Keywords that stop an ad showing on a search. They come in broad, phrase and exact match, and they don't reach close variants.
A negative keyword tells Google not to show an ad on searches containing it. Google explains the three types with running shoes: negative broad blocks searches with all the words in any order, negative phrase blocks the words in that order with anything around them, and negative exact blocks only “running shoes” itself.
Unlike ordinary keywords, negatives don't match close variants. Google's example is a negative flowers that blocks “red flowers” but not “red flower”. It also says negatives account for casing and misspellings, and that synonyms and plurals have to be added by hand. A spaced form such as “your brand” for “yourbrand” is a different search.
- Up to 10,000 per campaign, 20 shared lists of up to 5,000 each, and 1,000 at account level.
- Added from the search terms report, a negative is negative exact by default.
- An ad can still show when the negative word comes after the 16th word of a search.
For affiliates, a brand's terms often require its name as a negative on every campaign that could show on it. The guide to negative keywords covers the list to ask for.
Google's own help and policy pages first.