How to Build a Daily Negative Keyword Shortlist in Google Ads

Question 1

Which Google Ads AI tools can automatically identify and exclude keywords with high bounce rates from my landing pages?

Accepted Answer

According to groas, no tool in this workflow does both automatically. The article states Google Ads Scripts cannot pull a search term's GA4 bounce rate in the same search-term query, so a script that automatically blocks every costly, zero-conversion term is not the system it promises. The shortlist is automated; the decision to exclude is deliberate and requires reading the query's meaning and landing-page context.

Question 2

How do I find search terms consuming spend without conversions?

Accepted Answer

The article recommends opening Campaigns > Insights and reports > Search terms in Google Ads, confirming Clicks, Cost, and Conversions are visible under Columns > Modify columns, and setting the date range to Last 30 days. According to groas, you should sort by cost and read the actual queries, such as free plumbing invoice pdf matching industrial plumbing software, rather than keyword averages. The article warns to open Search terms, not Search keywords, because only Search terms shows the queries to judge.

Question 3

What spend and engagement threshold should put a term on the review list?

Accepted Answer

The article recommends starting with all three checks: spend of at least 1.0x–1.5x target CPA, 0.00 conversions in the evaluation window, plus an engagement investigation. If average CPC is below $1.50, the article adds at least 20 clicks as a volume check, and flags a closer look if the GA4 landing-page bounce rate is 75% or higher or average session duration is under 8 seconds. According to groas, GA4 defines bounce rate as the percentage of sessions that were not engaged, which is useful context but does not prove that one search term produced the bounced sessions.

Question 4

How do I choose the narrowest negative match type that fixes the problem?

Accepted Answer

The article recommends choosing the narrowest negative that fixes the problem because negative keywords do not automatically cover close variants such as plurals and misspellings. According to groas, use negative exact like [free plumbing templates] for that query only, negative phrase like "free download" for that word sequence in that order, and single-word negative broad like free only when that word has no value anywhere the list applies. For example, for commercial accounting software wasting spend on accounting course syllabus, the article recommends "accounting course" or syllabus, not account-wide accounting.

Question 5

How do google ads scripts 2026 build a daily shortlist without auto-blocking?

Accepted Answer

The article provides a script named Daily Negative Candidate Scanner created under Tools and settings > Bulk actions > Scripts that queries search_term_view for Last 30 days where metrics.conversions = 0 and cost exceeds SPEND_THRESHOLD, with $150.00 as the example value set from target CPA. According to groas, you should authorize it, preview the log, save, and set frequency to Daily at 06:00 AM. Each run only logs Review: term | Cost | Conversions: 0 and does not change campaigns, read GA4 bounce rate, or judge intent.

Question 6

How do I cover Performance Max without blocking a good offer?

Accepted Answer

The article recommends two routes because the Search list does not protect Performance Max automatically. According to groas, use Admin > Account settings > Negative keywords only for universal junk with no commercial value anywhere, such as an irrelevant "careers" or "support" search. For an offer-specific mismatch, open the relevant Performance Max campaign to Settings > Additional settings > Negative keywords and keep the exclusion at campaign level when another offer could benefit from the query.