.

Quick clarification: search terms are the actual queries users typed into Google before clicking your ad. Keywords are the terms you bid on in your campaigns. Negative keywords block search terms from triggering your ads—they don't remove keywords from your account. Keeping this distinction clear prevents a lot of confusion when you're reviewing reports.

To access the Search Terms report in Google Ads, navigate to Reports > Search Terms, or go into a specific campaign and click the Search Terms tab. You'll see every search term that triggered an impression or click within your selected date range.

Here's what to look for when reviewing the report:

High spend, zero conversions: Sort by cost descending and look for search terms that have consumed meaningful budget without producing a single conversion. Use a date range of at least 30 days to avoid acting on small sample sizes.

Wrong intent signals: Informational queries (how to, what is, tutorial, guide) often indicate someone researching, not buying. If your campaigns are conversion-focused, these terms are usually worth blocking—unless your funnel is specifically designed to capture top-of-funnel traffic.

Wrong product or category: If you sell software and you're getting clicks for "software free download" or "open source alternative," those are misaligned searches worth excluding.

Geographic mismatches: If a search term includes a location you don't serve, add it as a negative.

Competitor brand names: Depending on your strategy, you may want to exclude competitor brand searches from certain campaigns. This is a deliberate choice, not a default—some advertisers specifically target competitor terms in separate campaigns.

Reviewing this report manually and then exporting to a spreadsheet to build your negative list is the traditional workflow. If you'd rather skip the spreadsheet step, Keywordme's Chrome extension surfaces this analysis directly inside the Google Ads Search Terms Report, letting you flag and act on junk terms with one click without leaving the interface.

For more on reducing wasted spend systematically, see our guide on the best ways to reduce wasted spend in Google Ads.

Step 3: Create Your Shared Negative Keyword List

Once you have a working list of terms to block, it's time to create the shared list in Google Ads. Here's the navigation path:

Tools & Settings > Shared Library > Negative Keyword Lists > click the blue '+' button.

The first thing you'll do is name the list. This matters more than it sounds. A name like "Negative Keywords List 1" tells you nothing in six months. Use names that describe the scope or purpose of the list so you and any team members can immediately understand what it contains and why it exists.

Some naming conventions that work in practice:

By exclusion theme: "Irrelevant Intent – All Campaigns", "Job Seekers – Exclude", "Informational Queries – Block"

By client or account (for agencies): "Client: Acme Corp – Shared Negatives", "Client: Acme Corp – Competitor Exclusions"

By campaign group: "Brand Campaigns – Negative Shared", "Non-Brand Search – Irrelevant Terms"

Next, add your keywords. Paste them in, one per line. Use the correct syntax to set match types:

No formatting = negative broad match (blocks any query containing that word)

"quotation marks" = negative phrase match (blocks queries containing that exact phrase in order)

[square brackets] = negative exact match (blocks only that exact query)

For a starter list, consider including terms from these categories: job-seeking language (jobs, careers, hiring, salary), free or DIY intent (free, DIY, how to, tutorial, template), wrong-product terms specific to your industry, and geographic terms for locations you don't serve.

Once you save the list, it lives in your Shared Library. But here's an important point: saving the list does not apply it to any campaigns. It exists in the library, ready to be attached, but nothing is blocked yet. That happens in the next step.

One structural tip: resist the urge to dump everything into one giant list. Keeping separate lists by theme makes auditing far easier. When you need to update competitor exclusions, you don't want to scroll through 400 mixed terms to find them.

Step 4: Apply the List to Your Campaigns

Creating the list is half the work. Attaching it to campaigns is where it actually starts protecting your budget.

From the Negative Keyword Lists page in the Shared Library, check the box next to the list you want to apply. A toolbar will appear at the top—click "Apply to Campaigns." A dialog will let you select which campaigns should use this list. You can apply one list to multiple campaigns in a single action, which is the core efficiency benefit of shared lists.

There's an alternative path if you prefer to work from within a campaign: go into the campaign, navigate to Keywords > Negative Keywords, and look for the option to use a negative keyword list. This lets you attach an existing shared list to that specific campaign without going through the Shared Library.

A few things to know once the list is applied:

It is not retroactive. Applying the list today blocks future matches from this point forward. It does not affect past spend or historical data—those clicks already happened.

Verify it's active. After applying, go into one of the attached campaigns, navigate to Keywords > Negative Keywords, and check the "Negative Keyword Lists" section. Your shared list should appear there with an active status. If it doesn't show up, go back to the Shared Library and confirm the campaigns were selected correctly.

Removing a term from the shared list removes it from all attached campaigns simultaneously. This is powerful but requires care. If you're unsure whether a term should be removed account-wide, consider creating a campaign-level negative instead of editing the shared list.

For agencies managing multiple client accounts: each Google Ads account has its own Shared Library. Shared negative keyword lists do not transfer between accounts automatically. You'll need to recreate or import lists separately for each client account. Keywordme's multi-account support helps streamline this workflow across accounts without switching between dashboards.

Step 5: Choose the Right Match Types for Each Negative

Match type selection is the step most advertisers rush through, and it's the one that causes the most problems. Get it wrong in one direction and junk traffic still gets through. Get it wrong in the other direction and you're blocking searches that would have converted.

Here's how to think about each option:

Negative broad match is the bluntest instrument. It blocks any search query containing your negative keyword term, in any order, regardless of what other words are in the query. Use it only for words that are never relevant to your account under any circumstances. "Jobs" and "free" are classic examples for most commercial advertisers. The risk: if the word appears in a query that's actually useful to you, it'll be blocked. Test carefully before adding broad negatives at scale.

Negative phrase match is more precise. It blocks searches that contain your exact phrase in that order, but allows queries where those words appear in a different order or context. For example, "how to do it yourself" as a phrase negative blocks that specific phrase but wouldn't block "yourself how to do it" (though that's an unlikely query). Use phrase match for multi-word irrelevant phrases where the sequence matters.

Negative exact match is the most surgical. It only blocks searches that match your negative keyword exactly, with nothing added. Use this when you want to exclude one very specific query without touching anything related to it. It's the safest option but also the least efficient if you're trying to block a broad category of irrelevant searches.

A practical rule of thumb: default to phrase or exact match negatives when you're not certain. You can always broaden later once you've confirmed a term is consistently irrelevant. Starting with broad negatives on terms you're unsure about risks suppressing good traffic, and that's harder to diagnose than junk traffic getting through.

To understand how match type decisions affect your overall campaign performance, see our guide on the impact of match types on CPC and conversions.

Step 6: Maintain and Audit Your Lists Regularly

A negative keyword list you set up once and never revisit will eventually cause problems. Search behavior shifts. Campaigns expand into new areas. Terms that were once irrelevant become relevant, and new junk terms emerge that weren't in your original list. Maintenance isn't optional—it's part of the system.

Here's a cadence that works for most accounts:

Weekly: Review the Search Terms report for active campaigns. Look for new irrelevant terms that have started getting clicks. Add them directly to your shared list or as campaign-level negatives depending on whether the exclusion should apply account-wide.

Monthly: Audit the shared list itself. Go through the terms you've accumulated and ask whether each one still makes sense. Look for negatives that may now be blocking good traffic as your product, audience, or campaigns have evolved.

When auditing, check for conflicts. Google Ads will flag situations where a negative keyword is blocking a positive keyword—meaning your own bid is being suppressed by your own exclusion. These conflicts appear in the Recommendations tab and in keyword diagnostics. If you see a conflict warning, investigate before dismissing it. Sometimes the negative is wrong; sometimes the positive keyword needs to be restructured.

When to split lists: If a shared list grows large, it becomes harder to audit and maintain. If you find yourself scrolling through a long, mixed list trying to find specific terms, it's time to split by theme. Separate lists are easier to hand off to team members, easier to explain to clients, and easier to update without accidentally affecting unrelated exclusions. Consult current Google Ads Help documentation for up-to-date limits on list sizes and number of lists per account, as these limits can change.

Removing terms carefully: Remember that removing a negative from a shared list removes it from every campaign using that list at once. If you're unsure whether a term should be removed account-wide, remove it from the shared list and add it as a campaign-level negative only where it still applies.

Keywordme's one-click negative keyword workflow makes the ongoing maintenance in Step 2 and Step 6 faster by letting you act on search terms directly inside the Google Ads interface—no spreadsheet exports, no tab switching.

For more context on why this ongoing work matters, see our guides on why negative keywords are important and the best way to add negative keywords in Google Ads.

Putting It All Together

Here's the full process in a quick checklist format:

1. Understand your list types. Shared lists live in the Shared Library and apply to multiple campaigns. Campaign-level negatives apply to one campaign only. Know which tool fits the job before you build anything.

2. Mine your Search Terms report. Sort by cost descending, filter for low or zero conversions, and identify irrelevant intent patterns. Use at least 30 days of data to avoid acting on noise.

3. Create a named shared list. Navigate to Tools & Settings > Shared Library > Negative Keyword Lists. Name it by theme or purpose. Add terms with correct match type syntax. Save—but remember it's not active yet.

4. Apply the list to campaigns. From the Shared Library, select your list and apply it to the relevant campaigns. Verify it appears as active in each campaign's negative keywords section.

5. Set match types deliberately. Default to phrase or exact match for safety. Reserve broad match negatives for terms that are never relevant to your account under any circumstances.

6. Schedule regular audits. Review search terms weekly. Audit the shared list monthly. Check for keyword conflicts. Split lists when they grow unwieldy.

The core benefit of this system: you do the exclusion work once in a shared list, and it protects multiple campaigns simultaneously. That's the efficiency advantage over adding negatives campaign by campaign.

If you want to speed up the search term review process in Steps 2 and 6, Start your free 7-day trial of Keywordme and handle everything directly inside Google Ads—no spreadsheets, no tab switching, just faster optimization at $12/month after the trial.

For related reading, see our guides on reducing wasted spend in Google Ads and diagnosing what's wrong with your Google Ads campaign.