Negative Keyword Tool — Find Wasted PPC Spend

Negative Keyword Tool

A negative keyword tool scans a search-term report or keyword list for modifiers that reliably signal a non-buying intent — terms such as free, jobs, salary, diy, torrent, cheap and reviews of named competitors — and flags each as a likely negative keyword candidate. It scores the overall list for wasted-spend risk and outputs the flagged terms formatted in broad, phrase and exact match negative syntax, ready to paste directly into a PPC campaign's negative keyword list.

Paste your search-term report or keyword list

Export the search terms report from Google Ads or Microsoft Ads and paste the query column, or paste any plain list of keywords you are considering targeting.

Review flagged terms and the waste score

Each flagged query is tagged with the modifier that triggered it — for example "free" or "jobs" — so you can quickly confirm it genuinely does not fit your offer before excluding it.

Export in your match type of choice

Copy the flagged list formatted as broad match negatives ( -free), phrase match (["free"]) or exact match ([free]), and paste directly into your campaign or shared negative keyword list.

Frequently asked questions

What are the most common negative keywords for PPC?

Modifiers such as free, jobs, career, salary, diy, torrent, cheap, used, reviews and template appear across nearly every industry's wasted spend, because they signal research, employment or free-alternative intent rather than a purchase. Industry-specific negatives — competitor names, unrelated product variants — should be layered on top of this generic list.

What is the difference between broad, phrase and exact negative match?

A broad negative (-free) blocks any query containing that word in any order. A phrase negative (["free trial"]) blocks queries containing that exact phrase in that order. An exact negative ([free trial]) blocks only that specific query. Broad negatives are the most aggressive and carry the highest risk of blocking good traffic.

How often should I review negative keywords?

Weekly for new or high-spend campaigns, monthly for stable, mature ones. Search term reports accumulate new irrelevant queries continuously as auction dynamics shift, so a negative list built once and never revisited gradually lets waste creep back in.

Can adding too many negative keywords hurt a campaign?

Yes. Overly broad negatives can silently exclude valid traffic — for example negating "cheap" also blocks "cheapest way to ship" if a customer genuinely searches that. Review each candidate's actual matched queries before adding it, rather than negating on the modifier alone.