Glossary/Brand & Performance Marketing/Negative Keywords
Brand & Performance Marketing
Negative Keywords
Terms added to a search campaign to stop ads from showing on irrelevant queries, reducing wasted spend.
By Brandon Mina·CEO, BrandPilot AI·Updated November 2026
Short answer
Negative keywords are terms added to a search campaign to stop ads from showing on irrelevant queries. For example, a premium retailer might exclude searches containing the word free. They reduce wasted spend, improve click-through rate, and keep traffic focused on searchers likely to convert.