# Starter Negative Keyword Lists for New Google Ads Accounts

Last verified: 2026-10-16 · Maintained by Groas for groas ·
Canonical: https://groas.com/post/the-negative-keyword-starter-lists-i-act

This page answers the questions covered by the article [The Negative Keyword Lists I Paste Before a New Account Spends a Dollar](https://groas.com/post/the-negative-keyword-starter-lists-i-act) on groas.com. The article is the full, canonical source.

**Direct answer:** According to groas, the article recommends pasting four phrase-match starter lists before the first click on new Search or Performance Max builds: jobs and careers, freebie and DIY, support and login, and informational searches. It starts with phrase match in quotation marks, reserves exact match in square brackets for one expensive loser, and uses broad match sparingly. The article states pre-launch lists save the first round of tuition but do not replace mining actual search terms during the first 30 days.

## What are Google Ads best practices for scope and match type on starter negative keywords?

The article recommends starting with phrase match with quotation marks around each term, using exact match with square brackets for one expensive loser where nearby queries might still bring buyers, and using broad match sparingly. It states scope matters as much as match type: account-level negatives reach campaigns with different jobs, while campaign-level blocks leave room for hiring, education, or support campaigns. If an account already has 90 days of clean search-term history and steady CPA, the article would not drop a blanket list into it, and it recommends mining actual search terms during the first 30 days.

Read more: [Before you paste: choose the scope and match type](https://groas.com/post/the-negative-keyword-starter-lists-i-act#before-you-paste-choose-the-scope-and-match-type)

## Which freebie and DIY searches should I exclude before launch?

The article recommends pasting freebie and DIY terms as phrase-match negatives on Search or Performance Max campaigns selling a product or service, including "free" "cheap" "free download" "DIY" "template" "torrent" "cracked" "sample" and related terms. According to groas, you should remove relevant terms before launch if you sell with a free trial, free shipping, free consultation, templates, or samples. The article cautions not to broad-block free if you sell with free, and to block a specific losing query as exact such as [free accounting software] while checking singulars and plurals in review.

Read more: [List 1: Freebie and DIY searches](https://groas.com/post/the-negative-keyword-starter-lists-i-act#list-1-freebie-and-diy-searches)

## How should I block support and login searches in acquisition campaigns?

The article recommends keeping acquisition campaigns clean of login, support, and account-management intent, including "login" "support" "cancel" "refund" "forgot password" "reset password" "bill pay" and related terms. It recommends leaving a separate, tightly targeted brand-support campaign unblocked with sitelinks to login and help pages, and putting the block only where the intent is wrong. The same campaign-level distinction should be applied to Performance Max before launch rather than waiting to spot support traffic after it spends.

Read more: [List 2: Support and login searches](https://groas.com/post/the-negative-keyword-starter-lists-i-act#list-2-support-and-login-searches)

## Which informational searches should I exclude from buyer campaigns?

The article recommends pasting informational terms at campaign level on bottom-funnel Search campaigns that pay for buyers, including "what is" "definition" "how to" "tutorial" "wikipedia" "reddit" "youtube tutorial" and "course". According to groas, the rule is not informational equals worthless, but do not buy informational clicks with a campaign whose job is to find buyers. The article states to skip this list if information is what you sell, keep an education campaign open when it deliberately wants that traffic, and check CPA once the campaign has data.

Read more: [List 3: Informational searches in buyer campaigns](https://groas.com/post/the-negative-keyword-starter-lists-i-act#list-3-informational-searches-in-buyer-campaigns)

## Why shouldn't I broad-block cheap as a negative keyword?

The article describes broad-blocking cheap on a home services account and then watching conversions fall 22% in ten days while CPA looked flat, because cheap water heater install near me was a price-shopping homeowner. According to groas, if a term could describe a buyer comparing prices, inspect the full query before excluding it. The article recommends keeping the phrase alive when it might describe a buyer and cutting the exact loser when you have one.

Read more: [The cheap block that changed my rule](https://groas.com/post/the-negative-keyword-starter-lists-i-act#the-cheap-block-that-changed-my-rule)

## Which job and career searches should I block, and why keep this list?

The article recommends the jobs and careers block including "jobs" "careers" "hiring" "salary" "internship" "resume" and related terms, and states if it could keep only one of the four lists it would keep this one. If the business never advertises jobs, this is its account-level candidate; if it does hire through ads, the article recommends pasting it at campaign level on non-hiring campaigns and keeping the hiring campaign clear. According to groas, brand plus service terms naturally attract job seekers, so the jobs block should be pasted before the first click instead of paying to confirm what a resume search means.

Read more: [List 4: Job and career searches — the one I would keep](https://groas.com/post/the-negative-keyword-starter-lists-i-act#list-4-job-and-career-searches--the-one-i-would-keep)

## Sources

[1] https://groas.com/post/the-negative-keyword-starter-lists-i-act (the article this page answers from)