Why negative keywords are becoming less effective in Google Ads

A question came up recently on Reddit from someone running Google Ads for a psychologist.

They were using exact match keywords. But Google was showing their ads on what looked like irrelevant searches, including the names of other psychologists.

They asked an interesting question.

If the goal is to get qualified leads, not just traffic, how could you fix this problem structurally instead of just adding more negative keywords?

It's a good question. And it highlights a bigger change in how Google Ads works today.

The old solution: add more negative keywords

Adding negative keywords from the search terms report has always been part of diligent Google Ads management.

But while it's still important, it's becoming less and less effective.

I've got three reasons for saying this:

• Probably the most significant is that Google buries most of your clicks under “Other search terms”. It's quite common to see actual search terms for less than a third of your ad spend. So your best efforts are only applied to a small part of the problem.
• It's a treadmill. I've got accounts with thousands of negative keywords. I could add another 100 today, and tomorrow I'd need to add another 100 again. Even with the help of software, the work doesn't feel like a good use of my time.
• It seems like Google ignores negative keywords. I haven't seen anything official on this, but I've seen search terms reports with searches that should have been blocked by our negative keywords.

So what's the solution?

When you step back, there are two ways to deal with loose matching in Google Ads.

• One is to keep trying to block unwanted searches.
• The other is to help Google understand which leads actually turn into good business.

I'm using a combination of both.

Here's what's working for me at the moment:

1. Start the campaign with an extensive negative keyword list.
2. Filter with ad copy.
3. Optimise campaigns for something downstream of the raw lead.

Start the campaign with an extensive negative keyword list

Some people like to "gather data" in the first few months of a new campaign. They start with few or no negatives and add them as they go along.

I prefer to put together a list of negative keywords while doing keyword research. I've also got lists of common negative keywords that I've built up over the years.

My thinking is that having the negatives at the start of the campaign helps steer the algorithm towards people who are most likely to convert. The sooner the first conversions arrive, the faster the campaign learns. It's a virtuous circle.

Filter with ad copy

I want to filter out unqualified people before they click an ad so they don't become an unqualified lead. I use the ad copy for this.

For example:

• If your practice doesn't accept insurance, say so.
• If you work with adults only, include that in the ad.
• If you only meet patients online, make that clear.

Clear ad copy cuts wasted spend. And, as Google sees who doesn't click your ads, it gets a better idea of who to show your ads to.

Optimise campaigns for something downstream of the raw lead

Filtering helps reduce unqualified clicks, but it isn't bulletproof. You still get some enquiries from people who aren't a good fit.

Most advertisers only optimise for raw leads. That might be a phone call, a form submission, or a message. I understand why. The plumbing you need to track what happens after the lead can be complicated.

The problem is simple:

• Some leads are spam.
• Some leads aren't a good fit.
• Some leads never respond.

If Google only sees the raw lead conversion, it thinks that all leads are equal. It can't optimise for the kind of leads you actually want.

I try to optimise campaigns for later events in the sales process.

Examples of these milestones include:

• Qualified lead.
• Appointment booked.
• Quote requested.
• New customer or sale.

These events are sent back to Google as offline conversions.

This gives Google much better information about which searches produce real business outcomes. I've been surprised by how well this has worked, even at fairly low lead volume.

Why better signals matter more than better keyword control

Think about Google's changes over the last few years. How many have been about giving advertisers more control over search terms?

Zero.

Instead, the changes have been about using something other than search terms to determine if someone should see your ad.

• Looser match types. Phrase is what broad used to be. Broad picks up anything.
• PMax campaigns don't use keywords.
• Offline conversions.

I suspect that trying to optimise with negative keywords will become even less effective.

In my mind, the most durable long-term strategy is to help Google understand what a good lead actually looks like to you.

That means sending Google complete, clean data about what happens after the lead. Not just form submissions or phone calls, but the real milestones in the sales process:

• Qualified lead.
• Appointment booked.
• Quote requested.
• New customer or sale.

And that's where the opportunity is.

Advertisers who do this today will have a head start. They'll get the best leads. Advertisers who are stuck optimising for raw leads will see quality go down.

The hard part is the plumbing.

You need a reliable way to:

• Capture leads along with their ad tracking data.
• Record what happens after the lead arrives.
• Send those outcomes back to Google Ads.

In most businesses this is close to impossible because the information isn't in one place. Tracking data is in the lead capture layer (forms or call tracking systems). Lead progress is in CRMs, job management systems or spreadsheets. They don't talk to each other and they don't talk to Google.

I've built a tool to solve this problem. It's called Litiro. If you run Google Ads and are still optimising for raw leads instead of more valuable actions, you might find it useful.

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