What Are Examples of Negative Keywords? A Practical Guide for PPC Advertisers

TL;DR: Negative keywords are search terms you explicitly exclude from your Google Ads campaigns to prevent your ads from showing on irrelevant queries. By blocking terms like "free," "jobs," "DIY," or competitor brand names, you filter out unqualified traffic, reduce wasted spend, and improve your return on ad spend. This guide walks through real-world negative keyword examples across industries, explains how match types change their behavior, and shows you how to build and maintain effective exclusion lists that protect your budget while keeping your campaigns focused on high-intent searchers.

Every PPC advertiser has been there. You check your Search Terms Report, and buried among legitimate queries are dozens—sometimes hundreds—of clicks from people searching for jobs at your company, free alternatives to your product, or tutorials on how to do what you sell themselves. Each irrelevant click chips away at your budget while delivering zero value.

The solution? Negative keywords. They're your first line of defense against wasted spend, and when used strategically, they can dramatically improve campaign performance without touching bids or ad copy. Let's explore exactly what negative keywords look like in practice, how to choose the right ones for your business, and how to implement them without accidentally blocking valuable traffic.

The Quick Answer: Negative Keywords Explained

Negative keywords are terms you add to your Google Ads campaigns to prevent your ads from appearing when someone searches for those specific words or phrases. Think of them as a "do not show" list that acts as a filter between search queries and your ad impressions.

Here's the fundamental difference: regular keywords tell Google when you want your ads to show. Negative keywords tell Google when you don't want them to show. If you're selling premium leather handbags, you might bid on "leather handbags" as a positive keyword while adding "cheap," "knockoff," and "replica" as negative keywords.

The core purpose is straightforward: improve return on ad spend by eliminating clicks from searchers who will never convert. Someone searching "leather handbag jobs" isn't looking to buy—they're job hunting. Someone searching "free leather handbag pattern" wants to make their own. Neither of these searchers will become customers, yet without negative keywords, both queries could trigger your ads and drain your budget.

Negative keywords work at the query level, not the audience level. You're not blocking people—you're blocking specific search intents that don't align with your offer. This precision is what makes them so powerful. A single searcher might trigger your ad on one query but be blocked on another, depending on how their search intent matches your negative keyword list.

The beauty of negative keywords is their immediate impact. Unlike bid adjustments or ad copy tests that require time to gather data, adding a negative keyword instantly stops irrelevant impressions. It's one of the few optimizations in PPC that delivers results the moment you implement it. For a deeper dive into the fundamentals, check out our guide on what negative keywords are in Google Ads.

Common Negative Keyword Examples by Category

Certain negative keywords appear across industries because they signal universal intent mismatches. Let's break down the most common categories that almost every advertiser should consider.

Job-Related Terms: Unless you're actively recruiting, terms like "jobs," "careers," "salary," "hiring," "employment," and "work" should be on your negative list. Job seekers represent massive search volume but zero purchase intent. Someone searching "marketing software jobs" isn't looking for marketing software—they're looking for employment at a marketing software company.

Free-Seekers: For businesses selling premium products or services, price-sensitive terms like "free," "cheap," "discount," "coupon," "deal," and "clearance" often attract bargain hunters who won't convert at your price point. This doesn't apply universally—if you offer a freemium model or run regular promotions, "free" might be perfectly relevant. Context matters.

DIY and Educational Intent: Service providers frequently waste budget on information seekers. Terms like "how to," "tutorial," "guide," "DIY," "template," "example," and "tips" signal research intent, not buying intent. Someone searching "how to build a website" isn't ready to hire a web developer—they're trying to learn the skill themselves.

The twist? If you sell courses or educational products, these terms might be gold. This is why negative keywords require strategic thinking about your specific business model.

Competitor and Brand Terms: Many advertisers add competitor brand names as negatives to avoid showing ads when people search specifically for other companies. If you sell project management software, you might exclude "Asana," "Monday.com," and "Trello" to avoid appearing when someone has already decided on a competitor. Some advertisers take the opposite approach and bid on competitor terms—it's a strategic decision based on your competitive positioning and budget. Learn more about identifying negative keywords from competitor campaigns.

Geographic Exclusions: Local businesses should exclude locations they don't serve. If you're a plumber in Austin, Texas, adding "Houston," "Dallas," "San Antonio," and other Texas cities as negatives prevents wasted clicks from people outside your service area. This becomes especially important when running broader keyword match types that might pick up location-modified searches.

Wrong Product Variations: If you sell new products exclusively, terms like "used," "refurbished," "repair," "parts," and "broken" should be negatives. If you only sell women's clothing, "men's" and "boys" belong on your list. These exclusions prevent your ads from showing to searchers looking for variations you don't offer. For a comprehensive starter list, see our article on common negative keywords every campaign should have.

Industry-Specific Negative Keyword Examples

Beyond universal negatives, your industry and business model determine additional exclusions that protect your budget while keeping campaigns focused.

E-commerce Sellers: Online retailers face unique challenges with product-related searches. If you sell new electronics, add negatives like "used," "refurbished," "wholesale," "bulk," "repair service," "broken," "not working," and "screen replacement." These terms attract different buyer types—resellers, repair shops, or bargain hunters looking for damaged goods to fix.

Fashion retailers might exclude "sewing pattern," "DIY," "how to make," and "costume" if they sell ready-to-wear items. Luxury brands often add "dupe," "alternative," "similar to," and "like" to avoid showing ads to shoppers hunting for cheaper lookalikes.

B2B SaaS Companies: Enterprise software providers should consider excluding "free trial," "free version," "open source," "student," "personal use," and "small business" if they target enterprise clients exclusively. These terms attract users who can't afford or don't need enterprise-level solutions.

Many SaaS companies also exclude "alternative," "vs," "comparison," and "review" to avoid paying for bottom-of-funnel comparison traffic that's already deep in competitive research. Others embrace these terms as conversion opportunities—again, it depends on your sales model and competitive positioning.

Local Service Businesses: Service providers face geography challenges and DIY competition. A landscaping company might exclude "DIY," "how to," "yourself," "equipment rental," "tools," and specific city names outside their service radius. HVAC companies often add "parts," "repair kit," "troubleshooting," and "fix yourself" to avoid DIY searchers. For more tailored recommendations, explore our guide on niche negative keywords for service industries.

Legal and medical professionals should exclude "pro bono," "free consultation," "student," and "intern" if they don't offer these services. These terms attract people seeking free or discounted professional services.

Professional Services and Agencies: Marketing agencies, consultants, and done-for-you service providers should exclude "course," "training," "certification," "learn," "self-paced," and "online class." These terms signal that searchers want to learn the skill themselves rather than hire someone to do it for them.

Freelance platforms and job boards should be negatives too: "Upwork," "Fiverr," "freelancer," "gig," and "hire freelance" attract businesses looking for individual contractors, not agencies.

Negative Keyword Match Types: How They Change Your Examples

Here's where negative keywords get interesting. They use the same match type system as regular keywords, but the behavior is different—and understanding these differences prevents costly mistakes.

Broad Match Negative: This blocks any search query that contains all of your negative keyword terms, in any order, with other words before, after, or between them. If you add "repair service" as a broad match negative, you'll block "laptop repair service," "repair service near me," and "best repair service Austin," but you won't block "repair" or "service" alone.

This is the most commonly used negative match type because it provides strong coverage without being overly restrictive. It's your workhorse for blocking intent patterns. For a complete breakdown, read our article on negative keywords broad match.

Phrase Match Negative: This blocks queries that contain your exact phrase in the same order, but allows other words before or after. If you add "how to" as a phrase match negative (written as "how to" in your list), you'll block "how to fix a leaky faucet" and "how to install kitchen cabinets," but you won't block "learn the best way to fix" because the words aren't in sequence.

Phrase match negatives are useful when word order matters. Adding "jobs in" as a phrase match blocks "marketing jobs in Austin" but allows "Austin marketing jobs" to slip through if that's a product category you sell.

Exact Match Negative: This blocks only the precise query you specify, with no additional words. If you add [free software] as an exact match negative (written with brackets), you'll block only "free software" but not "free software download," "best free software," or "free software tools."

Exact match negatives are surgical tools for blocking specific problematic queries while preserving closely related searches. They're less commonly used because they require more maintenance—you need to add each variation individually. Understanding how match types work for negative keywords is essential for avoiding costly mistakes.

Let's see this in action with a real example. Say you sell premium WordPress themes and want to block "free" searches. Here's how different match types behave:

Broad match negative "free" blocks: "free WordPress themes," "WordPress themes free download," "best free themes," and "download themes for free." It blocks any query containing the word "free."

Phrase match negative "free themes" blocks: "free themes for WordPress" and "download free themes" but allows "WordPress themes with free support" because "free" and "themes" aren't adjacent in that query.

Exact match negative [free] blocks: only the single-word query "free" and nothing else. This is rarely useful in practice.

How to Find Your Own Negative Keyword Examples

Generic negative keyword lists are a starting point, but your most valuable negatives come from your own campaign data. Here's how to discover them.

Mine Your Search Terms Report: This is your goldmine. In Google Ads, navigate to Keywords > Search Terms to see every query that triggered your ads. Sort by impressions or clicks to find high-volume irrelevant terms. Look for patterns: Are you seeing lots of job-related searches? DIY queries? Wrong product variations? Mastering search term optimization is critical for ongoing campaign health.

Set a weekly reminder to review this report. The first review will yield dozens of negatives. Subsequent reviews will find fewer, but consistency prevents budget leaks over time.

Use Keyword Research Tools: Tools like Google's Keyword Planner, SEMrush, or Ahrefs can reveal related terms you haven't considered. Search for your main keywords and scan the results for irrelevant variations. If you sell "running shoes," keyword research might reveal that "running shoes repair" and "running shoes drawing" get significant search volume—both perfect negative candidates. Our guide on how to find negative keywords covers additional discovery methods.

Build Starter Lists by Business Model: Before you have campaign data, create a foundational negative list based on your offer. Ask yourself: What are people definitely not looking for when they should click my ad? What adjacent intents exist in my keyword space that don't match my business model?

If you're a premium service provider, start with price-sensitive terms. If you're local, start with wrong locations. If you sell products, start with service-related terms. This proactive approach prevents waste from day one.

Ongoing Refinement as Campaigns Mature: Your negative keyword list should grow with your campaigns. As you expand to new keyword themes or broader match types, new irrelevant queries will surface. The Search Terms Report becomes your feedback loop—each review session should result in a handful of new negatives.

Watch for seasonal patterns too. Retailers might need to add "Black Friday" and "Cyber Monday" as negatives during those periods if they're not running promotions, then remove them afterward.

Putting Your Negative Keyword List to Work

Finding negative keywords is only half the battle. Implementation strategy determines how effectively they protect your budget.

Campaign-Level vs. Account-Level Lists: Google Ads lets you apply negatives at the campaign level (affecting only that campaign) or create shared negative keyword lists that apply across multiple campaigns. Account-level lists are perfect for universal negatives like job terms and competitor brands that should be excluded everywhere. Campaign-specific negatives handle unique exclusions relevant to particular product lines or targeting strategies. Learn the specifics in our guide on where to add negative keywords in Google Ads.

Best practice: Create a "Universal Negatives" shared list with 50-100 terms that apply to all campaigns, then add campaign-specific negatives as needed. For a ready-to-use starting point, check out our Google Ads negative keyword list.

Review Frequency: New campaigns need weekly Search Terms Report reviews for the first month. Once campaigns stabilize, bi-weekly or monthly reviews are usually sufficient. High-budget campaigns or those using broad match keywords need more frequent attention. Set calendar reminders—this isn't optional maintenance, it's active budget protection.

Avoiding Over-Exclusion: Here's the danger: too many negative keywords can strangle your reach. If you add "best" as a broad match negative because you saw a few irrelevant queries, you'll also block "best running shoes for marathon training"—a high-intent query you probably want.

Before adding a negative, ask: Could this term appear in valuable queries? Check search volume and review multiple examples. When in doubt, use phrase or exact match negatives instead of broad match to maintain precision without limiting reach. Avoid the pitfalls outlined in our article on mistakes to avoid when managing negative keywords.

Quick Wins—Universal Negatives Almost Everyone Should Use: Start with these proven performers: "jobs," "careers," "salary," "hiring," "employment," "resume," "free," "torrent," "download," "crack," "pirate," "porn," "xxx," and "nude." These terms rarely align with legitimate commercial intent and are safe to block in most business contexts.

Add your own company name if you're running generic keyword campaigns—you don't want to pay for clicks from people already searching for you by name. They'll find you through organic results or branded campaigns.

Your Next Steps: Building Smarter Campaigns

Negative keywords are one of the highest-ROI activities in PPC because they deliver immediate results with minimal effort. Start with universal negatives that apply across your account—those job-related terms and price-sensitive words that never convert. Then dive into your Search Terms Report and spend 30 minutes identifying patterns in irrelevant traffic.

Build your first campaign-specific negative list based on what you discover. If you're seeing DIY queries, add those variations. If wrong locations keep appearing, exclude them. If competitor brand searches are draining budget, block them. Each negative you add is a small budget win that compounds over time.

Make this a weekly habit for the first month, then shift to bi-weekly reviews once you've captured the obvious waste. Your negative keyword list should grow to 100+ terms over time—that's not excessive, it's strategic. The advertisers with the tightest campaigns and best ROAS are the ones who treat negative keywords as an ongoing optimization practice, not a one-time setup task.

The beautiful thing about negative keywords? They're a set-it-and-forget-it optimization. Once added, they work silently in the background, filtering out waste without requiring constant attention. Your campaigns become more efficient, your cost per acquisition drops, and your budget focuses on searchers who actually want what you're selling.

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