Every PPC manager has been there: watching the budget drain on clicks that will never convert. A luxury furniture store pays for someone searching “DIY dining table plans.” A bespoke staircase company gets charged for “cheap spiral staircase” queries.
Like most things in digital marketing, the solution is never a one-size-fits-all, and it’s not simple. But, if you are looking to start somewhere to solve this problem, start with the strategic use of negative keywords.
In my experience, negative keywords lists are often systematically underused or overused, making them an unsung hero in my eyes. This is particularly relevant now, when costs have exploded (average CPCs now exceed $2.69), AI-driven campaigns trigger ads for increasingly irrelevant queries and campaign automation has removed most other control mechanisms.
Strategic negative keyword implementation isn’t about blanket exclusions; it’s about precision. You need to understand timing (new accounts need exploration time), match types (they behave differently), and data-driven decision making.
In this piece, we’ll examine real client case studies where strategic implementation cut costs by 50% while doubling conversion rates, plus show you how to avoid the pitfalls that turn optimisations into performance killers.
What Are Negative Keywords?
Negative keywords are search terms that you specifically exclude from triggering your ads. They act as a filter, preventing your ads from appearing when users search for queries that aren’t relevant to your business, even if those queries contain your target keywords.
Think of them as potential gatekeepers of relevance. While your positive keywords say “show my ad for these terms,” negative keywords say “but don’t show my ad for these specific variations.”
This strategic exclusion can benefit your Google Ads campaigns by eliminating wasted spend, enhancing targeting precision, improving cost efficiency, boosting Quality Scores, and ultimately delivering higher return on investment. Pay attention to the word, can here. It’s important because while they can benefit the account, it really depends on how they are used!
Let’s start with a simple example of negative keywords in PPC
You run a luxury furniture store targeting the keyword “dining tables.” Without negative keywords, your ads might appear for searches like:
“DIY dining table plans”
“free dining table”
“dining table repair service”
“budget dining room ideas”
Someone searching “DIY dining table plans” most likely wants to build their own table. They’re specifically looking to avoid buying a finished product.
The DIY community takes pride in creating things themselves, so showing them a ready-made luxury table fundamentally misunderstands their intent and values. Your oak dining table, costing £899 is the opposite of what they’re likely looking for.
You can avoid this by simply adding strategic negatives like “DIY,” “plans,” “build” and “homemade” to your campaigns. Not to mention excluding the term “budget” here, as this will be a key optimisation for a luxury business to weed out anyone looking for cheap, low-cost items. You could go even further here and exclude budget competitors such as “Ikea dining tables”. The aim is to ensure your luxury furniture ads reach only qualified prospects looking to purchase finished dining tables across Google’s entire network, not makers who want to create their own or bargain hunters looking for a deal.
2025 Market Reality: Why Negative Keywords Are More Critical Than Ever
PPC has become increasingly competitive and expensive.
The average CPC for Google search ads is $2.69 (but is higher for legal and finance industries due to their high competitiveness), making every irrelevant click a possible costly mistake that compounds quickly.
To make matters worse, Google’s changes to keyword match types and the limited control within Performance Max campaigns have only amplified this risk.
This is where negative keyword lists can make all the difference – but only if used strategically!
As someone who started PPC back when we had all the control in the world, I get it. But just because we are used to something doesn’t make it right. Even for optimising PMax campaigns, this isn’t one-size-fits-all. Whether and how you apply negative keywords should be decided on an account-by-account basis, weighing the trade-offs carefully. It’s a fine balance.
Strategic use of negative keyword lists in PPC
At its core, adding negative keywords to your PPC campaigns has the power to create a cascade of performance improvements that touch every aspect of your campaigns. Specifically, strategic implementation can help advertisers:
- Eliminate wasted spend
- Boost click-through rates
- Improve conversion rates
- Enhance quality score
1. Eliminating wasted spend
This one always seems like a no-brainer. Every click from an irrelevant search query is a financial loss. Unfortunately, as mentioned earlier, this is not always the case, and it depends on your definition of loss. Is it a loss if you run PMax in a new PPC account with no negative keywords guardrails to allow the system to learn? Would you classify this as a loss if it helps you gather the data you need to optimise your campaigns across the account more effectively at a later date?
What for one advertiser is a waste of budget might be a strategic investment for another. The point is: there is no one size fits all, and you will need to evaluate based on your unique business, your KPIs,your customer base, the age of the PPC account and the size of your budget.
A key consideration is also deciding what level is best for your negative keyword list – you can add at the account, campaign and ad group level. Most PMax campaigns, for example, now benefit from campaign-level negative keywords. This is a great tool for channelling traffic through the funnel and into the right product pages. At Vixen Digital, we are adding more and more negatives at the campaign level for PMax instead of the account level, where they would impact your search and brand campaigns.
Let’s look at a real-world example from one of our clients: First Step Design.
First Step Designs manufactures, supplies and installs high-end bespoke staircases as well as designs one-of-a-kind staircase renovations. They have been running PPC ads for a while, but for the last year, they noticed a decrease in both the quantity and quality of the leads. This was not a new account so the name of the game was audit what is there, learn from it and then optimise.
We discovered that the original PMax campaign lacked guardrails, resulting in the budget being spent on low-intent and irrelevant traffic. This included the lack of a strategic negative keywords list. For example, we found the list did not exclude searches for competitor brands offering cheaper or lower-quality alternatives.
By implementing a structured negative keyword strategy, we were able to stop PMax from surfacing ads for those misaligned queries. This helped reduce spend on users who were unlikely to convert, halving the cost per acquisition (CPA) and ensuring the budget was directed toward more suitable, high-intent prospects.
The result was a CPA decrease of 50%!
Check out the full PPC for Home Improvement case study here!
2. Boosting Click-Through Rates
Another on the surface no-brainer is click-through rates (CTR). Logically, when ads stop appearing for irrelevant searches, they’re shown to a smaller but far more interested audience. This naturally increases your click-through rate (CTR) as the ratio of engaged users to total impressions improves.
The challenge is yet again in the details. New accounts might not have enough data to guide the system, or you might accidentally add too many broad negatives, so your CTR rates might actually drop.
Adding too many broad negatives too soon can prevent it from discovering high-performing but unexpected search terms.
Another consideration is your market. If you add too many broad negative keywords, you may limit Google’s ability to match your ads to valid (albeit lower-volume) queries. This can shrink your impression pool and result in fewer total clicks and lower CTR. If your business is in niche markets, this effect is compounded.
In the First Step Designs case, the negative keyword strategy worked because:
- The account had enough historical data to guide exclusions
- It targeted low-quality competitor queries that were proven to generate spam leads.
- It didn’t aggressively restrict reach; it refined it.
So yes, negatives can boost CTR but only when you’re guiding, not handcuffing, the algorithm.
3. Improving Conversion Rates
We all know that higher relevance leads to better conversions. When users click on ads that precisely match their search intent, they’re significantly more likely to complete desired actions on your landing page. Another no-brainer, right?
But again, context matters. Just because you’re getting fewer irrelevant clicks doesn’t automatically mean your conversion rate will skyrocket. Sometimes, when you aggressively cut out broader or exploratory terms too early, you might also eliminate long-tail queries that convert well but don’t look promising at first glance.
Conversion rates are not just about targeting the “right” traffic; they’re also influenced by landing page experience, the appeal of your offer, and timing in the buyer journey. Blocking out early-stage, higher-funnel queries might give you a cleaner conversion rate, but it could also reduce your pipeline of future prospects.
In the case of First Step Designs, their negative keyword strategy led to a 105% increase in conversion rate, but this wasn’t accidental. The exclusions were based on clear evidence: competitor terms were producing spammy or low-fit leads, and traffic from certain queries was repeatedly failing to convert.
With this clarity, we didn’t just clean up traffic; we made sure every click was relevant enough to convert.
So yes, negative keywords can absolutely improve conversion rates, if they’re backed by data, timed correctly, and used to support, not suppress, campaign learning.
4. Enhancing Quality Score
While negative keywords aren’t a direct Quality Score factor, they powerfully influence its core components, making them one of the most effective ways to improve your keyword Quality Scores in Google Ads:
- Expected CTR: Filtering out low-engagement queries improves historical performance data
- Ad Relevance: Better query-to-ad alignment increases relevance scores
- Landing Page Experience: More qualified traffic leads to better user engagement metrics
Here’s the nuance: Quality Score is calculated at the keyword level, and not all campaigns work in this way in Google Ads.
Let’s take Pmax as an example again. PMax doesn’t operate with traditional keywords in the same way as Search campaigns. Negative keywords don’t “improve Quality Score” in PMax directly. Instead, they help shape the traffic that ends up interacting with your assets, affecting the underlying signals Google uses to evaluate campaign performance. Also, this campaign type generally has a much broader reach, so you will likely need to use more negative keywords to funnel the traffic effectively.
In the First Step Designs example, implementing a strategic negative keyword list helped reduce irrelevant clicks, which in turn meant their asset groups were engaging a more qualified audience. This better alignment between query, ad, and landing page reinforced positive behavioural signals. Users were spending more time on the site, converting more, and bouncing less.
That kind of consistent, relevant user interaction builds campaign credibility in the eyes of Google. So while you won’t see a PMax Quality Score number tick upwards, the effects are real: better engagement, better efficiency, stronger algorithmic trust and a system that learn far more quickly.
The Case for Understanding Match Types
One of the common pitfalls we see when auditing accounts is the lack of understanding of different match types. This is super important if you want to guide your PPC campaigns without over-restricting it!
Negative keywords behave differently from the keywords you do want to target.
Let’s break it down using examples from our work with First Step Designs.
- Negative Broad Match (Default)
Example keyword: budget
What it blocks: Any search query that contains all the words, in any order, and with other terms included.
This would mean that your ads don’t appear for searches such as “budget spiral staircase”, “staircase on a budget”, “within budget custom stairs”. They would still appear for any searches that do not include the word budget or synonyms such as ‘cheap’ or ‘low cost’.
We deliberately avoided broad match negatives for First Step Designs because they can be too aggressive. While broad match would have blocked price-sensitive searches, it also risked eliminating valuable traffic from qualified prospects who might mention budget in context (like “unlimited budget custom staircase”). The precision of phrase and exact match gave us better control.
However, it’s worth noting that exact match negatives are less time-consuming to add, but a phrase match keyword could rule out multiple exact match terms – so again, think wisely about what terms you add as negatives.
- Negative Phrase Match
Example keyword: “cheap”
What it blocks: Any query that includes the exact phrase in the same word order, even if other words are added.
This would ensure that your ads don’t appear for searches such as “cheap spiral staircase”, “cheap staircase installation”… But it would mean that they appear for searches such as “affordable quality staircase” (different wording, no exact phrase match).
This was the most frequently used match type for First Step Designs. Phrase match was ideal for excluding price-sensitive terms like “cheap”, “low cost”, and “on a budget”, as well as materials outside their scope like “steel” and “marble”. We also excluded retail competitors like “b and q” and “wickes”.
- Negative Exact Match
Example keyword: [staircase parts]
What it blocks: Only that exact search term, with no additional words before or after.
This would mean that your PPC ads don’t appear for searches such as “staircase parts”… But it would mean that they appear for searches such as “staircase parts suppliers”, “wooden staircase parts” (additional words included).
We used exact match much more sparingly for First Step Design, mainly when a specific term had high volume but proved to be unqualified traffic. These were often edge cases like [staircase parts] or [banisters for stairs] that brought in leads looking for individual components rather than complete custom staircase installations.
You will notice a familiar theme here with understanding match types…Match types aren’t one-size-fits-all.
Broad match is great for sweeping cleanups, phrase match helps with targeting competitor terms or misleading phrases, and exact match is for scalpel-level exclusions.
Strategic use means understanding the differences and using the right type in the right context! Or, sometimes, not using a type at all.
Is It Better to Have More or Fewer Negative Keywords in Your PPC account?
There has been a running debate, rightfully so, around how many keywords you should actually include in your negative keyword list. After all, remember you could inadvertently hurt your results if you go too far. Now that the limits have increased even in the most automated campaign types, it is also far more tempting to go overboard!
The answer to how many negative keywords you should add depends on three broad things:
- Your budget, audience and size of the account
- The data you have in the account (or the age of the account)
- Your management and automation capabilities.
Here’s some advice on the subject:
If you have a small budget or you run a smaller account with a specific target audience: Negative keywords are your key account optimisation tool. Again, use them strategically, but ensure you do use them! Too many times, we have seen smaller accounts with limited budgets and niche audiences ignore negative keyword lists and waste valuable funds for terms that will never get them a conversion.
If you’re working with a mature account: You’ve likely got plenty of historical data, so you can afford to be more precise. In the case of First Step Designs, we already knew certain competitor terms were pulling in low-quality leads. We used that insight to confidently add targeted negatives without stifling performance.
On the other hand, if you are just starting off and are not constrained by budget, go light. Let the system learn. In this phase, adding too many negative keywords too early can block valuable discovery paths, search terms that don’t look great at first but turn out to convert well over time. Start with only the most obvious exclusions and wait until you’ve collected enough data before tightening the list.
If you have limited time or automation support: The more negative keywords you add, the more monitoring and upkeep is needed. If you’re not regularly reviewing search term reports or adjusting your list, a bloated negative list could quickly become outdated and restrictive. It’s remarkably easy to add and then forget about them, but over time, too many could stifle an account, or your targeting could change or broaden out (e.g. if you want to add more budget or widen reach with more brand awareness or generic type searches).
It’s better to have a lean, relevant list that’s actively managed than a giant one you never check. Here’s an example cadence to start with:
Daily: Monitor search term insights (when available)
Weekly: Review Search Term Reports for new negatives
Monthly: Analyse the performance impact of recent additions
Quarterly: Comprehensive audit including new match types and campaign structures
Annually: Review the full negative keyword strategy and tweak or overhaul, if needed
The fact is: more is not always better. The goal isn’t to block everything that might be irrelevant. It’s to eliminate what you know consistently underperforms, without cutting off campaign learning or volume. Focus on precision over volume, and always let performance data guide your exclusions.
Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them
We already spoke about the elephant in the room, over-optimising or under-optimising your PPC campaigns with a negative keywords list.
Let’s now dive into three specific pitfalls that could still trip you up:
- Negative Keyword Conflicts
One mistake we often see is accidentally blocking your own positive keywords with negatives. It’s easier to do than you think!
The good news is Google Ads Editor now has conflict detection features, and regular audits can catch these issues before they hurt performance.
- Forgetting Variations and Close Variants
Don’t just add one version of a negative keyword and call it done. You need to think about plurals, misspellings, and different ways people might phrase the same thing. For example, First Step Designs used both “b and q” and “b&q” to catch different spelling variations of the retailer.
- Failing to update the list as the business changes
In business, things can change fast. Staying agile and managing your negative keyword lists in line with company changes can easily be overlooked. One great example of this is our client Freshwipes. Initially, their wipes were only targeted at humans.
This meant we had a lot of negative keywords added to ensure the ads don’t show up for terms related to pet wipes. Until one day, Freshwipes introduced a new product: Petwipes. We had to go through all the negative keyword lists and remove quite a lot of keywords. This was our responsibility as an agency, making sure we are proactively managing the lists.
Conclusion
Negative keywords aren’t a magic fix, but they can be a hero of your PPC campaign, if used strategically!
They require ongoing attention, regular audits, and a willingness to adapt as your business evolves.
When used strategically, with proper match types, data-driven decisions, and account-specific timing, they can transform campaign performance. This isn’t about adding more negatives or fewer negatives. It’s about adding the right negatives at the right time for the right reasons.
Start with your search term reports, focus on proven underperformers, and remember that every exclusion should serve a clear purpose. Your campaigns will be more efficient, your budget will stretch further, and you won’t be paying for clicks that will never convert.
