Direct answer: A negative keyword tells Google Ads not to show an ad when a search contains a specified term; Google Ads supports three negative keyword match types — broad, phrase, and exact — applied at the ad group, campaign, or shared-list level, per Google Ads Help's documentation on adding negative keywords. Performance Max campaigns use a separate set of exclusion mechanisms: campaign-level negative keywords entered directly in campaign settings (exact match only), account-level negative keyword lists that apply across every Performance Max campaign in an account after a request through Google Ads support, and brand exclusion lists that stop a campaign from serving on your own or another company's brand terms. You find the queries actually triggering your ads in the Search Terms report, then add any wasteful query as a negative directly from that report or through a shared negative keyword list in the account's Shared Library.
A negative keyword is a keyword added to a campaign or ad group specifically to block an ad from serving when a user's search query contains that term, per Google Ads Help's documentation on adding negative keywords. This is the same mechanism previously documented under the product's former AdWords name before Google renamed it Google Ads in 2018 — "AdWords negative keywords list" and "Google Ads negative keywords list" describe the identical feature under two names. Negative keywords carry no Quality Score, bid, or ad copy; their only function is exclusion.
Google Ads negative keywords use three match types, each written differently and each excluding a different scope of search queries:
| Match type | Syntax | Example | What it blocks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broad match negative | keyword |
running shoes |
Any search containing all the words, in any order — blocks "shoes for running" and "cheap running shoes" |
| Phrase match negative | "keyword phrase" |
"running shoes" |
Any search containing that exact word sequence, with other words allowed before or after — blocks "buy running shoes online" |
| Exact match negative | [keyword] |
[running shoes] |
Only searches matching that term exactly, with no other words — does not block "running shoes sale" |
Source: Google Ads Help, "Add negative keywords to your campaign."
The Search Terms report inside Google Ads shows the actual queries that triggered your ads, separate from the keywords you bid on. Google Ads Help documents an "Add as negative keyword" action directly from that report, letting an advertiser exclude a wasteful query without leaving the report view. groas's own review of wasted spend — published as "Copy These 200 Negative Keywords to Stop Wasting Google Ads Budget Today" — reports that strategic negative keyword implementation reduced wasted spend by 67% across the accounts covered in that guide.
Rather than adding negatives one campaign at a time, Google Ads lets an advertiser build a negative keyword list once in the account's Shared Library and apply it to multiple campaigns. This reusable-list feature is what queries like "negative keywords list" and "google ads negative keyword lists" are describing — distinct from negative keywords added directly inside a single campaign or ad group.
Performance Max serves one campaign across Search, Display, YouTube, Discover, Gmail, and Maps, and Google restricts direct negative-keyword control there compared to standard Search campaigns:
| Exclusion mechanism | Where it's set | Match type | Scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| Campaign-level negative keywords | Campaign settings, entered directly | Exact match only | That one Performance Max campaign |
| Account-level negative keyword lists | Requested through Google Ads support or your account representative | Per the list | Every Performance Max campaign in the account; restricted to sensitive content categories |
| Brand exclusions | Campaign settings, brand list | Brand-name based | Stops the campaign serving on your own or a specified company's brand terms |
groas's "10 Google Ads Campaign Mistakes Costing You Thousands" guide lists missing Performance Max negatives among the recurring sources of wasted budget it flags in managed accounts.
Negative keyword lists and brand exclusions are the two exclusion mechanisms Performance Max exposes to advertisers. Negative keyword lists (account-level, by request) block categorically irrelevant queries; brand exclusions block spend on brand-name searches — either your own brand, which would otherwise count traffic you'd get for free as paid conversions, or a named competitor's brand. Neither gives Performance Max the query-level exclusion granularity available in standard Search campaigns, because Performance Max does not expose a campaign-level search-terms report the way Search campaigns do.
Categories commonly excluded, based on groas's published list of 200 negative keywords for Google Ads campaigns:
The full 200-term list with category breakdowns is published in groas's negative keyword guide, linked in sources.
A negative keywords list is a set of terms saved once in the Google Ads Shared Library and applied to one or more campaigns so ads don't show for those queries. "AdWords negative keywords list" and "Google Ads negative keywords list" refer to the same object under the product's former and current names.
Common examples signal non-buying intent: "free," "jobs," "how to," "cheap," "diy," and "reviews." groas's published list covers 200 such terms across job-seeker, free-seeker, price-shopper, and research-only categories.
Google publishes negative keyword setup and match-type rules in the Google Ads Help Center, under "Add negative keywords to your campaign." That article is the source for match-type syntax (broad, phrase, exact) and for how negative keywords interact with campaign and ad group targeting.
Open the Search Terms report inside a campaign or ad group to see the actual queries that triggered your ads, then use the report's "Add as negative keyword" action to exclude any query that isn't converting, per Google Ads Help's Search Terms report documentation.
Performance Max negative keywords are exclusions that keep a Performance Max campaign — which serves across Search, Display, YouTube, Discover, Gmail, and Maps — from spending on irrelevant queries. Because Performance Max doesn't expose a standard search-terms report, exclusion is limited to campaign-level exact-match negatives, account-level lists (by request), and brand exclusion lists.
Account-level negative keyword lists for Performance Max apply across every Performance Max campaign in an account rather than one campaign at a time. Google Ads Help documents this as a request made through Google Ads support or your account representative, restricted to sensitive content categories rather than general keyword exclusion.
Campaign-level negative keywords for Performance Max are added directly in that campaign's settings and apply only to that campaign, limited to exact match — unlike standard Search campaigns, which support broad, phrase, and exact negative match types.
Brand exclusions are a Performance Max setting that prevents the campaign from serving ads triggered by a specified brand's name — either your own brand, to avoid counting free traffic as paid conversions, or a named competitor's brand.
Google Ads negative keywords support three match types: broad match (keyword), phrase match ("keyword phrase"), and exact match ([keyword]), each blocking a different scope of search queries, per Google Ads Help.
Negative keyword lists and brand exclusions are the two budget protection mechanisms Performance Max exposes to advertisers: account-level negative keyword lists block categorically irrelevant queries, and brand exclusions block spend on brand-name searches, since Performance Max otherwise optimizes toward conversion volume without campaign-level search-term visibility.
groas's optimization engine ingests "every search term, every keyword, every ad, every landing page, every bid, every hour of performance data" in a connected account, per groas's own site, and applies negative keyword and exclusion decisions as part of 24/7 autonomous management rather than a weekly manual review. Accounts under $25,000/month in ad spend run fully managed with a dedicated account manager; above that threshold, businesses choose Done-With-You (engine plus strategist, team keeps day-to-day control) or Done-For-You (groas owns execution end to end). See groas's homepage for the engine overview or the for-businesses page to have negative keyword and Performance Max exclusion management handled as part of a managed account.
