Negative Keyword List Generator for Google Ads
Pick your industry and the universal themes you want to block, such as jobs, DIY and freebie seekers, and get a clean negative keyword list with the right match types. Paste your own keywords to catch negatives that would block them. Free, no signup, exports straight to Google Ads Editor.
- 100% free
- No signup
- Updated October 2026
Key Takeaways
A negative keyword list stops your Google Ads from showing on searches you don't want to pay for, such as "plumber jobs" or "how to unclog a drain" for a plumbing company. Negatives don't match close variants, so plurals and misspellings must be added separately. Broad negatives block searches containing all their words in any order, phrase negatives need the words in order, exact negatives need the exact search.
- Negative keywords do not match close variants, so "job" and "jobs" are two different negatives.
- A negative broad keyword blocks any search that contains all of its words in any order; negative phrase needs them in order; negative exact needs the same words and nothing else.
- A shared negative keyword list holds up to 5,000 negatives and each Google Ads account can have 20 lists.
- Each campaign can carry up to 10,000 negative keywords.
- The most expensive negative is one that blocks your own best keyword, so check every list against your keywords before you apply it.
How to Use the Negative Keyword Generator
Choose your industry
Pick from 32 industries. Each comes with grouped lists, and scope-dependent groups such as commercial work or Medicaid start unticked.
Tick the universal themes
Add jobs, freebie, DIY, education, research, adult and media themes. Riskier themes like the word "free" on its own start unticked.
Add competitors and your own terms
Paste competitor names and terms from your search terms report, one per line. Everything is deduplicated.
Pick a match type
Smart uses broad for single words and phrase for multi-word terms, or force broad, phrase or exact for the whole list.
Check your keywords and export
Paste your positive keywords to see conflicts, leave conflicting negatives out, then copy the list or download a CSV for Google Ads Editor.
How do negative keyword match types work?
Negative keywords follow their own rules, set out in Google's About negative keywords page. The biggest difference from normal keywords: negatives never match close variants, synonyms or misspellings. Here is Google's own example for the negative keyword running shoes:
| Search | -running shoes (broad) | -"running shoes" (phrase) | -[running shoes] (exact) |
|---|---|---|---|
| running shoes | Blocked | Blocked | Blocked |
| blue running shoes | Blocked | Blocked | Shows |
| shoes running | Blocked | Shows | Shows |
| running shoe | Shows | Shows | Shows |
The last row is why plurals matter: "running shoe" gets through all three, because negatives don't match the singular form. The conflict checker in this tool applies these exact rules, word by word.
Which match type should a negative keyword use?
Use broad for single words that are never relevant, like jobs, salary or porn. One broad negative blocks every search containing that word, in any position.
Use phrase for multi-word ideas where the words alone are fine but the combination is not. "home depot" as a phrase negative blocks "home depot water heater" but leaves "water heater repair at home" alone. As a broad negative it would block any search that contains both home and depot.
Use exact to stop one specific search while keeping longer versions, such as blocking [plumber] alone while bidding on "emergency plumber".
The tool's Smart mode follows this pattern: single words broad, multi-word terms phrase.
Which negative keywords should every Google Ads account have?
Most accounts benefit from these universal themes, each available as a checkbox:
- Jobs and careers: jobs, careers, salary, internship, resume, glassdoor, indeed.
- DIY and how-to: diy, how to, tutorial, youtube, repair manual.
- Education: course, degree, exam, textbook, scholarship.
- Research: definition, meaning, wikipedia, pdf, examples.
- Freebie seekers: free download, torrent, giveaway, freebies.
- Adult and entertainment: explicit terms, lyrics, movie, video game.
Some classic negatives cost money in the wrong account. The word free on its own blocks "free quote" and "free estimate" searches, which are buyers for most service businesses. "College" blocks College Station, Texas. "Crack" blocks foundation crack repair. That is why those stay off by default here, and why the education list uses "community college" instead of college.
What do industry negative keyword lists look like?
The lists in the tool come from patterns that show up again and again in search terms reports. A few examples of terms most generic lists miss:
- HVAC: ac adapter, ac charger, ac milan and assassins creed, because "ac" means more than air conditioning.
- Electricians: electric company, pay electric bill, outage map. People searching these want their utility, not a contractor.
- Security systems: social security, security deposit, tsa precheck.
- Veterinary clinics: veterans affairs, corvette, vetting.
- Limousine: limousin cattle, a cattle breed with a near-identical name.
- Locksmith: iphone locked, caps lock, locs.
Groups that depend on what you sell, such as commercial roofing, wildlife removal or delivery apps, start unticked so you opt in rather than block work you want.
How much can negative keywords save?
Work it out from your own search terms report. Worked example: a campaign gets 2,000 clicks a month at an average cost per click of $4.50, so it spends $9,000. If the report shows 160 of those clicks came from job seekers and DIY searches, that is 160 × $4.50 = $720 a month, or $8,640 a year, spent on people who were never going to buy. Blocking them does not cut reach you need; it moves that budget to searches that convert.
Repeat the review every few weeks. Our guide to the Google Ads search terms report shows how to read it, and why negative keywords matter covers the strategy. If you want this done for you, see our Google Ads management service.
How do you upload a negative keyword list to Google Ads?
- Shared list: in Google Ads open the negative keyword lists in your shared library, create a list, and paste the copied list with its match type symbols. Apply the list to campaigns. A list can hold up to 5,000 negatives (account limits).
- Google Ads Editor: download the CSV from the tool. It has Campaign, Ad group, Keyword and Criterion Type columns, with values such as Campaign Negative Phrase or Negative Exact. Import it from the Account menu and review before posting.
In Editor's own notation the minus sign must come first: -"keyword" and -[keyword], never "-keyword" or [-keyword] (Google Ads Editor help).
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Frequently Asked Questions
Do negative keywords match plurals and misspellings?
No. Google says negative keywords don’t match close variants, so add the singular, the plural and common misspellings yourself if you want them all blocked.
What is the difference between negative broad and negative phrase?
Negative broad blocks searches that contain all of its words in any order. Negative phrase only blocks searches that contain the words in the same order, with other words allowed before or after.
How many negative keywords can I add?
A shared negative keyword list holds up to 5,000 negatives and an account can have 20 shared lists. A single campaign can have up to 10,000 negative keywords.
Should I add "free" as a negative keyword?
Only if nobody who searches with free can become a customer. For service businesses "free quote" and "free estimate" searches are often buyers, so block specific phrases like "free download" instead.
Can negative keywords block my own ads by mistake?
Yes. A broad negative like "home" would block every search containing home. Paste your keywords into the checker and the tool lists every negative that would block them.
Can I use symbols in negative keywords?
Google allows ampersands, accent marks and asterisks in negatives, ignores periods, and rejects symbols such as commas, exclamation marks and @. Accented and unaccented versions count as different negatives.
How often should I update my negative keyword list?
Review the search terms report every few weeks while a campaign is new and monthly once it is stable. Add the irrelevant searches you find as negatives, at the right match type.
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