google-ads-negative-keywordslisted

# Google Ads Negative Keywords Negative keyword hygiene is the single most underrated lever in paid search and the fastest reclaim a B2B account has. It is the cheapest hour of work in paid media and the most consistently neglected. ## Instructions 1. Build a pre-launch negative list before any new campaign spends a dollar 2. Maintain account-level shared lists + campaign-level negatives 3. Choose negative match types deliberately 4. Mine the search terms report on a weekly cadence (see search-terms) 5. Audit for over-negation quarterly — stale negatives block good traffic ## The Four Buckets (account-level shared lists) 1. **Employment** — jobs, careers, salary, hiring, internship. The largest single source of wasted B2B spend. Add as phrase-match negatives at the account level unless you are actively recruiting. 2. **Price / low-intent** — free, cheap, DIY, discount (for premium brands). Be careful with broad-match negatives here. 3. **DIY / education** — how to, tutorial, examples, PDF, template, course, "what is". 4. **Competitor brand terms** — exclude from non-brand campaigns unless you are running a deliberate conquest campaign. **Industry layer on top:** add vertical-specific exclusions. A B2B SaaS should negate "review" and "vs" until brand-search campaigns warrant them; a services firm should negate "student", "pro bono", etc. See `negative-keyword-library.md` for the 200+ categorised list. ## Negative Match Types (use all three intentionally) | Negative mat