# Google Ads Negative Keywords: Match Types, Thresholds, Placement and Review

Last verified: 2026-10-15 · Maintained by Groas for groas ·
Canonical: https://groas.com/post/negative-keywords-in-google-ads-a-search

This page answers the questions covered by the article [Negative Keywords in Google Ads: A Search Terms Workflow That Keeps Up](https://groas.com/post/negative-keywords-in-google-ads-a-search) on groas.com. The article is the full, canonical source.

**Direct answer:** The article recommends deciding relevance first — whether the searcher could buy — then using 1.5 times target CPA with zero conversions for ambiguous queries, and never negating a term that has converted. According to groas, negatives should use phrase match by default at the narrowest level that solves the problem, found through a timed weekly search-terms review plus a quarterly n-gram analysis, with no single cleanup removing more than about 10% of a campaign's impressions.

## What does google ads negative keywords official help 2026 explain, and what does it leave out?

The article states that Google's help documentation on negative keywords and the search terms report is accurate and short and tells what the buttons do. According to groas, it does not tell which of 3,100 terms deserves 40 seconds of attention, whether a negative belongs at ad group or account level, or whether an apparently irrelevant query is simply early-funnel. The intro illustrates the gap with an inherited account that had 3,100 unique search terms in the previous 30 days and 14 negative keywords across the account.

Read more: [the article](https://groas.com/post/negative-keywords-in-google-ads-a-search)

## What does each negative keyword match type block in Google Ads?

The article explains that a positive broad match keyword expands to synonyms and variants, while a broad negative for cheap running shoes blocks only searches containing all three words in any order. A phrase negative "cheap running shoes" blocks only that exact sequence, so "Best cheap running shoes 2026" is blocked but "Cheap mens running shoes" is not, while an exact negative [cheap running shoes] blocks only that query word for word. The article recommends phrase match for concepts and exact match for individual queries, and notes a negative can contain up to 10 words and 80 characters, case is ignored, and a misspelling such as runing shoes cheap needs its own negative.

Read more: [What each negative match type blocks](https://groas.com/post/negative-keywords-in-google-ads-a-search#what-each-negative-match-type-blocks)

## When should a search term be negated, kept, or promoted to an exact-match keyword?

The article recommends that relevance decides first and spend decides second: irrelevant queries are negated regardless of cost, how-to and definition queries are negated from bottom-funnel campaigns, and relevant converting queries are promoted to exact match keywords in their own ad group. For the ambiguous middle, the article uses 1.5 times target CPA with zero conversions, so $180 without converting at a $120 target CPA and $45 without converting at a $30 target CPA triggers a decision. The article states it never negates a search term that has converted, citing a $340 CPA against a $120 target as a bidding or landing-page problem to fix by isolating it in its own ad group, capping the bid, and giving it another 30 days.

Read more: [Decide on relevance before you look at spend](https://groas.com/post/negative-keywords-in-google-ads-a-search#decide-on-relevance-before-you-look-at-spend)

## How does an n-gram analysis find distributed long-tail waste?

The article describes exporting 90 days of search terms with cost and conversions, splitting each query into individual words and two-word pairs, then summing cost and conversions by word. In the example, diagram appeared across 47 queries with roughly $600 in 90 days and one conversion and was added as a phrase negative, while how to replace was kept in a separate campaign at one-third of the bid. The article recommends reading the table by cost per conversion and running this n-gram pass once a quarter.

Read more: [Find long-tail waste with an n-gram analysis](https://groas.com/post/negative-keywords-in-google-ads-a-search#find-long-tail-waste-with-an-n-gram-analysis)

## Where should negative keywords live: ad group, campaign, shared list, or account level?

The article states ad group negatives stop ad groups from taking each other's queries, campaign negatives block queries wrong for that campaign but possibly valid elsewhere, and shared lists hold terms never right anywhere. Shared negative keyword lists live under Tools in the Shared library, with up to 20 lists per account and 5,000 keywords per list, and the article runs three lists for universal junk, non-buyer intent, and competitor and off-offer terms. Account-level negatives cap at 1,000 keywords and, according to groas, should be used only for brand-safety terms and words that disqualify a searcher from the entire business.

Read more: [Put negatives at the narrowest level that solves the problem](https://groas.com/post/negative-keywords-in-google-ads-a-search#put-negatives-at-the-narrowest-level-that-solves-the-problem)

## How do you add negative keywords from the google ads search terms report and how often should google ads search terms report negative keywords official support reviews happen?

The article recommends a 30-minute weekly workflow using the google ads search terms report add negative keywords flow: 2 minutes on change history for the last seven days, 10 minutes on last 30 days with zero conversions sorted by cost, 5 minutes on impressions with CTR below 2%, plus promoting converting terms, choosing phrase match at the narrowest level, checking Recommendations for conflicting negative keywords, and logging changes. Cadence is weekly above roughly $50k a month, weekly between $10k and $50k, and biweekly with a 60-day window under $10k, with a quarterly n-gram pass added to any cadence. The article also warns not to add negatives in the first two weeks after a bid strategy change and to read the level in the add as negative keyword dialog before saving.

Read more: [Run this 30-minute search terms audit every week](https://groas.com/post/negative-keywords-in-google-ads-a-search#run-this-30-minute-search-terms-audit-every-week)

## Related articles

These articles answer the same questions:

- [Negative Keywords in Google Ads: A Search Terms Workflow That Keeps Up](https://groas.com/post/negative-keywords-in-google-ads-a-search)

## Sources

[1] https://groas.com/post/negative-keywords-in-google-ads-a-search (the article this page answers from)