Is Your Google Ads Budget Leaking? A Guide to Negative Keywords
If your ads show up for people who will never buy, your budget quietly drains away. Here's how to read the search terms report and add the right negative keywords.
September 25, 2026 · 2 min read
A big part of a Google Ads budget can go to searches from people who will never buy. The most effective way to stop that is negative keywords.
What is a negative keyword?
A negative keyword tells Google: "don't show my ad for searches containing this". If you run a hair salon, someone searching "how to cut hair at home" wants to do it themselves. Showing them an ad costs you money but won't bring a customer.
Start with the search terms report
Find what to block with data, not guesses:
- Open your campaign in Google Ads.
- Under Keywords, open the Search terms report.
- Select the last 30 days and sort by cost.
- Flag searches that got clicks but no conversions and have nothing to do with your business.
Searches worth blocking
It depends on your business. Ask: "Would this person buy from me after this search?" If not, block it. Common examples:
- Job seekers: "jobs", "hiring", "salary"
- Do-it-yourself: "how to", "recipe", "at home"
- Information only: "what is", "pdf", "course"
- Areas you don't serve: city or neighbourhood names
- Products you don't sell: "used", "rental" (if you don't offer them)
Don't copy a generic list. Blocking "used" makes no sense for a restaurant. Build your list from your own search terms.
Match types
You can add negative keywords in three ways:
- Broad match: hair jobs → blocks searches containing both words, in any order.
- Phrase match: "hair jobs" → blocks searches with those words in that order.
- Exact match: [hair jobs] → blocks only that exact search.
Unlike regular keywords, negative keywords don't match close variants. Adding "job" may not block "jobs", so add important variants separately.
Where to add them
- Campaign level: affects only that campaign.
- Negative keyword list: apply one list to several campaigns. Handy for terms that should be blocked everywhere, like "jobs".
How often?
Check the search terms report weekly for new campaigns, then monthly once they settle.
Don't overdo it
Too many or too broad negatives can block people who are ready to buy. Blocking "cheap", for example, may cut out price-conscious customers who still convert. Look at a few weeks of data before blocking a term you're unsure about.
FirstADS scans your search terms and suggests the ones wasting your budget, with a reason for each. Nothing changes until you approve it.