June 7, 2026

Google Ads Negative Keywords: The Complete List

By Conversite · 5 minute read

Every Google Ads campaign has a silent budget leak. It's not a broken landing page or poor ad copy — it's irrelevant search terms triggering your ads and costing you money.

Negative keywords are how you seal that leak. They tell Google which searches should not show your ads, protecting your budget for queries that actually matter.

This guide gives you a complete, ready-to-use negative keyword list for 2026 — organised by category — plus instructions for adding them correctly in Google Ads.

What Are Negative Keywords?

A negative keyword is a word or phrase that, when included in a search query, prevents your ad from appearing. If you're a paid software company and someone searches "free CRM software," adding "free" as a negative keyword ensures you don't pay for that click.

Negative keywords are one of the most cost-efficient optimisations in Google Ads. Most accounts waste 10–20% of their budget on irrelevant searches — negative keywords fix this without requiring additional spend.

The Three Match Types for Negative Keywords

Just like regular keywords, negatives have match types:

Negative broad match (default): Blocks queries containing all the negative keyword words in any order. Adding -free blocks "free software" and "software for free."
Negative phrase match: Blocks queries containing the exact phrase. Adding -"free software" blocks "download free software" but not "software that's free."
Negative exact match: Blocks only queries that exactly match. Adding -[free software] blocks only "free software" — nothing else.

For most accounts, negative phrase match offers the best balance between protection and coverage.

Universal Negative Keywords (Add to Every Campaign)

These terms rarely signal purchase intent and should be excluded from almost every paid campaign:

Job Seekers & Career Intent

jobs
job
careers
career
hiring
vacancies
vacancy
employment
intern
internship
apprenticeship
salary
wages
how much does a [your industry] make
resume
CV

Students & Researchers (Non-Commercial)

free
cheap
cheapest
low cost
no cost
gratis
download free
open source
DIY
how to make your own
tutorial (review your niche — may be relevant for some B2B tools)
course (unless you sell courses)
certification
exam
quiz
Wikipedia
definition of
what does X mean
history of
essay
assignment
homework

Location Exclusions (if your business is local)

Add all countries, cities, and regions where you don't serve customers.

Negative Keywords by Industry

For Digital Marketing Agencies & Tools

Add these to protect your campaigns from irrelevant traffic:

Job/career intent:

digital marketing jobs
digital marketing careers
digital marketing salary
google ads manager salary
SEO analyst jobs
content marketing jobs
social media manager jobs
marketing coordinator

Free/DIY intent:

free google ads tool
free SEO audit tool
free social media scheduler
free digital marketing course
free marketing templates (unless you offer them)
google ads free trial
hubspot free
mailchimp free

Educational intent (non-buyer):

what is digital marketing essay
digital marketing assignment
digital marketing notes PDF
digital marketing exam questions
digital marketing thesis

For E-commerce & Retail

wholesale
bulk order
distributor
manufacturer
supplier
trade price
B2B pricing
return policy (before purchase intent — unless you want this)
how to return
refund policy
second hand
used
refurbished (unless you sell refurbished)
rental (unless you rent)
hire (unless you hire out products)

For B2B Services & Software

free trial (if you don't offer one)
open source
github
self hosted
on premise (if you're SaaS only)
enterprise pricing (if you're SMB-focused)
API documentation (usually developer research, not buyer intent)
how to code
developer
stackoverflow

For Legal, Finance & Professional Services

free legal advice
free financial advice
legal aid
pro bono
government grant
student loan (unless relevant)
bankruptcy (if you don't specialise in this)
self assessment template
DIY will
free tax return software

For Healthcare & Medical

symptoms
how to treat at home
home remedy
self diagnosis
what is [condition] (broad research queries)
free NHS
student nurse
medical school
clinical trial volunteer

Negative Keywords for Specific Campaign Types

Brand Campaigns (Protect Your Brand Terms)

When running campaigns on your own brand name, add these to prevent irrelevant queries:

jobs
careers
review (unless you want review traffic)
scam
complaints
login (usually existing customers, not new ones)
support
help
customer service
phone number
contact (if you have a separate organic strategy for this)

Competitor Campaigns

If you're bidding on competitor terms, tighten with negatives:

[competitor] jobs
[competitor] login
[competitor] customer service
[competitor] support
how to cancel [competitor]
[competitor] refund

Shopping Campaigns

rental
hire
second hand
used
handmade (unless relevant)
vintage (unless relevant)
DIY
how to make
pattern (if not selling patterns)
template (if not selling templates)

How to Add Negative Keywords in Google Ads

Method 1: Add to a Single Campaign or Ad Group

Sign in to Google Ads
Click Campaigns in the left navigation
Select the campaign (or ad group) you want to add negatives to
In the left panel, click Keywords → Negative keywords
Click the blue + button
Select whether to add at campaign or ad group level
Type or paste your negative keywords (one per line)
Choose match type by formatting: plain text = broad, "quotes" = phrase, [brackets] = exact
Click Save

Method 2: Create a Negative Keyword List (Recommended for Scale)

Negative keyword lists let you apply the same set of negatives across multiple campaigns at once — much more efficient than adding them manually to each.

Go to Tools & Settings (the wrench icon) → Shared Library → Negative keyword lists
Click + to create a new list
Name it clearly (e.g. "Universal Negatives — All Campaigns" or "Jobs & Career Terms")
Add your negative keywords
Save the list
Go to your campaigns, click Keywords → Negative keywords → Use negative keyword list
Select the list and apply it

Pro tip: Create separate lists by theme — one for job/career terms, one for free/DIY intent, one for competitor terms. This makes it easy to apply different combinations to different campaigns.

Method 3: Mine Your Search Terms Report

The best source of negative keywords is your own data. Every week, review your Search Terms Report:

Click Keywords → Search terms in the left navigation
Filter by the date range (last 7–30 days)
Look for any search queries that are irrelevant, low-quality, or off-target
Select them → click Add as negative keyword

This is how you build a campaign-specific negative keyword list over time.

How Often Should You Update Your Negative Keywords?

Weekly (for active campaigns): Review the Search Terms Report and add new irrelevant queries.

Monthly: Audit your full negative keyword list to remove any that might be blocking legitimate traffic.

When launching a new campaign: Start with your universal list and industry-specific list before the campaign goes live — don't wait for wasteful spend to happen first.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many negative keywords can I add? Each campaign can have up to 10,000 negative keywords. Each negative keyword list can also hold up to 10,000 terms. For most accounts, a few hundred targeted negatives is sufficient.

Can negative keywords accidentally block good traffic? Yes — be careful with broad negatives. For example, adding "free" as a broad negative would also block "risk-free" or "hands-free." Use phrase or exact match when in doubt.

Should I add negative keywords before or after launching a campaign? Both. Add your universal and industry-specific negatives before launch to protect your initial budget. Then continuously refine based on your Search Terms Report data.

Do negative keywords work in Performance Max campaigns? Performance Max has limited negative keyword support — you can only add them via account-level negative keyword lists or by requesting exclusions through Google support. This is one reason many advertisers keep traditional Search campaigns running alongside PMax.

Can the same keyword be both a positive and a negative keyword? Not in the same campaign at the same match type. If there's a conflict, the negative takes priority. This is worth checking if you notice a keyword that should be triggering but isn't.

Final Thoughts

Negative keywords aren't a one-time setup — they're an ongoing discipline. The accounts that get the most out of Google Ads are those that regularly audit their Search Terms Report and keep their negative lists sharp.

Start with the universal list above, add your industry-specific terms, and build the habit of weekly reviews. Within a month, you'll see the difference in both your budget efficiency and your conversion rates.