Account-level negative keywords in Google Ads have existed for years, but their function changes materially when AI Max campaigns replace DSA and Performance Max. This is a practical guide to how the mechanism works and why it deserves more attention in 2026.
The Problem Account-Level Negatives Solve
Standard negative keywords are campaign-level: you add a negative to a specific campaign, and the campaign stops matching that term. Account-level negatives apply across all campaigns simultaneously.
With AI Max, this matters more for two reasons:
Broader AI reach. AI Max (for Search, for Shopping, for all campaign types) deliberately expands targeting beyond what you configure. The AI is authorized to match queries that your explicit keywords or product targets wouldn't reach. This is useful but creates new exposure to query categories you haven't pre-excluded.
Less granular query reporting. Search term reporting in AI Max is aggregated by default. You see fewer individual query strings and more category-level data. This makes retroactive negative keyword management less effective — by the time you see a pattern, significant spend may already have occurred.
Account-level negatives work upstream of the reporting gap. They block categories before the AI can enter them, regardless of campaign structure.
DSA and the AI Max Transition
DSA campaigns — being retired in February 2027 (https://yositeup.com/blog/google-ads-dsa-ai-max-migration-february-2027) — had negative keywords that prevented the auto-targeting engine from entering certain pages or query categories. When you migrate DSA to AI Max, those campaign-level negatives don't automatically transfer.
The migration workflow should include:
- Auditing your current DSA campaign negatives
- Identifying which of those negatives should become account-level negatives
- Adding them at the account level before the DSA campaign is paused
Negatives that belonged only in the DSA campaign stay campaign-level in the AI Max equivalent. Negatives that represent categories you never want any campaign to enter (competitor brand terms you don't bid on, irrelevant product categories, geographic terms outside your target) should become account-level.
The July 2026 ToS and AI Authority
The July 2026 ToS update (https://yositeup.com/blog/google-ads-tos-july-2026-ai-automation-what-changed) formalized AI authority over targeting and bidding. Account-level negatives are the primary control surface that limits AI authority at the query level.
Under the new ToS, the AI can optimize within your configured parameters without requiring per-decision approval. Account-level negatives are your configured parameters for query exclusion. Setting them explicitly is the mechanism for telling the AI what it is not authorized to bid on.
The Data Deletion Connection
After the June 2026 data deletion (https://yositeup.com/blog/google-ads-reporting-data-deleted-june-2026), search term history from April 2025 through May 2026 is gone. If you previously identified negative keyword patterns from that search term data, those patterns are gone from your historical reference.
Practical response: pull search term reports from before April 2025 (available) and from June 2026 forward (available) and rebuild your negative keyword list from the surviving data. Cross-reference with your product catalog or service list to identify query categories that have never converted and should be excluded proactively.
AI Max for Shopping Negative Product Targets
For AI Max for Shopping (https://yositeup.com/blog/google-ai-max-shopping-replacing-performance-max-2026), negative keywords work differently than negative product targets. Both can be set at campaign or account level.
Negative keywords: exclude queries containing those terms. Prevents AI from entering those search queries regardless of which products match.
Negative product targets: exclude specific products from showing. Prevents the AI from advertising those products regardless of query.
For migration from Performance Max to AI Max for Shopping: bring over negative product targets (particularly for low-margin or out-of-stock items) in addition to negative keywords.
Practical Setup Steps
Account-level negatives in Google Ads:
- Tools > Shared Library > Negative Keyword Lists
- Create a list named "Account-Level Exclusions" (or equivalent)
- Add the list to all active campaigns
For AI Max, there is a separate account-level setting under campaign settings for some AI Max types. The shared library approach works across all campaign types.
What to include:
- Brand terms of competitors you don't bid on by choice
- Geographic terms outside your targeting (if your campaigns don't geo-restrict)
- Product categories you don't sell
- Query intent categories that have historically shown zero conversion (informational queries if you're conversion-only)
- Low-quality modifier terms (free, cheap, how to, DIY — depending on your business model)
Audit quarterly. As AI Max expands reach over time, new query categories may appear that require exclusion.
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