Video summary

The RIGHT WAY To Find & Add Negative Keywords (Google Ads)

Main summary

Key takeaways

Business

What negative keywords do (and why they matter)

  • Definition: Negative keywords are words/phrases you add so Google prevents your ads from showing to searches containing those terms.
  • Core business impact: Reduces wasted clicks/budget from irrelevant intent, which typically improves ROAS / cost per lead (CPL) / cost per conversion.
  • Example: If you sell sofas, adding “free” as a negative keyword prevents your ads from showing for searches like “free sofas” (low likelihood to convert; you still pay for clicks).

Why this is especially critical for small budgets

The presenter claims negative keyword lists can prevent losing roughly 30%–70% of budget when campaigns use broad or phrase match and you don’t control irrelevant search traffic.

Playbook: The primary process (reactive) — use the Search Terms report

Recommended workflow

  1. Open the relevant campaign.
  2. Go to Insights/Reports → Search terms.
  3. Review search queries that triggered impressions and clicks (and ideally conversions by search term if tracking is enabled).
  4. Identify search terms that are:
    • Not your customer intent
    • About a different business/product
    • Too “wrong” to convert
  5. Add them as negative keywords (either the full query or key fragments).

Concrete examples given (branded campaign)

  • Brand-name confusion (other businesses/people):
    • “Ben Heath Newbry” → unrelated interior business; expected to produce accidental clicks.
    • “Ben Heath Vegas” → unrelated poker player; likely poor fit.
  • Operational tactic shown: Select the bad search term and “Add as negative keyword” to the relevant negative keyword list.
  • Proactive expansion: After identifying “Ben Heath Newbry,” they also consider adding partial negatives like “newb” (depending on match type strategy later).
  • Iteration loop: As campaigns mature, the share of irrelevant queries typically decreases because you continuously rinse and repeat negative keyword additions.

Playbook: Common “starter” negative keyword categories (general)

The presenter suggests many advertisers should at least consider excluding:

  • “free” (unless you truly sell/ascend from free to paid)
  • “cheap / cheapest” (unless your business serves that segment)
  • Secondhand/used (only exclude if you don’t sell used; they warn not to overdo it if you do)
  • Competitor brand names (usually exclude; caveat: exclude unless you can credibly out-position them with a superior product/value prop)
    • Example caveat mentioned: only consider targeting competitors if you can “siphon” customers via superiority on ad + landing page.

Playbook: Strategic negatives (beyond “bad words”)

Use negatives to exclude close-but-not-right intent

Not every irrelevant search is “obviously bad” (free/cheap). Add negatives when someone is searching for something you don’t offer or where you’re not the best option.

  • Example (accountancy vs bookkeeping):
    • If you do accountancy but not bookkeeping, add “bookkeeping” as a negative keyword to avoid paying for traffic likely to convert elsewhere.
  • Example (kitchens — new builds vs repairs):
    • If you build/install new kitchens (higher value) but also repair kitchens:
      • Add negatives like “repair” / “restore” to avoid bidding on lower-value jobs.
      • Rationale: target the higher-LTV segment and allocate budget to higher-value intent.

Playbook: The primary process (proactive) — use Google Keyword Planner “suggested keywords”

How to find negatives before you spend

  • In Google Keyword Planner, evaluate not only the keywords you want to target, but also the suggestions Google associates as related.
  • If Keyword Planner suggests terms that you believe will attract irrelevant intent, add those as negative keywords.

Tactical scaling guidance

  • In high-volume spaces, be more selective: even if some irrelevant terms are “related,” you may prefer they don’t trigger your ads.
  • The presenter’s method can result in a longer negative keyword list than the actual targeted keyword list, and they see this as a positive:
    • Better to start too restrictive, preventing wasted spend.
    • Later, if you’re missing volume, you can loosen by removing negatives.

Match types for negative keywords (why they matter)

  • Negative keywords also use match types (the same concept as normal keywords): broad / phrase / exact.
  • Presenter caution:
    • Negatives added from the Search Terms report are treated as exact match by default (per their explanation).
    • You may choose broader or narrower blocking depending on:
      • Search volume
      • How strictly you want to block that term
      • The business impact of over-blocking vs under-blocking

They recommend checking another video specifically about match types.

Metrics / KPIs explicitly referenced (directionally)

  • ROAS: expected to improve after implementing a “properly constructed” negative keyword list.
  • Cost per lead (CPL) / cost per conversion: expected to improve once irrelevant traffic is removed.
  • Conversions by search term (only possible if tracking is set up): used to decide which search queries to exclude.
  • Budget waste reduction: claimed potential savings of 30%–70% in scenarios with broad/phrase match and insufficient negatives.

Key actionable recommendations (condensed)

  • Start with the Search Terms report and add negatives based on observed queries that triggered impressions/clicks.
  • Add category negatives like free/cheap/brand names/secondhand (as appropriate to your offer).
  • Add strategic negatives for close-but-wrong intent (e.g., bookkeeping, repair/restore).
  • Use Keyword Planner suggestions to preemptively block likely irrelevant traffic.
  • Iterate regularly: negatives should be a continuous optimization loop (reactive + proactive).
  • Choose negative match types intentionally to balance over-blocking vs wasted spend.

Presenters / Sources

  • Presenter: Ben Heath (as referenced throughout the subtitles)

Original video