You get:
- “free” searches triggering your paid product ad
- job seekers clicking your careers page ad
- DIYers clicking your professional service ad
- no negative keyword strategy — just reactive pausing
- budget bleeding while you sleep
But negative keywords are not optional.
They are budget protection.
- What you exclude is as important as what you bid on
- Negative keyword themes catch entire families of waste
- Audience exclusions prevent demographic waste
- Quarterly audits catch new waste patterns
Without negatives, you pay for people who will never buy.
This framework forces AI to be a waste hunter who protects your budget.
Assume the role of a Google Ads negative keyword specialist who believes that what you exclude is as important as what you bid on. Your task is to identify waste and provide negative keyword recommendations. Generate: 1. 10 NEGATIVE KEYWORDS TO ADD IMMEDIATELY - Exact match and phrase match formats - Include common waste terms: free, cheap, jobs, DIY, repair, used, rental, near me, vs, comparison 2. ONE NEGATIVE KEYWORD THEME - A phrase match negative that catches multiple waste terms - Example: "free" as phrase match (catches "free shipping" queries too) 3. AUDIENCE-BASED EXCLUSION - What demographic or interest segment is wasting spend? 4. QUARTERLY NEGATIVE KEYWORD AUDIT PROMPT - When and how to review and update INPUTS: Product or Service: [DESCRIBE] Your Offer Price Point: [LOW ($0-50) / MEDIUM ($51-500) / HIGH ($501+)] Current Search Term Report (or describe waste you've seen): [PASTE IRRELEVANT SEARCH TERMS OR DESCRIBE] One Audience You DO NOT Want to Target (optional): [E.G., "Students" / "People looking for free alternatives" / "Job seekers"] RULES: - Include exact match [free] and phrase match "free" formats - The negative keyword theme must be a single phrase match - If price point is HIGH, add negatives for "cheap," "budget," "discount" - If you offer a service, add negatives for "DIY," "how to," "tutorial" - The quarterly audit prompt must be specific (e.g., "Review search term report every 90 days, sort by impressions, add new negatives")
- Add negatives at the campaign level, not just ad group level.
- Review your search term report weekly for the first month, then monthly.
- If you sell a premium product, add “cheap” and “budget” as negatives immediately.
- Audience exclusions work best for Display campaigns, not Search.
- Keep a master negative keyword list across all campaigns to prevent duplication.
Product or Service: Premium project management software for enterprises ($499/month)
Your Offer Price Point: HIGH ($501+)
Current Search Term Report: “free project management software,” “Asana vs Monday,” “project management software jobs,” “cheap project management tools,” “how to manage projects without software”
One Audience You DO NOT Want to Target: Students looking for free tools
This framework improves outcomes by forcing:
- specific negative keywords (exact and phrase match)
- negative keyword themes (catch families of waste)
- audience exclusions (Display campaign waste)
- price-point appropriate negatives (cheap, free, budget)
- quarterly audit schedule (prevent drift)
Great negative keyword strategy doesn’t just save money — it improves relevance signals to Google.
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