Skip to content
    Moz logo Menu open Menu close
    • Products
      • Moz Pro
      • Moz Pro Home
      • Moz Local
      • Moz Local Home
      • STAT
      • Moz API
      • Moz API Home
      • Compare SEO Products
      • Moz Data
    • Free SEO Tools
      • Domain Analysis
      • Keyword Explorer
      • Link Explorer
      • Competitive Research
      • MozBar
      • More Free SEO Tools
    • Learn SEO
      • Beginner's Guide to SEO
      • SEO Learning Center
      • Moz Academy
      • MozCon
      • Webinars, Whitepapers, & Guides
    • Blog
    • Why Moz
      • Digital Marketers
      • Agency Solutions
      • Enterprise Solutions
      • Small Business Solutions
      • The Moz Story
      • New Releases
    • Log in
    • Log out
    • Products
      • Moz Pro

        Your all-in-one suite of SEO essentials.

      • Moz Local

        Raise your local SEO visibility with complete local SEO management.

      • STAT

        SERP tracking and analytics for enterprise SEO experts.

      • Moz API

        Power your SEO with our index of over 44 trillion links.

      • Compare SEO Products

        See which Moz SEO solution best meets your business needs.

      • Moz Data

        Power your SEO strategy & AI models with custom data solutions.

      NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
      Moz Pro

      NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

      Learn more
    • Free SEO Tools
      • Domain Analysis

        Get top competitive SEO metrics like DA, top pages and more.

      • Keyword Explorer

        Find traffic-driving keywords with our 1.25 billion+ keyword index.

      • Link Explorer

        Explore over 40 trillion links for powerful backlink data.

      • Competitive Research

        Uncover valuable insights on your organic search competitors.

      • MozBar

        See top SEO metrics for free as you browse the web.

      • More Free SEO Tools

        Explore all the free SEO tools Moz has to offer.

      NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
      Moz Pro

      NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

      Learn more
    • Learn SEO
      • Beginner's Guide to SEO

        The #1 most popular introduction to SEO, trusted by millions.

      • SEO Learning Center

        Broaden your knowledge with SEO resources for all skill levels.

      • On-Demand Webinars

        Learn modern SEO best practices from industry experts.

      • How-To Guides

        Step-by-step guides to search success from the authority on SEO.

      • Moz Academy

        Upskill and get certified with on-demand courses & certifications.

      • MozCon

        Save on Early Bird tickets and join us in London or New York City

      Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints
      Moz API

      Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints

      Find your plan
    • Blog
    • Why Moz
      • Digital Marketers

        Simplify SEO tasks to save time and grow your traffic.

      • Small Business Solutions

        Uncover insights to make smarter marketing decisions in less time.

      • Agency Solutions

        Earn & keep valuable clients with unparalleled data & insights.

      • Enterprise Solutions

        Gain a competitive edge in the ever-changing world of search.

      • The Moz Story

        Moz was the first & remains the most trusted SEO company.

      • New Releases

        Get the scoop on the latest and greatest from Moz.

      Surface actionable competitive intel
      New Feature

      Surface actionable competitive intel

      Learn More
    • Log in
      • Moz Pro
      • Moz Local
      • Moz Local Dashboard
      • Moz API
      • Moz API Dashboard
      • Moz Academy
    • Avatar
      • Moz Home
      • Notifications
      • Account & Billing
      • Manage Users
      • Community Profile
      • My Q&A
      • My Videos
      • Log Out

    The Moz Q&A Forum

    • Forum
    • Questions
    • Users
    • Ask the Community

    Welcome to the Q&A Forum

    Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

    1. Home
    2. Digital Marketing
    3. Paid Search Marketing
    4. Adwords negative keywords / keyword lists conflicting?

    Moz Q&A is closed.

    After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.

    Adwords negative keywords / keyword lists conflicting?

    Paid Search Marketing
    4
    7
    3104
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as question
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with question management privileges can see it.
    • hellemans
      hellemans last edited by

      Does any of you had any experience on large 5k+ shared negative keyword lists impacting normal campaign negative keywords in Adwords even if they are not selected on these campaigns?

      And a second question; does anyone know how selected negative keyword lists can be removed from a campaign? I seem to be able to add them but not to remove them...

      Cheers!

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • hellemans
        hellemans last edited by

        Thanks for all responses.

        Here is an official Google reply on negative keyword types:

        Negative exact would only not show when the exact term is the entire query. Negative phrase would not show anytime the term showed anywhere in the query in that order. Negative would not show anytime the entire term showed anywhere in the search query in any order.

        Say you had the keyword "blue mercedes car" on broad match. Here's how the different versions of the negative keyword "fast blue" would affect this ad.

        1. -fast blue (Negative)
          POSSIBLE SEARCHES:
          blue mercedes car - WOULD SHOW
          blue fast mercedes car - WOULD NOT SHOW
          mercedes fast car - WOULD SHOW
          car blue mercedes fast - WOULD NOT SHOW
          fast blue - WOULD NOT SHOW
          blue fast - WOULD NOT SHOW
          fast blue mercedes car - WOULD NOT SHOW

        2. -"fast blue" (Negative Phrase)
          POSSIBLE SEARCHES:
          blue mercedes car - WOULD SHOW
          blue fast mercedes car - WOULD SHOW
          mercedes fast car - WOULD SHOW
          car blue mercedes fast - WOULD SHOW
          fast blue - WOULD NOT SHOW
          blue fast - WOULD SHOW
          fast blue mercedes car - WOULD NOT SHOW

        3. -[fast blue] (Negative Exact)
          POSSIBLE SEARCHES:
          blue mercedes car - WOULD SHOW
          blue fast mercedes car - WOULD SHOW
          mercedes fast car - WOULD SHOW
          car blue mercedes fast - WOULD SHOW
          fast blue - WOULD NOT SHOW
          blue fast - WOULD SHOW
          fast blue mercedes car - WOULD SHOW

        Note that we do not expand to synonyms, singular or plural, and other variations as in the case of expanded broad match. So, the negative keyword "Air" wouldn't block the term "Airbnb" since it is one word, but would block the phrase "Air Mattress" because it contains the word "Air".

        I hope this helps 😉

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
        • JasmineA
          JasmineA last edited by

          I'm not familiar with any way that a shared library will be able to affect campaigns that it's not assigned to.

          To remove them from campaigns, click on the name of the negative KW list, then scroll to the bottom and remove the campaigns you don't want. It's a little hidden from the normal way but it will still work! 🙂

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
          • sachin-sv
            sachin-sv last edited by

            Remember the following points while adding the negative keywords in your campaigns :

            • Negative broad keywords won’t match on synonyms or similar words like they can for regular keywords.
            • Negative keywords, even on broad match, won’t match on close variations or plurals.
            • For single-word negative keywords, there is no difference between broad and phrase match.
            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
            • Ray-pp
              Ray-pp last edited by

              The broad match may not necessarily cover the phrase match. With negative keywords, synonyms and plural versions of the keyword can still show up when a user searches with the term.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
              • hellemans
                hellemans last edited by

                I agree, but wouldn't it make sense if you have a broad match negative keyword on a campaign level and the same on a shared list bus as a negative phrase match. The broad match would have covered the phrase match...

                What are the thoughts on that?

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                • Ray-pp
                  Ray-pp last edited by

                  Hi hellemans,

                  Make sure that your shared negative keyword list is not conflicting with your campaign level negative keyword list at the shared library level.

                  You can add a list of negative keywords at the campaign level or through the Shared Library - the SL is where your conflict may be happening.

                  To remove a negative keyword from your campaign, you'll need to manage it at the campaign level.

                  Campaign > Keyword > Scroll to the bottom of the campaign > Add/Remove negative keywords at the ad group/campaign level

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                  • 1 / 1
                  • First post
                    Last post

                  Got a burning SEO question?

                  Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.


                  Start my free trial


                  Browse Questions

                  Explore more categories

                  • Moz Tools

                    Chat with the community about the Moz tools.

                  • SEO Tactics

                    Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers

                  • Community

                    Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!

                  • Digital Marketing

                    Chat about tactics outside of SEO

                  • Research & Trends

                    Dive into research and trends in the search industry.

                  • Support

                    Connect on product support and feature requests.

                  • See all categories

                  Related Questions

                  • salliWW

                    Unsolved How should I update the grouping of keywords in a google ads account

                    ppc adwords

                    hi, I have a google adwords account running for a while in a fairly competitive market in a major city so there is only one geo location with many suburbs or council areas as popular searched. I have keywords that are 2-4 words long and very similar. I have had one keyword in its own campaign, several in one campaign and a location campaign. The location campaign has several adgroups for specific suburbs. My question is that the most popular search terms are similar but in different campaigns and I am wondering if this is not the best way. for example I have these keywords in separate campaigns as exact match and phrase match
                    rubbish removal
                    rubbish removal near me
                    rubbish removal Washington But the way google uses exact match seems to be changing and I am concerned these would be best in one adgroup. Also these keywords trigger similar phrases, for example, waste removal. Is it best to put them in one campaign with one ad group or one campaign with separate adgroups, or leave as is. As competition has increased I need to bid for top of page now and need to keep budget rises as little as possible..

                    Paid Search Marketing | | salliWW
                    0
                  • JCCMoz

                    Adwords Duplicate Keywords with Different Match Types - Good or Bad?

                    If you have the following keywords in an Ad Group advertising for a product, let's for example call it "target" product [target product] "target product" +target +product I've found that the exact match keyword has the highest conversion rate in almost all circumstances.  So it would make sense to have a higher max bid on the exact match then phrase or broad batch.  Even with lots of negative search terms to maximize conversion on the broader matches, if the bid is the same as exact match, the cost per conversion will be much higher (too high.) However in chatting with an Adwords Support Rep (on a different matter) they stated after looking through my account at the end of the chat: " duplicate keywords will impact on quality score. your all keywords will compete with each other" However many of the ad groups in question these duplicate keywords have quality score of 9 and 10.  So obviously if there is an effect it seems it may be minimal. I thought it was pretty common for people to bid higher on more exact match and lower on more broad match.  What's the real story here?  Was this support rep not seeing the big picture?

                    Paid Search Marketing | | JCCMoz
                    1
                  • DanDeceuster

                    Can a third-party advertising agency lock me out of Adwords?

                    Hey all, I've just started at a new company. We spend quite a bit on Adwords and I'm tasked with seeing how that is going and assessing that spend. The problem is, Adwords and Youtube ads have been given to a third-party advertising agency. They are only willing to share the number of clicks, cost and conversions, stuff like that. They refuse to give us access to the account. Is this legal? I mostly want to get in there to look at keyword history, see what we have bid on, how often it was searched, stuff like that. But they won't let us in and I'm wondering if they are required to let us look at our account as I would think they are. Please help!

                    Paid Search Marketing | | DanDeceuster
                    2
                  • singhmahendra

                    How to Find Competitor PPC Keywords ?

                    Can anyone suggest best way to find all PPC keywords of a competitor. Any tool recommendation ?

                    Paid Search Marketing | | singhmahendra
                    0
                  • benjmoz

                    Using multiple domains in one Adwords account

                    Hi, I am currently setting up an Adwords account and wanted to know if you can run multiple websites through one account. We have 2 domains each promoting a different one of our brands and i was wondering the best way to run the account. Regards Ben

                    Paid Search Marketing | | benjmoz
                    0
                  • Ericc22

                    How do I find AdWords campaign and adgroup ID numbers?

                    Is the only way to get them through the AdWords API? If so, how do I do that?

                    Paid Search Marketing | | Ericc22
                    0
                  • Instabill

                    How Can I Target Certain Countries in Google AdWords without Excluding Other Countries?

                    So, here is the situation: Our company works with merchants worldwide (with the exception of those who live in excluded high-risk countries--mostly in Africa), but most of our Google AdWords leads come from Indian merchants. My CEO wants our campaigns to convert leads from other countries (i.e., the UK, Germany, US, Canada, Australia, etc.), but I have no idea how to do that without excluding India. However, my CEO does not want to exclude India from our AdWords campaigns as the leads are profitable. We simply want more diversity with out leads in terms of geographic location. I am sure there are resources on the Web about how to do this, but I am not an Adwords expert and am unsure of what phrases to search to find the answers. Direct advice or helpful links are much appreciated. Regards,
                    Meghan

                    Paid Search Marketing | | Instabill
                    0
                  • eli-hgm

                    Does anyone know of an excel template for creating keyword combinations?

                    I am looking for an Excel template with Macros that would allow me to drop a column of keywords next to a column of modifiers and it would build out thousands of keywords with a Macro. Can anyone drop their best SEO/SEM Excel template spreadsheet links in the comments?

                    Paid Search Marketing | | eli-hgm
                    0

                  Get started with Moz Pro!

                  Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

                  Start my free trial
                  Products
                  • Moz Pro
                  • Moz Local
                  • Moz API
                  • Moz Data
                  • STAT
                  • Product Updates
                  Moz Solutions
                  • SMB Solutions
                  • Agency Solutions
                  • Enterprise Solutions
                  Free SEO Tools
                  • Domain Authority Checker
                  • Link Explorer
                  • Keyword Explorer
                  • Competitive Research
                  • Brand Authority Checker
                  • Local Citation Checker
                  • MozBar Extension
                  • MozCast
                  Resources
                  • Blog
                  • SEO Learning Center
                  • Help Hub
                  • Beginner's Guide to SEO
                  • How-to Guides
                  • Moz Academy
                  • API Docs
                  About Moz
                  • About
                  • Team
                  • Careers
                  • Contact
                  Why Moz
                  • Case Studies
                  • Testimonials
                  Get Involved
                  • Become an Affiliate
                  • MozCon
                  • Webinars
                  • Practical Marketer Series
                  • MozPod
                  Connect with us

                  Contact the Help team

                  Join our newsletter
                  Moz logo
                  © 2021 - 2025 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
                  • Accessibility
                  • Terms of Use
                  • Privacy

                  Looks like your connection to Moz was lost, please wait while we try to reconnect.