Overview
A Google Ads negative keyword builder helps paid search teams turn low-value search terms into a review-ready negative keyword table. This playbook reviews recent search-term evidence, separates safe add recommendations from review-only candidates, and keeps useful demand out of the blast radius.
Use it when the weekly search terms report is showing waste, but the team needs more judgment than “no conversions, block it.” The output is a table with recommended negatives, match types, campaign and ad group context, confidence, spend evidence, and plain-language reasons.
It is built for marketers who want a clean upload review, not a mystery pile of blocked phrases. Exact negatives stay precise, phrase negatives need repeated evidence, and protected terms get held back for human review.
Why you should cut wasted search terms carefully
Negative keywords are powerful because they stop ads from showing on irrelevant searches. They are also easy to overdo. One impatient phrase negative can quietly block qualified buyers while everyone celebrates a tidy-looking account.
Google recommends using the search terms report to find negative keyword ideas because it shows actual searches that triggered your ads, including terms that are related to what you sell but not quite right for your offer in its Google Ads Help guidance. That “not quite right” part is where the work lives.
Juno helps by adding a decision layer between the report and the upload. It looks at spend, clicks, conversions, campaign context, repeated irrelevant stems, and protected language before deciding whether a term should be added, reviewed, or rejected.
The practical benefit is a cleaner weekly cleanup loop. Your team can cut obvious waste, preserve strategic queries, and hand a paid search manager a table they can approve without reopening every tab in Google Ads.
Step-by-step
- 1Confirm the account, campaign set, market, language, analysis window, conversion metric, target CPA or CPL, protected terms, and whether the team wants exact negatives, phrase negatives, or a review list only.
- 2Set the evidence floor before scoring search terms, usually requiring enough clicks or spend to make the waste credible instead of chasing one-off curiosities.
- 3Review recent Google Ads search terms by campaign, ad group, spend, clicks, conversions, and intent so high-cost weak performers rise to the top.
- 4Classify each term or stem group as add, review, or reject based on economic weakness, intent mismatch, strategic sensitivity, protected language, and overblocking risk.
- 5Choose the safest practical match type for each candidate. Google notes that negative keywords can use exact, phrase, or broad match, and match type choice affects whether ads are prevented from showing for useful searches in its negative keyword instructions.
- 6Produce the review table with source metrics, recommended negative keyword, match type, status, confidence, reason, and implementation cautions, plus a short summary of assumptions and top recommendations.
Frequently asked questions
What inputs should I have ready?
Bring Google Ads access, the campaign scope, the review window, the primary conversion metric, any target CPA or CPL, and protected terms such as brand, product, competitor, support, recruiting, customer, or strategic research queries.
Will it upload negative keywords automatically?
No. This playbook creates a review-ready negative keyword table. The goal is to make upload decisions easier while keeping the final approval in human hands.
How does it avoid blocking good searches?
Juno separates add, review, and reject candidates, favors exact negatives for specific waste, and only recommends phrase negatives when repeated irrelevant stems or clearly off-offer intent make the risk acceptable.
How often should I run it?
Run it weekly after the previous complete week has settled in Google Ads. Each run should update the same tracker when one exists so past approvals, rejections, and review notes stay visible.
