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?
-
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!
-
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.
-
-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 -
-"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 -
-[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
-
-
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!
-
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.
-
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.
-
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?
-
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
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
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.
Related Questions
-
Unsolved How should I update the grouping of keywords in a google ads account
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
Paid Search Marketing | | salliWW
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..0 -
Special Characters in Negative Keywords in Ads
Howdy, fellow mozzers, I came across this weird suggestion in my Bing account (screenshot link: https://dmitrii-regexseo.tinytake.com/tt/NDY3OTc5NF8xNDgyMzY4OA) It almost that the dollar sign in the negative keyword is acting like a wildcard character, or being disregarded completely. I did some tests, it seems that in Google Ads that is not happening. Does anyone have an idea if this is normal behavior? I have never seen this before.
Paid Search Marketing | | DmitriiK0 -
PPC: how to get rid of an ad appearing on a keyword we don't want?
Hi, Our ad on Google Ads is appearing for a search we don't want. it isn't in our search keywords and when i try and ad it to our negative ones, we get the error " You cannot exclude keywords that are targeted " which i assume means that google thinks we are bidding on it? We have a selection of broad phrase matches so i can only think that this is where it's coming from? Do you have any tips on tracking down which keyword is generating this ad and how we can turn it off? (we don't want to pay for clicks on this search if possible!) Btw - i have turned off each keyword in turn to test it = nothing. have then paused the whole campaign = gets rid of the ad (but this is our most successful campaign so i can't just turn it off). Any advice super super welcome. thank you!
Paid Search Marketing | | Fubra1 -
Will pausing my AdWords PPC campaigns impact my organic rankings?
Over 95% of my revenue comes from organic search; less than 5% comes from AdWords PPC (all other sources account for about 1-2%). My ROI on AdWords is roughly zero. It's negative if you include opportunity costs. My question is: if I pause all of my AdWords campaigns, is there ANY chance that my organic rankings (and organic click-through rates) will suffer? This is really two questions. First, could Google retaliate to my reduced ad spending by dropping my rankings? Second, will searchers think differently about my organic link if they don't also see the accompanying paid link on the SERP?
Paid Search Marketing | | ahirai2 -
Google Analytics and WorldPay - Tracking Sales/Conversions
Hi there, I recently remember reading somewhere that tracking code could be used to monitor sales/conversions of eCommerce payments that went through WorldPay. I've been looking around the web for news stories, forums, discussions, but all seem to be from 2007 - 2011; was just wondering if anyone knew any up-to-date info they could point me towards? Thanks
Paid Search Marketing | | bricktech0 -
AdWords Sitelinks Disapproved
Hello,
Paid Search Marketing | | Instabill
I cannot find a justifiable reason as to why Google AdWords has disapproved my sitelinks. 1. My link text is descriptive of each page. For instance, I use the link text "Merchant Accounts" for the URL http://www.instabill.com/services/merchant-accounts/ 2. I have four extensions within one campaign. Each have 5 sitelinks with all the same link text and destination URLs. However, only two of the "Merchant Accounts" sitelinks were disapproved from two out of the four extensions. Two "High Risk Accounts" linking to our High Risk Merchant Accounts page were disapproved out of my four extensions, one "Industries We Serve" to our eCommerce Industries page was disapproved, and one "Offshore Accounts to our Offshore Merchant Accounts page was disapproved. Why are some disapproved and not all? 3. I use Daddy Analytics to generate my destination URLs for tracking purposes, but I do not see this as being an issue since the URL still begins with the URL in bullet point 1. After reading a few threads within the AdWords community and reading the AdWords Sitelinks Guidelines, I feel as if I have followed the guidelines. Any helpful advice would be appreciated.0 -
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,
Paid Search Marketing | | Instabill
Meghan0 -
What is a good CTR for a Google AdWords Remarketing banner campaign?
Hello there, given that in the banners we offer a promotion with "some bonus if you sign up", what is from your experience a good CTR for a Google AdWords Remarketing banner campaign? Many thanks to everyone that answers. YESdesign
Paid Search Marketing | | YESdesign0