Negative Keywords in Google Ads: What Marketing Monster Flags

Negative keywords tell Google which searches your ads should not appear for. The common mistakes are not exotic: broad match keywords with no negatives, or negatives that exist on the account but were never applied to the campaign that needs them. Marketing Monster reads each connected Google Ads account, read-only, and flags those setups as a recommendation, so the problem is found in a review instead of in the client's bill.

Why negatives matter

Without negative keywords, a keyword can match searches you did not mean to pay for. The wider the match type, the more room for that. A negative keyword list keeps a campaign pointed at the people you want, and it needs looking after as campaigns change.

What Marketing Monster flags

For each enabled campaign it looks at the keyword setup and the negative keyword coverage, and flags the combinations that deserve a closer look:

• keywords that rely mostly on broad match, with little or no negative keyword coverage;
• negative keywords that exist elsewhere on the account but were not applied to a campaign that needs them.

Each flag arrives as a plain-language recommendation for that client's account.

Why a flag beats a manual hunt

• Every client, every time. The review does not depend on someone remembering to open each account.
• Context in one place. The recommendation names the campaign and what to look at.
• Less noise. It raises real setup combinations, not a long list of minor items.

What it does not do

• It does not add, edit or remove negative keywords. It reads and recommends.
• It does not choose the negative words for you. That judgment stays with whoever runs the account.
• It does not read or rank the search terms report.
• It does not guarantee a result.

Related

See the Google Ads audit checklist for the other setup checks, and Google Ads reporting for the client report.

Questions about negative keywords in google ads

Catch a risky keyword setup early

Join early access and have every client account reviewed for you.