ad-negative-keywords

The saved excerpt is a snapshot from when this skill was listed. The external source remains the complete and most current version.

---
name: ad-negative-keywords
description: "Build and maintain negative keyword lists from search term reports to cut wasted ad spend in paid search - n-gram query mining to surface irrelevant search terms, the right negative match types and exclusion levels (account, shared list, campaign, ad group), and a review cadence that avoids overblocking queries that convert. Use whenever the user mentions a search term or search query report, irrelevant clicks, junk traffic, wasted ad spend, or wants to exclude or block keywords - even if they never say 'negative keywords'. Covers B2B lead gen and B2C/e-commerce; needs the account's query data. Do NOT use for account-wide underperformance with no query-level evidence - use mbfinotti/advertising-skills@ad-account-diagnostic instead."
license: MIT
metadata:
  author: Maya-Beth Finotti
  version: "1.1.8"
---

# Negative Keywords

Build and maintain a negative keyword list from search term reports, so paid-search budget stops leaking to irrelevant queries - without blocking the queries that convert.

The mechanics - match types, exclusion levels, thresholds, cadence - are identical for B2B lead gen and B2C/e-commerce. Two things differ by segment:

- Which junk categories dominate (see taxonomy).
- The decision data: B2B's sparse conversions force click/cost gates, B2C volume allows conversion-based gates.

## Evidence gate

- Never propose specific negative keywords for a live account without its search term report (also called search query report).
- Missing report → request an export, explain the overblocking review below, and name zero candidate negatives in the meantime.
- Exception: a brand-new campaign with no history may get a starter exclusion list - label it "pre-launch starter, review against real queries after 7-14 days".

A list invented from imagination has no evidence of what actually matches, and its cost, blocked converting queries, stays invisible.

## Clarifying questions

Ask once, briefly, before analyzing. Skip anything already answered. This is a tactical pass, not an interview.

1. What counts as a conversion, and what is the target CPA or ROAS?
2. What date range does the report cover, and roughly what did the account spend over it?
3. What CPC range does the account run? (Sets the click threshold.)
4. Which queries or themes must never be blocked - brand terms, converting themes, deliberate competitor bidding?
5. Which levels can you edit: account/shared list, campaign, ad group?
6. By what date must the saving show up in the account's numbers?
7. Is this a one-off cleanup, or a standing maintenance job you want to keep compounding?
8. What is the effort ceiling per pass - minutes available, who else has to approve a change, and can you reverse an account-level exclusion yourself?

Re-rank this skill's two option menus (exclusion level, cadence) against those answers:

- A hard date promotes the fast local rungs - ad group or campaign negatives applied in this pass.
- A standing-maintenance mandate promotes the compounding rungs - shared exclusion lists plus the quarterly conflict sweep.
- A tight effort ceiling or a slow approval path demotes account-level exclusions, which cost the most to audit and the most to reverse.

Every ordering below is a default, not a law: it shifts with the account and with who executes it. Re-rank against what you already know about this user - an in-house scripting ability makes the n-gram pass and the conflict sweep far cheaper than the default order assumes, and a shared list already built and attached makes that rung near-free. Where an answer rules a rung out entirely rather than moving it, delete it by name (see step 7).

## Core mechanics

Read before adding anything - most negative-keyword damage traces to these rules.

- Positive keywords expand automatically to close variants.
- Negative keywords do NOT expand to close variants. Add plurals, synonyms, and word stems as separate negatives yourself.
- Casing and misspellin