Before you add
another negative.
You cleared yesterday’s searches. Today there’s another competitor name, another wrong product, another variation to exclude.
Get the free courseThree text lessons, worked examples and a review card. Free with an account.
You can keep adding whole queries, but the list keeps growing. Excluding a shared word might also remove a search from someone who wants your service.
Finish the review with a decision you can explain.
Know which customer need you’re excluding, which searches you want to keep eligible, and where the change belongs. Keep a record you can return to when the next variation appears.
Check the exclusion before you save it.
This free course walks you through one recurring unwanted query pattern. Identify the wrong customer need, check proposed exclusions against wanted queries, and finish with an action and a review point.
Worked examples show when to narrow a rule, when a reusable phrase is reasonable, and when to investigate instead.
Three focused lessons
Name the customer this search cannot serve
Separate an unwanted search from an unclear result or a routing problem.
Check what your proposed negative would remove
Compare the exclusion against both unwanted and wanted queries. Choose its application scope.
Make one explained change and review it
Record the action, verify what was applied, and decide what evidence would make you reconsider.
Bring a Search campaign, or use the practice cases.
For advertisers and account managers reviewing standard Google Ads Search campaigns. Have your offer details, visible search terms and current exclusions available when working on your own account.
All three lessons, practice answers and the reusable review card are free. No account connection, new software or payment card required.
The examples are teaching illustrations, not a ready-made negative list. The course helps you make a specific exclusion decision; it does not promise a permanent end to cleanup, unchanged traffic volume or lower costs.
Make your next exclusion deliberate.
Enter your email for a sign-in link, then work through your next query decision.
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