How to Test Different Match Types for Negatives: A Step-by-Step Guide

TL;DR: Testing different match types for negative keywords (broad, phrase, and exact) is how you control which search queries get blocked without accidentally cutting off profitable traffic. Many advertisers default to broad match negatives for everything, which can silently suppress good impressions. This guide walks through a practical, repeatable process to test each negative match type, measure the impact, and dial in the right level of blocking for your campaigns.

This is for PPC managers, freelancers running client accounts, and agency owners who want to stop wasting ad spend on junk clicks without over-filtering. Getting negative match types wrong cuts both ways: too loose and you're paying for irrelevant traffic, too aggressive and you're throttling campaigns that could be converting. Neither is good.

The good news is that testing negative match types isn't complicated. It just requires a structured approach and a bit of patience. What follows is a workflow you can run on any Google Ads account, whether you're managing one campaign or fifty.

Step 1: Audit Your Current Negative Keyword Setup

Before you test anything, you need to know what you're already working with. In most accounts I audit, the negative keyword setup is a mix of random additions made over time, with no consistent match type strategy and plenty of gaps.

Start by pulling your existing negatives from three places: account-level negatives, campaign-level negatives, and any shared negative keyword lists you've created in the Shared Library. In Google Ads, go to Tools and Settings > Shared Library > Negative keyword lists to see your shared lists. For campaign-level negatives, navigate into each campaign and check the Keywords tab, then click the Negative Keywords view.

Once you have everything pulled together, categorize each negative by its current match type: broad, phrase, or exact. You might be surprised how inconsistent this looks across campaigns. One campaign might have "free" as a broad match negative while another has it as exact. That inconsistency is exactly what this audit is designed to surface. If you need a deeper framework for this step, our guide on how to audit campaigns for overuse of negatives walks through the full process.

Next, look for gaps. Are you relying almost entirely on one match type? Many accounts lean heavily on broad match negatives because it feels like the safest way to block everything related to a word. The problem is that broad match negatives can block more than you intend, and we'll get into why in the next step.

Quick win to flag now: Look for any single, generic words added as broad match negatives. Words like "free," "cheap," "how," or "what" added as broad match negatives can suppress a surprising amount of legitimate traffic. Mark these for review. They're the most common source of accidental over-blocking in accounts that have been running for a while.

You can't test improvements without a baseline. This audit gives you that baseline and usually reveals a few easy fixes before you even start formal testing.

Step 2: How Each Negative Match Type Actually Behaves

This is where most advertisers have a gap in their understanding, and it's worth getting precise before you start testing. Negative match types do not behave identically to their positive counterparts. This trips people up constantly. For a comprehensive overview, check out our breakdown of how negative keyword match types work.

Here's how each one actually works:

Negative broad match blocks a query if it contains all of the negative keyword's words, in any order, anywhere in the search. But here's the critical distinction: negative broad match does NOT include synonyms or close variants. This is explicitly documented in Google's Ads Help documentation. So if you add "running shoe" as a negative broad match, it won't block "running shoes" (plural). That's a big deal if you're not aware of it.

Negative phrase match blocks queries that contain the exact phrase in that specific word order. It will block queries with additional words before or after the phrase, but the phrase itself must appear intact. So "running shoes" as a negative phrase match would block "buy running shoes online" but not "shoes for running."

Negative exact match blocks only the precise query that exactly matches the negative keyword, nothing more. If you add [cheap running shoes] as a negative exact match, it blocks that specific query and nothing else. Queries like "cheap red running shoes" would still get through. For a deeper comparison, see our article on how phrase match negatives differ from exact match negatives.

Let's make this concrete. Say you sell premium running shoes and you want to block traffic from people looking for free or discounted options. Here's how adding "free running shoes" as a negative plays out across match types:

Broad match negative: Blocks any query containing both "free" and "running shoes" in any order, like "running shoes free shipping" or "free running shoes giveaway." But it won't block "complimentary running shoes" because there are no synonyms.

Phrase match negative: Blocks queries where "free running shoes" appears in that order, like "free running shoes for beginners" or "get free running shoes." Won't block "running shoes free shipping" because the word order is different.

Exact match negative: Blocks only the query "free running shoes" and nothing else.

Decision framework: Use exact match when you're blocking a very specific query that's irrelevant but similar terms are fine. Use phrase match when a particular phrase pattern consistently signals bad intent. Use broad match when a word or combination of words is always irrelevant regardless of context, but use it carefully because the over-blocking risk is real.

Step 3: Mine Your Search Terms Report for Test Candidates

The Search Terms Report is your primary source of truth for identifying negative keyword candidates. This is standard Google Ads workflow, but how you categorize what you find is what makes the difference.

Pull the Search Terms Report by going to Campaigns > Search Terms. Filter by a meaningful date range (at least 30 days, ideally 60-90) and sort by cost or impressions to surface the biggest wasters first. For a step-by-step walkthrough, our guide on how to optimize match types using the Search Terms Report covers this in detail. You're looking for three categories of junk queries:

Completely irrelevant queries: These have nothing to do with your product or service. A plumber seeing searches for "plumber emoji" or "plumber costume" falls here. These are good candidates for exact or phrase match negatives.

Partially relevant but low-intent queries: These are related to your category but signal the wrong kind of searcher. "How to fix running shoes yourself" for a shoe retailer is a good example. The person isn't buying, they're DIYing. Phrase match negatives often work well here.

Close but wrong product or service: These are queries that look like your target keywords but are actually for something different. A premium shoe brand seeing "running shoes under $20" is a good example. Depending on how many variations appear, you might want phrase match ("running shoes under") or exact match for the specific price point queries.

For each category, ask yourself: is the blocking need broad (this word is always junk), phrase-level (this specific pattern is always junk), or exact (only this precise query is junk)? That question is what determines which match type to test.

Build a shortlist of 10 to 20 candidate negatives to work with. You don't need to test everything at once. A focused list lets you clearly attribute any performance changes to specific negatives rather than a wall of changes all applied simultaneously.

If you're managing multiple accounts or a high-volume campaign, manually combing through the Search Terms Report gets tedious fast. Tools like Keywordme speed this up significantly. It lets you filter junk queries and take one-click negative keyword actions directly inside the Search Terms Report, without exporting to a spreadsheet or switching tabs. For agency teams running this process across multiple clients, that kind of in-interface workflow makes a real difference.

Step 4: Set Up Your Match Type Test Structure

Now that you have your candidate list, you need a structured way to test without creating chaos in your account. There are two main approaches.

Parallel testing applies different match types for the same negative keyword across separate campaigns that are otherwise identical. This gives you a clean comparison but requires enough traffic volume in each campaign to be meaningful. If you want to go deeper on this methodology, our article on how to run A/B tests on keyword match types covers the setup in detail.

Sequential testing applies negatives within the same campaign over defined time windows, starting with the most conservative match type and expanding if needed. This is the approach most PPC managers use because it works for accounts of any size.

For sequential testing, the rule of thumb is: start with exact match, then expand to phrase, then broad only if necessary. This conservative-first approach protects you from accidentally over-blocking while you gather data. If exact match isn't catching enough of the junk traffic (because the same bad intent shows up across dozens of query variations), you graduate to phrase match. If phrase match still isn't enough, you consider broad match with careful monitoring.

Documentation matters here. Create a simple log, whether it's a spreadsheet or a notes doc, that captures: the negative keyword, the match type applied, the date it was added, and which campaign or list it was added to. This sounds basic, but without it you'll have no idea what changed when performance shifts. In most accounts I've audited, this documentation doesn't exist, which makes troubleshooting a nightmare.

Set a testing window of two to four weeks per phase, depending on your traffic volume. High-traffic campaigns can give you meaningful data in two weeks. Lower-volume campaigns need more time to accumulate enough impressions to draw conclusions.

Define your success metrics before you start: impressions lost versus wasted spend saved, CTR changes, and conversion rate shifts. If you want to understand how match type changes ripple through to your bottom line, our piece on testing match type impact on conversion is a useful companion read. If impressions drop but wasted spend drops proportionally and conversion rate holds steady or improves, that's a win. If impressions drop sharply and conversions fall with them, something is over-blocking.

Step 5: Monitor Results and Measure the Impact

After the first week, check in on a few specific signals. You're not looking for final conclusions yet, just early warning signs that something is wrong.

The first thing to check is impression volume. A moderate drop in impressions after adding negatives is expected and often healthy. A sharp drop, especially if it correlates with a drop in conversions, is a red flag that you're over-blocking.

Go back to the Search Terms Report and verify that the queries you intended to block are actually disappearing. This sounds obvious, but it's easy to add a negative with the wrong match type and have it not block what you expected. Also check that queries you didn't intend to block are still showing up. This is the crossfire check: are any good queries getting caught by your new negatives? Learning how to track performance of negative keywords systematically makes this monitoring step much more reliable.

Red flags to watch for:

Impressions drop sharply after adding a broad match negative. This almost always means over-blocking. Switch the negative to phrase or exact match and monitor again. Our guide on how to use broad match negatives correctly covers the most common pitfalls.

Conversions drop without a corresponding drop in wasted spend. This suggests good traffic is being blocked. Review the specific negative that was added and check if it's too broad for the context.

The same junk queries keep appearing despite the negative. This usually means the match type is too narrow. If you added an exact match negative and the same intent keeps showing up in slightly different query forms, it's time to graduate to phrase match.

Green flags: wasted spend is decreasing, conversion rate is holding steady or improving, and the Search Terms Report is showing fewer irrelevant queries. When you see that combination, your match type choice is working.

Compare performance across the different match type variants you're testing. The goal is to find the level of blocking that eliminates junk without touching profitable traffic. That balance point is different for every account and every keyword, which is exactly why testing matters.

Step 6: Refine, Scale, and Build Your Negative Keyword Playbook

Once you have test results, the next step is turning individual wins into a scalable system.

For negatives that performed well, promote them to shared negative keyword lists in Google Ads' Shared Library. This way they protect multiple campaigns without you having to manually add them everywhere. Shared lists are especially valuable for agency teams managing several campaigns for the same client, or clients in the same vertical. If you're managing negatives across multiple campaigns, our guide on how to sync negatives across campaigns covers the best practices for keeping everything aligned.

For negatives that over-blocked, downgrade them. Switch broad match negatives to phrase, or phrase match negatives to exact. Don't just remove them entirely unless the keyword is genuinely not worth blocking at any level. Downgrading preserves some protection while reducing the collateral damage.

The mistake most agencies make is treating negative keyword management as a setup task rather than an ongoing process. You run the initial cleanup, add a bunch of negatives, and then don't revisit for months. Meanwhile, new junk queries are accumulating and old negatives are potentially over-blocking traffic patterns that have shifted. Our article on how to refine match types over time digs into building that ongoing optimization habit.

Build a repeatable playbook with a monthly or bi-weekly review cadence. The cycle looks like this: pull the Search Terms Report, filter for new junk queries, categorize them, apply negatives at the right match type, document what you added, and schedule the next review. That's it. Done consistently, this process compounds over time into a much cleaner account.

For agencies managing multiple clients, the templating opportunity is significant. Once you've established which negative keyword patterns recur across similar accounts (industry-specific junk queries, common irrelevant modifiers, competitor brand terms), you can build master negative lists that apply across your entire client base. Keywordme's bulk editing and keyword clustering features make this kind of cross-account scaling practical without the spreadsheet gymnastics that usually come with it. You can apply match types, build negative lists, and push changes across accounts directly inside Google Ads.

Your Quick-Reference Checklist and Next Steps

Here's the full workflow condensed into a checklist you can reference on your next optimization session:

1. Audit existing negatives and their match types. Pull account-level, campaign-level, and shared list negatives. Flag inconsistencies and single-word broad match negatives.

2. Understand the actual behavior of each negative match type. Remember: no synonyms, no close variants. Negative broad match is not the same as positive broad match.

3. Mine the Search Terms Report for test candidates. Categorize junk queries by how specific the blocking need is. Build a shortlist of 10 to 20 candidates.

4. Structure your test conservatively. Start with exact match. Expand to phrase, then broad, only if junk traffic persists across many query variations.

5. Monitor for over-blocking and under-blocking signals. Check impression volume, conversion rate, and the Search Terms Report weekly during the test window.

6. Refine and scale winners into shared lists. Downgrade negatives that over-blocked. Build a recurring review cadence so this becomes a habit, not a one-time fix.

Testing negative match types isn't a one-time task. It's an ongoing optimization habit that separates good PPC managers from great ones. The accounts that consistently outperform aren't necessarily running smarter bidding strategies or better ad copy. They're often just cleaner, with less wasted spend bleeding out through mismanaged negatives.

If you want to run this process faster, without exporting spreadsheets or switching between tabs, Start your free 7-day trial of Keywordme. It lets you remove junk search terms, build high-intent keyword lists, and apply match types instantly, right inside Google Ads. No spreadsheets, no clunky dashboards. Just smarter, faster optimization at $12/month after the trial.