Google Ads Latest Upgrade: Account-Level Negative Keywords

All PPC advertisers and digital marketing agencies in Singapore take note! Have you ever been frustrated by wasted ad spending and irrelevant clicks?

Well, fret no more and rejoice!

You no longer have to worry with Google Ads’ latest feature release – Account-Level Negative Keywords! Consider it your personal “ad-blocker” for keywords you do not want them to appear for.

With this new feature, brands are able to enjoy more effective and targeted advertising, saving hassle, money, and time by ensuring that your ads are visible to specific target keywords. Be prepared to seize better control over your PPC advertisement strategies with Account-Level Negative Keywords!

What is Account-Level Negative Keywords about?

This feature was initially introduced as a beta phase for several months last year and is now available globally. The Account-Level Negative Keywords feature enables advertisers to block irrelevant searches at the account level, which means every campaign under that account is affected, making it more efficient and more accessible for brands to manage their negative keywords, as you only have to set them up once. Negative keywords may include low-performing or irrelevant keywords that may impact the campaign performance adversely.

With this feature, advertisers can curate a list of negative keywords that will prevent their ads from appearing on users’ SERPs for keywords not relevant to the brand. For example, if the brand is selling shoes, adding the keyword “free” under the negative keyword list will prevent their ads from appearing on SERPs under “free shoes.” By omitting such keywords, brands can expect higher-quality lead generation as well as reduce unnecessary ad spending and improve their ROI by ensuring that the brand’s ads appear to users who do an intentional search.

Additionally, the account-level feature means advertisers no longer have to stress over duplicating the list for multiple campaigns and can easily share their negative keywords list across multiple ad groups and campaigns, saving them significant effort and time while reducing the risk of human error. They are also able to update or edit their negative keywords list at any point, ensuring that the list stays up-to-date and effective in blocking irrelevant traffic.

The Account-Level Negative Keywords feature does not impact SEO directly; hence, the negative keywords in the list will not affect any of your SEO content. However, it can help with your overall online marketing strategy and free up resources that can be employed in various SEO services and strategies. Additionally, by improving your ads’ relevance and targeting of audiences, this feature also helps to improve the user experience, which is a crucial element of good SEO.

Currently, advertisers who want to access this feature can do so by going to the Google Ads account settings and adding up to 1000 negative keywords under the “Negative Keywords” section. You may also further specify if you want the negative keywords to be based on phrase, exact, or broad match.

• Negative broad keywords: This is the default type of negative keywords match. For this setting, your ad will not appear if the user’s search contains every negative keyword, even if the order is different. For example, if your negative keyword is running, then user searches, such as blue running shoes or shoes running, will not be shown your ad. However, searches like blue tennis shoes or trekking shoe will be shown your ad.
• Negative phrase keywords: For this setting, your ad will not appear if the user’s search contains the exact keywords in the exact order, even if it contains additional words. For example, if your negative keyword is tennis shoe, then user searches, such as best tennis shoe or tennis shoes 2023, will not be shown your ad. However, searches like tennis racket will be shown your ad.
• Negative exact match: For this setting, your ad will not appear if the user’s search contains the exact keywords in the exact order, without any additional words. For example, if your negative keyword is street soccer shoes, and if users search for “street soccer shoes, your ad will not be displayed in their SERP. However, if they search for soccer shoes or street soccer boots your ad will be displayed in their SERP.

Other types of negative keywords

Besides Account-Level Negative Keywords, there is another key type in Google Ads, which is Campaign-Level Negative Keywords. These are keywords that you add to specific targeted campaigns within your Google Ads account. The included negative keywords only affect the specific targeted campaign and not others.

Conclusion

While it starts off with planning a Google Ads campaign with the right tips – what comes next is being up-to-date with the latest features by Google. Overall, the Account-Level Negative Keywords feature is a must-have in any SEM service and effort, whether you are a digital marketing agency in Singapore or a PPC advertiser looking to optimise your search advertising efforts and improve the brand’s ROI. By utilising this feature, brands can manage their negative keywords, better target their audience, increase efficiency, and reduce wasted ad spending more easily.