The negative keyword check I run, in 3 steps. Negating is a three-step job. Most
By Andrew Bailiff ยท October 27, 2026 ยท Curated by George's Blog
The negative keyword check I run, in 3 steps.
Negating is a three-step job. Most accounts I look at do the first step, and they do it with a rule.
๐ญ. ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐
Multiply your average order value by your target ACOS. That's what one sale can cost you. Any search term that has spent more than that without an order goes on the list.
๐ฎ. ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ
One question: is this relevant to the product? If it isn't, negate it. If it is, the term isn't the problem. The bid is, so fix the bid.
๐ฏ. ๐ฃ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ด๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ
A negative at the campaign level blocks every ad group in that campaign. At the ad group level, it only blocks that ad group. In most accounts, I run one product per ad group, so an ad group negative only touches that one product.
One more use I lean on: brand terms.
I add the brand name (and all variations) as negative phrase in all of my non-brand/competitor campaigns. Then I can trust that my non-brand numbers are actually non-brand.
AdLabs makes surfacing these opportunities simple using Automations.
You set the criteria, it runs daily, you review and decide what goes.