How to Review Search Terms and Add Negative Keywords Without Tanking Your Google Ads Account

Search term reviews are one of the highest-leverage activities in Google Ads—and one of the easiest ways to quietly destroy an account if done incorrectly. Most performance issues I see in mature accounts aren’t caused by bad bids or weak ads. They come from sloppy search term management: reviewing at the wrong level, excluding keywords too aggressively, or phrase-matching negatives that should have stayed exact.

This article walks through a practical, battle-tested framework for reviewing search terms and adding negative keywords across Search, Shopping, Brand, Competitor, and Performance Max campaigns.

The Golden Rule: Always Review Search Terms in Context

Search terms only make sense when reviewed in the context of the campaign and ad group. Different campaign types behave differently, and the same search term can be perfect in one place and disastrous in another.

When you’re new to an account, do not review search terms at the account level. For at least the first 30 days:

Review by campaign
Then by ad group
Only review enabled campaigns and enabled ad groups

How to Review Search Terms in Standard Search Campaigns

Step 1: Filter Correctly

Inside Google Ads, go to Insights & Reports → Search Terms. Filter your view to:

Campaign status: Enabled
Ad group status: Enabled
Date range: Last 7 days
Added/Excluded: None

Step 2: What Needs Review?

Focus where spend or intent exists. You should review any search term with 1+ click or 2+ impressions. Ignore vanity impressions beyond that.

Step 3: Scanning for Red Flags

Misaligned Intent: Searches that do not match what the ad group is meant to sell (e.g., someone looking for “affiliate links” when you sell “referral software”).
Competitors (When Not Targeting Them): Exclude competitor brand names, especially when the intent is clearly navigational.
Post-Purchase/Informational: These almost never convert in high-intent campaigns. Look for “instructions,” “how to use,” “manual,” “reviews,” “customer service,” or “login.”

Exact Match vs. Phrase Match: Optimization or Disaster?

This is where most junior managers blow up accounts.

When to Use Exact Match Negatives [Brackets]: Use exact match when you’re confident the specific query is bad, but the words themselves might appear in good searches (e.g., [square referral program]). This is safe and won’t block nearby intent.

When to Use Phrase Match Negatives “Quotes”: Use these only when the phrase never belongs in a buying search and won’t overlap with valid intent.

Good examples: “instructions”, “how to build”, “manual”, “DIY”
Bad examples: “clear retain”, “awning”, “CRM”

Rule of thumb: If there’s any chance someone could use that phrase while still wanting to buy—leave it exact.

Shopping Campaigns: Same Logic, More Data

Shopping campaigns work almost identically in the report but with more volume. Sort by impressions, start at the bottom (lowest intent), and work upward. Common Shopping negatives include “instructions,” “DIY,” and competitor product names. Your job is to reduce waste, not sterilize the traffic.

Competitor & Brand Campaigns

Competitor Campaigns: Do not exclude the competitor names you are targeting. Exclude irrelevant companies or adjacent industries that don’t map to what you sell.
Brand Campaigns: Ensure terms relate clearly to your brand. If your brand name appears in non-brand campaigns, exclude it as an exact match in those ad groups to keep data clean.

Performance Max: Search Themes

Performance Max gives you search themes rather than true search terms.

Where to look: Insights → Search Terms / Search Categories.
Brand Rule: PMax will cannibalize branded traffic aggressively. Exclude your brand as an exact match to force the algorithm to find new customers.

How to Add Negatives in Performance Max

Go to Keywords → Negative Keywords and paste the term. Use [brackets] for exact and "quotes" for phrase. The same caution applies—phrase match negatives can quietly kill performance.

A Smart Shortcut for New Accounts

If you inherit an account, review existing negative keyword lists at the ad group level. This tells you what’s already been identified as bad traffic and what patterns to watch for. Don’t blindly copy old behavior, but don’t ignore the history either.

Final Mental Check

Before you exclude anything, ask: “Could excluding this prevent someone who’s ready to buy from seeing my ad?” If the answer is maybe, leave it exact or don’t exclude it yet. Negative keywords are about precision, not aggression.

Key Takeaways

Always review search terms by ad group when onboarding.
Focus on clicks and meaningful impressions.
Exact match negatives are safe; phrase match requires restraint.
PMax and Shopping follow different rules—don’t treat them like Search.
Poor negative management is one of the fastest ways to tank an account.