Google Ads negative keywords in 2026 are the single best way to stop wasting budget on junk clicks, and this walks through negative keyword research, best practices, and how to build negative keyword lists that actually protect your account. With Performance Max and AI Max pushing your ads toward broad and ultra-broad searches, negatives matter more than ever.
I start right inside my Google Ads account, going through the search terms report to show exactly how I find and cut the junk, then break down the three negative match types and when to use each. Broad match to strip a single junk word from your whole account, phrase match to block a specific order of words, and exact match for one-word searches with no intent like "PMax" or "keyword tool." One key point: negative match types actually work the way they're supposed to, unlike positive match types.
I also cover building a starter negative list before you launch (and how I use Claude and other AI tools to generate one from a client's URL and search terms), why you should mine the search terms report weekly and filter by impressions, real examples from tree service, medical, plumbing, and pest control accounts, and how to layer negative lists at the account, campaign, and ad group levels, plus shared lists across a manager account.
If you want your Google Ads cleaned up and your budget going toward searches that actually convert, reach out to Surfside PPC.
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WORK WITH SURFSIDE PPC
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Tired of wasting budget on junk clicks? We help businesses with Google Ads, negative keyword management, SEO, and the systems that turn clicks into real customers →
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WHAT WE GO OVER IN THIS VIDEO TUTORIAL:
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- Why negative keywords are the best way to optimize a search campaign
- Mining the search terms report and filtering by impressions
- The three negative match types and when to use each
- Why exact match negatives work best for one-word, no-intent searches
- Why negative match types work the way positive match types no longer do
- Building a starter negative list before you launch a campaign
- Using Claude and other AI tools to generate a negative list fast
- Real examples from tree service, medical, plumbing, and pest control accounts
- Layering negatives at the account, campaign, and ad group levels
- Using shared lists across a manager account
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RELEVANT URLS
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TIMESTAMPS
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0:00 Negative Keywords and Negative Keyword Research
0:18 Finding Junk in Your Search Terms Report
1:59 The Three Negative Match Types
2:42 When to Use Exact Match Negatives
4:06 Broad vs. Phrase Negatives: The Tire Shop Example
5:24 My Weekly Search Terms Process
6:52 Why Negatives Matter With PMax and AI Max
8:55 The Searches That Waste Your Budget
9:36 Building a Starter List Before You Launch
12:07 Mining the Search Terms Report With AI
12:59 How the Negative Match Types Work
13:41 Shared Lists and Account-Level Negatives
16:12 Applying Negatives at the Ad Group Level
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ABOUT SURFSIDE PPC
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Surfside PPC helps local businesses grow with Google Ads, SEO, and content that actually converts. Subscribe for new marketing tutorials every week.
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