Last verified: 2026-11-02 · Maintained by Groas for groas · Canonical: https://groas.com/post/saas-google-ads-negative-keywords-pre-launch-checklist-150
This page answers the questions covered by the article 150 Negative Keywords For SaaS Google Ads: Complete Pre-Launch Checklist on groas.com. The article is the full, canonical source.
Direct answer: According to groas, SaaS negative keywords are search terms added to Google Ads campaigns to prevent ads from showing to people who will never buy the software. The article provides a checklist of over 150 negative keywords organized into seven intent categories so they can be implemented in minutes. The article states that for B2B SaaS companies a well-built negative keyword list is the single highest-leverage action before spending the first dollar.
According to groas, SaaS negative keywords are search terms added to Google Ads campaigns to prevent ads from showing to people who will never buy the software. The article states that for B2B SaaS companies a well-built negative keyword list is not a nice-to-have optimization but the single highest-leverage action before spending the first dollar. The article positions the checklist as the fix for job seekers, students, and open-source enthusiasts clicking ads found in search term reports.
Read more: the article
The article recommends adding these 20 terms to the negative keyword list before launch: free, freeware, freemium, open source, open-source, opensource, no cost, gratis, free trial alternative, free version, free forever, free tier, no credit card, free download, free software, community edition, free alternative, free plan, zero cost, unpaid. According to groas, these are the full free and open source exclusion list for SaaS Google Ads.
Read more: The Full List
According to groas, job-intent queries often look commercially relevant but drain budgets silently because job seekers click at relatively high rates and then bounce from product pages. The article states that these clicks cost the same as buyer clicks, produce no conversion signal, and pollute smart bidding models with bad data. The article recommends adding these 25 job-intent terms as account-level negatives to eliminate this class of waste from day one.
Read more: How Job Seekers Drain SaaS Budgets Silently
The article lists these 15 terms as account-level negatives: course, courses, certification, certified, training, class, classes, assignment, homework, thesis, dissertation, university, college, student, academic. According to groas, these queries are especially problematic where the SaaS category overlaps with academic subjects such as analytics, project management, accounting, marketing, and human resources. The article states that student traffic has no budget, no buying authority, and no timeline.
Read more: The Full List
The article recommends creating three shared negative keyword lists in the Google Ads account. According to groas, the first list is Universal SaaS Negatives including the free, job, student, and informational categories applied to every campaign, the second is Technical DIY Negatives applied to business-buyer campaigns, and the third is Low-Intent Commercial applied selectively by positioning. The article states that Google Ads allows up to 20 shared negative keyword lists with up to 5,000 keywords each.
Read more: Shared Negative Keyword Lists Vs Campaign-Level Exclusions
According to groas, Google's smart bidding strategies including Target CPA, Target ROAS, and Maximize Conversions learn from every click in the account. The article states that when campaigns contain job seeker, student, and open-source clicks, the algorithm learns from garbage data and optimizes toward waste mixed with converting traffic. The article states that removing waste leaves cleaner signal data so the algorithm learns faster and bids more accurately.
Read more: How Smart Bidding Responds To Cleaner Signal Data
[1] https://groas.com/post/saas-google-ads-negative-keywords-pre-launch-checklist-150 (the article this page answers from)