You can apply negative keywords at both the ad group level and the campaign level. Adding a negative keyword at the ad group level means that the term will only affect the ads in the ad group. A campaign-level negative keyword will apply to all ads in all ad groups in that campaign.
Negative keywords work slightly differently on the Content Network than they do on search results pages. On search pages, negative keywords will prevent your ad from appearing for specific search terms. On the Content Network, our system compares your negative keywords with the content of the placements where your ads are eligible to appear. If your negative keywords match the content of a particular placement, your ad is less likely to appear on that page.
To add and edit negative keywords, follow these steps:
- Sign in to your AdWords account at https://adwords.google.com.
- Select the campaign or the ad group that you'd like to edit.
- Select the Keywords tab.
- Scroll down to find the negative keywords section below the main keywords table. Expand the section by clicking "+".
- You'll see two tables: "Ad group level" and "Campaign level." The following buttons appear at the top of each table.
- Add: Add your negative keywords, one per line. No need to put a negative sign (–) before each keyword. (When you're viewing an ad group, you won't be able to add campaign-level negative keywords .)
- Edit: Select the existing negative keywords you'd like to edit, and click the "Edit" button. You can then edit the keyword or change the match type. Click "Save" when you're done, or click "Cancel" to go back without making changes.
- Delete: Select the negative keywords you'd like to delete. Click "Delete."
- More actions: This drop-down offers several other options for your negative keyword tables. For example, choose "Export table" to download your entire list of campaign or ad group negative keywords. You'll be prompted to choose a format for the file. Then, click "Download" in the prompt window.
