Not every zero-order search term should become a negative keyword. If you blindl
By Michael Erickson Facchin · November 6, 2026 · Curated by George's Blog
Not every zero-order search term should become a negative keyword.
If you blindly negate every search term with zero sales, you will eventually negate your own brand name during a stockout or choke off a high-intent keyword that just had a broken bid.
Whenever we audit non-converting search terms, we sort every bleeder into one of three buckets based on what actually fixes it:
1. Fix #1 (Negative Exact or Phrase): The shopper searched for something your product is not (like 'water bottle for running handheld' on a 1-gallon jug). That is an intent mismatch. Negate it.
2. Fix #2 (Pause or Lower the Bid): The keyword is relevant, but the base bid and placement multiplier pushed CPC way past what your conversion rate can support. That is a bid problem, not a negative keyword problem.
3. Fix #3 (Your Call / Brand & Core Category Flag): Your own brand terms or core category terms that spent without converting. Never let an automated rule bury these inside a negatives file, because a non-converting brand term is a Buy Box, price, or detail-page problem.
Once you separate relevance problems from bid problems, moving just 25% of that zero-order spend onto your proven converters is one of the fastest ways to lift ROAS without raising your budget.
Have you ever inherited an account and found the brand's own core keywords sitting inside a negative keyword list?