Negative Keywords

Negative keywords are words or phrases that exclude ad impressions for irrelevant queries in contextual advertising systems (such as Google Ads or Yandex.Direct).
They help filter out irrelevant traffic, reduce costs, and increase the conversion rate of advertising campaigns.

What are Negative Keywords?

Negative keywords are a tool that instructs the advertising system not to show ads for specific search queries.
When a user enters a query containing one of the negative keywords, the ad is not displayed.

For example:
You are promoting paid English language courses.
If you add negative keywords like “free,” “download,” “PDF,” the ad will not be shown to users searching for free materials.

Why Use Negative Keywords?

• Reduce Irrelevant Clicks. By excluding irrelevant queries, you save your advertising budget.
• Increase CTR and Conversions. Ads are shown only to those genuinely interested in your offer.
• Improve Traffic Quality. Users who see the ad are more likely to perform target actions—purchase, lead form submission, or call.
• Optimize Budget. Funds are not spent on impressions and clicks from useless queries.
• Improve Campaign Performance. Thanks to negative keywords, the ad’s Quality Score increases, which can lower the cost per click (CPC).

Examples of Negative Keywords

Where to Use Negative Keyword

Negative keywords are used in contextual advertising:

• Google Ads
• Yandex.Direct
  And can be applied:
• At the campaign level (for all ads at once).
• At the ad group level (for specific segments).
• At the keyword level (specifically for individual phrases).

How to Select Negative Keywords

1. Analyze Search Query Reports. Advertising dashboards have “Search Terms” reports that show the actual queries users clicked on.
2. Use Tools:
   • Yandex.Wordstat — shows query frequency.
   • Google Keyword Planner — helps find irrelevant phrases.
   • Analytics Services — Key Collector, Serpstat, SpyWords.
3. Add Gradually. Do not immediately exclude all questionable words—test their impact on reach and conversions.
4. Regularly Update the List. User behavior changes, new phrases appear—the negative keyword list should be adjusted at least once a month.

Negative Keyword Match Types

• Broad Match: Excludes queries containing any of the specified words.
  Example: Negative keyword free blocks queries like “free training,” “free lessons.”
• Phrase Match: Excludes queries where the phrase appears in the specified order.
  Example: Negative phrase free courses won’t show for “online free courses,” but will show for “free English courses.”
• Exact Match: Excludes only the specific query.
  Example: [free courses] blocks exactly this query, not its variations.

Practical Example

An advertiser promotes “iPhone repair.”

• Without negative keywords, ads were shown for queries:
  • “DIY iPhone repair”
  • “iPhone repair video”
  • “iPhone repair training”
• After adding negative keywords “DIY,” “video,” “training,” CTR increased by 20%, and the cost per lead decreased by 30%.

Common Mistakes When Using Negative Keywords

• Adding too many negative keywords — can lead to loss of some targeted traffic.
• Ignoring search query analysis — prevents you from seeing where the budget is leaking.
• Lack of structure — when negative keywords are not separated by campaigns and ad groups.
• Ignoring morphology — in Yandex.Direct, different word forms need to be added separately.

Summary

Negative keywords are a crucial tool for optimizing contextual advertising, helping to increase campaign effectiveness and reduce costs.
Thanks to them, ads are shown only to genuinely interested audiences, not to random users.
Well-selected negative keywords are the key to precise targeting, budget savings, and increased conversions.