Advanced negative keyword strategy goes beyond blocking obvious irrelevant terms. It is a systematic program for eliminating budget waste at scale.
Building Shared Negative Lists
In Google Ads → Shared Library → Negative keyword lists:
Universal list (apply to all campaigns):
jobs, salary, free, course, certification, tutorial, DIY, template, "what is", definition, career, internship, resume, entry level
Industry-specific list (terms in your space indicating non-buyers):
Add as you discover them through Search Term report analysis.
When you update a Shared List, the change applies immediately across all campaigns using it.
The N-gram Analysis Process
Monthly:
- Export all search terms for the past 30 days
- Extract all 2-word and 3-word combinations (n-grams)
- Sort by: Cost descending, Conversions = 0
- Find recurring word pairs wasting budget
- Add those words to the appropriate Shared List
This is scalable. Reviewing 10,000 individual search terms isn't. Reviewing 200 n-gram patterns is.
Competitor Name Negatives
If running brand campaigns:
Add all major competitor brand names as negatives to prevent your brand campaign from triggering on competitor queries.
If not running competitor campaigns:
Add competitor names as account-level negatives to stop wasted spend.
The Review Cadence
Monthly: N-gram analysis.
After any major campaign change: Full search term audit.
Quarterly: Review and update all Shared Lists.
Negative keyword strategy at scale: yositeup.com
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