Performance Max in Google Ads: a practical guide for small and mid-sized businesses
When a Performance Max campaign is worth running, how to prepare it properly and how much control you really keep.
Google Ads negative keywords are terms you add to an exclusion list so your ads stop appearing when someone searches for something you do not sell or want, such as “free”, “course” or “second hand”. You find them in the search terms report and review them every week. Used well, they protect your budget and raise the quality of your clicks without cutting off the customers you actually want.
What negative keywords are, and why ignoring them costs real money
In a search campaign you choose keywords, but you do not control exactly what people type into Google. If you bid on “emergency plumber Bucharest”, the system may also show your ad for searches that are close in meaning: “plumber course”, “plumber salary” or “plumber jobs”. You pay for every click, and none of those people will ever book a call-out.
A negative keyword is a rule that says: “if the search contains this term, do not show my ad”. It does not change what you sell. It trims the fuzzy edges of a campaign. The more you rely on broad match or automated campaign types, the more loosely related searches enter your account, and the more negative keywords become your main tool of control.
Picture a mattress shop that sells only new products. If it never excludes “second hand”, “classifieds”, “repair” or “how to clean”, part of its budget may drift every month towards clicks with no buying intent. You cannot know how much in advance, but you can measure it exactly once you open the search terms report. That is why negative keywords are not an optional extra but basic account maintenance.
There is a useful side effect. When the noise is gone, click-through rate and conversion rate are easier to read. The remaining data describes your real audience better, so budget and bidding decisions rest on cleaner numbers. If you are not yet measuring conversions properly, start with our guide to conversion tracking with GA4 and Meta Pixel; without it you will not know which search terms actually bring customers.
The three match types for negative keywords
Negative keywords use the same three match types as ordinary keywords, but they behave differently and will surprise you if you mix them up. The key rule is that negatives are stricter than positive keywords. They do not automatically extend to synonyms, plurals or misspellings, so you must add the variants that matter yourself.
| Match type | How you write it | What it blocks | Example using “running shoes” |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broad | running shoes | Searches that contain all the words, in any order, with other words in between or around them | Blocks “shoes for running men”; does not block “smart shoes” |
| Phrase | "running shoes" | Searches that contain the exact phrase, in that order | Blocks “cheap running shoes”; does not block “shoes running” |
| Exact | [running shoes] | Only the identical search, with no extra words | Blocks “running shoes”; does not block “running shoes sale” |
Here is a detail that trips up many beginners: with broad match negatives, every word must be present in the search. If you add “free course” as a broad negative, you will not block “accounting course”, because “free” is missing. For a single word such as “free”, broad match is enough and perfectly safe.
Choose the type according to risk. Use broad match for single words unrelated to your offer (for example “free” or “pdf”). Use phrase match when word order matters. Use exact match when you want to remove one particular query without touching close variants that may be good. Check the current Google Ads help pages on how singular and plural forms and typos are treated, because these rules can be adjusted over time.
Where to add them: ad group, campaign, account or shared list
The same negative keyword can live in several places, and the place decides what it blocks. The typical mistake is to put everything at campaign level and then ignore the structure.
- Ad group level: useful for steering searches to the right ad group. If one group covers orthopaedic mattresses and another covers children’s mattresses, exclude “children” from the first and “orthopaedic” from the second so they do not compete (cross-negatives).
- Campaign level: the right place for exclusions that follow the campaign’s strategy, such as “jobs” in a campaign selling services.
- Shared negative keyword lists: a list you build once and apply to several campaigns. A “No buying intent” list (free, pdf, download, tutorial) works almost everywhere.
- Account level: an option for exclusions that apply to the whole account. Limits and availability by campaign type change, so check the current interface.
A note on automated campaigns
In Performance Max campaigns the control you get through negative keywords is narrower than in classic search campaigns, and it has changed over time and may depend on your account. In short: read what exclusion methods your account offers today, and do not assume you have the same levers as in search. We cover that campaign type in the Performance Max guide.
How to find terms to exclude: the search terms report
A good negative list is not written from imagination. It is built from real data. The main source is the search terms report, which shows what people typed before they saw and clicked your ad. The process below works for a small account with a few campaigns.
- Open the search terms report for the last 30 days (or since your last review).
- Sort by cost, not by impressions. You care where the money goes.
- Mark the terms with spend and no conversions, then split them into two groups: those unrelated to your offer and those close but still wrong.
- For each irrelevant term, decide which word makes it irrelevant (“jobs”, “free”, “repair”). Most of the time you add that word, not the whole query.
- Pick the match type and the level (ad group, campaign or list).
- Check what you added: make sure the negative does not appear inside any of your good keywords.
- Note the date and the reason in a simple file, so you can reverse an exclusion if results drop.
Do not exclude a term just because it cost money and has not converted yet. A term with two clicks has too little data. One with ten clicks and no conversions, in a clearly wrong context, can be removed without regret. When conversions are rare (in B2B, for example), you need more time and your own judgement about intent.
The weekly routine: 20 minutes that change an account
Negative keywords are never done once and for all. People’s searches shift, new products and seasons appear, and new campaigns bring unexpected terms. A short routine, always done on the same day, beats a big clean-up once a year.
The first four weeks
Straight after launch, look at the report two or three times a week. That is when most surprises appear, and early corrections are the cheapest. Also check that your ads match the search. For ad copy, our ad preview studio lets you see what the result looks like before you publish.
Once the account settles
Move to a weekly review of about 20 minutes: the search terms report filtered to new terms, new negatives added, then a look at the terms that converted so you can turn them into exact-match keywords. This is the step many people forget. The report is not only for exclusions; it also reveals the phrases that sell and deserve a dedicated ad.
Once a month, read the old list as well. A negative added a year ago, in a different context, may now block a product that you have launched since. Compare spend by category too: if budget is moving towards better terms, your exclusions are working. When you come to decide how much to invest in online advertising, you will have far firmer numbers to work from.
Starter lists by type of intent
Do not copy a “universal” list without adapting it. Some words are negative in one account and very valuable in another (a training centre wants “course”; an equipment shop does not). Use the categories below as a starting point and delete anything that matches your own offer.
- No buying intent: free, pdf, download, tutorial, example, definition, what is, wikipedia, ideas, diy.
- Job seekers: jobs, vacancy, careers, salary, cv, volunteer, internship.
- Second-hand or repaired goods: second hand, used, refurbished (if you do not sell them), repair, spare parts, service.
- Study and theory: course, school, university, essay, thesis (exception: if you sell courses).
- Brands you do not sell: names of brands that are not part of your range.
- Locations you do not serve: towns or countries where you neither deliver nor work.
If your market is Romania, remember that people search in Romanian, English and sometimes a mix of both, with or without diacritics. Add the variants that matter, as well as plurals and definite forms, because negatives do not cover them automatically. Your list should start short and grow from data, rather than arrive as a thousand words copied from a template.
Common mistakes with negative keywords
The costliest risk with negatives is not the wasted clicks but the customers you lose without noticing. These are the errors we see most often.
- Blocking your own keywords. A negative that is too general, such as “price”, can remove exactly the searches closest to buying. The interface sometimes flags conflicts between negatives and keywords, but do not rely on that alone.
- Using broad match for long phrases. The belief that “free course” blocks every course is wrong, as shown above.
- Excluding after one click. Without volume, the decision is a coin toss.
- Forgetting plurals and variants without diacritics. Negatives do not catch near variants.
- Leaving the list unmaintained. Nobody remembers why a word is excluded, and a new product gets no impressions because someone blocked a term two years ago.
- Copying negatives between different accounts. Every business has a different audience.
- Treating negatives as a universal fix. If the ad is weak or the landing page confusing, exclusions will not repair conversion; that needs page testing, not more negatives.
A practical rule: when unsure, do not exclude yet. Watch the term for another week. A wasted click costs little; a customer blocked by mistake can cost more and never shows up in any statistic.
Key terms in brief
Search term: exactly what the person typed into Google. Keyword: what you choose to bid on; it can trigger your ad on many different search terms. Negative keyword: a word or phrase you do not want to appear for. Cross-negatives: exclusions placed in different ad groups so that they do not compete for the same searches. Shared list: a reusable set of negatives applied across campaigns. Search intent: what the person actually wants, from finding information to buying.
How we work
When we take over an account, the first thing we do is read the search terms report over as long a period as possible, then group the money spent by type of intent. We do not start from a standard list; we start from the client’s data and what they sell, with clear boundaries: what goes into shared lists and what stays at ad group level. We record every major exclusion so it can be reviewed later.
In our monthly routine we keep negatives, ad copy, landing pages and measurement together. If you want to see how this looks inside an account, read about our Google Ads management service or write to us through the contact page.
In short
- Negatives stop your ad showing on irrelevant searches and protect the budget.
- Broad, phrase and exact behave differently; negatives do not catch plurals or typos automatically.
- Choose the right level: ad group, campaign, shared list or account.
- Start from the search terms report, sorted by cost.
- A 20-minute weekly routine beats a rare big clean-up.
- Do not exclude on a single click, and review the list regularly.
How many negative keywords should I have?
There is no ideal number. A new account often starts with a few dozen general words and grows from the search terms report. Relevance matters more than quantity: a large list copied without checking can block good searches. Also check the limits shown in the Google Ads interface, because they can change.
How often should I check the search terms report?
In the first four weeks after launch, two or three times a week, because that is when most surprises appear. Once the account has settled, a review of about 20 minutes a week is a reasonable pace for most small and medium accounts. With large budgets or very active campaigns you may need to look more often.
Can I block good customers by mistake?
Yes, especially with general negatives such as “price” or “cheap”, or if you add a word that also appears in your own keywords. To reduce the risk, use phrase and exact match when unsure, note every exclusion, and compare results before and after. If performance drops, reverse the most recent changes.
Do negative keywords work in Performance Max?
The options differ from search campaigns and have changed over time, and availability depends on your account. Check the current interface to see which exclusions you can apply at account or campaign level. Do not assume you have the same controls as in search; our Performance Max guide explains the limits.
How do I choose between broad, phrase and exact match?
Use broad for a single word unrelated to your offer, phrase when word order matters, and exact when you want to remove one query without affecting close variants. If in doubt, start with the narrower option and widen it once you can see the data in the report.
Do negative keywords improve account quality?
Indirectly, yes. Removing clicks without intent increases the share of relevant clicks, so click-through and conversion rates are easier to interpret. There is no guaranteed effect, because Quality Score also depends on the ad, the landing page and other factors. Negatives are only one lever among several.