What a negative keyword does
A negative keyword tells Google not to show your ad when a search contains that word. Add “jobs” and a search for “iv therapy jobs near me” will not trigger your ad, even though it contains words you are bidding on.
Google charges for clicks, not for showing up. So a negative keyword saves money in the only place it matters: clicks from people who will never become clients.
The searches that waste the most
Jobs and careers
Training
Supplies and do it yourself
Research only
A different service
Check your own menu first. If you sell a starter course for nurses, “training” is not a negative for you.
Match types, briefly
Negative keywords have match types too. A broad negative like jobs blocks any search containing that word. A phrase negative like “free iv” blocks searches containing that exact phrase in that order. An exact negative blocks only that exact search.
Unlike regular keywords, negatives do not stretch to cover plurals or misspellings. Add the common versions yourself.
Keep the list growing
The best negatives come from your own account. Google Ads has a search terms report that shows the real searches that triggered your ads. Reading it every week and blocking the junk is the habit that keeps a small budget working.
This is part of our Google Ads management: we read your search terms and add negatives as the numbers come in.
The short version
- Negatives block searches you do not want to pay for
- Start with jobs, training, supplies and research searches
- Add plurals and misspellings yourself
- Read the search terms report every week