Negative Keyword Research Techniques

Alon TAlon T·

January 19, 2026

Most negative keyword advice focuses on reactive management—reviewing search terms and adding negatives after the fact. But the best PPC managers also do proactive research, finding negative keywords before they ever waste a dollar.

This guide covers research techniques to build comprehensive negative lists from day one. For ongoing maintenance, see mining search terms reports.

Why Proactive Research Matters

Reactive negative management has a fundamental problem: you pay for the bad click before you can block it.

With proactive research:

  • Block obvious waste before launch
  • Reduce learning period costs
  • Start campaigns with cleaner traffic
  • Identify patterns you'd miss with your own data alone

Technique 1: Keyword Planner in Reverse

Google's Keyword Planner is usually used to find keywords to bid on. Flip it around to find keywords to avoid.

How to Use It

  1. Enter your main keywords
  2. Look at the suggestions Google provides
  3. Identify irrelevant related searches
  4. Add those as negatives

What to Look For

Wrong intent modifiers:

  • [your product] + "jobs"
  • [your product] + "salary"
  • [your product] + "training"
  • [your product] + "free"

Wrong product variations:

  • [your product] + "DIY"
  • [your product] + "homemade"
  • [your product] + "used"

Wrong audience:

  • [your product] + "for kids" (if you sell to adults)
  • [your product] + "wholesale" (if you're retail)
  • [your product] + "near me" (if you're not local)

Example

Researching "CRM software":

Keyword Planner might show:

  • "CRM software jobs" → Add "jobs" as negative
  • "free CRM software" → Add "free" if you're paid-only
  • "CRM software open source" → Add "open source" if you're not
  • "CRM software training" → Add "training" unless you offer it
  • "CRM software comparison" → Maybe keep (research, but close to buying)

Technique 2: Competitor Analysis

Your competitors' strategies reveal valuable negative keyword opportunities.

Analyze Competitor Keywords

Use tools like SEMrush, SpyFu, or Ahrefs to see what competitors bid on. Look for:

Keywords they bid on that you shouldn't:

  • Different product segments
  • Markets you don't serve
  • Services you don't offer

Keywords they don't bid on:

  • If major competitors avoid certain terms, there may be a reason
  • Often indicates low-intent or low-conversion terms

Study Competitor Content

What topics do competitors create content for but not ads? These might be informational queries not worth bidding on:

  • "What is [product category]"
  • "[Product category] explained"
  • "[Product] vs [other product]"

Competitor Brand Terms

Decide if you want to bid on competitor names. If not:

  • Add competitor brand names as negatives
  • Include common misspellings
  • Include product names

Technique 3: Industry Forums and Communities

Real customer language reveals search patterns you'd never guess.

Where to Look

Reddit:

  • Find subreddits related to your industry
  • Note how people describe problems and solutions
  • Identify terms used by non-customers (students, job seekers, hobbyists)

Quora:

  • Search your product category
  • Look at questions asked
  • Identify informational vs. transactional intent

Industry Forums:

  • Professional communities
  • Hobbyist forums
  • Support forums

What to Look For

Job seeker language:

  • "How do I get into [industry]"
  • "[Job title] salary"
  • "[Industry] career path"

DIY/Hobbyist language:

  • "How to build your own [product]"
  • "[Product] DIY"
  • "Cheap [product] alternative"

Student language:

  • "[Product] assignment"
  • "[Product] case study"
  • "[Product] dissertation"

Technique 4: Google Autocomplete Mining

Google's autocomplete suggestions show real search behavior.

How to Do It

  1. Type your main keyword in Google
  2. Note the autocomplete suggestions
  3. Add letters after your keyword (a, b, c...) to see more suggestions
  4. Look for patterns indicating wrong intent

Example: "Project management software"

Autocomplete might show:

  • "project management software free" → "free" negative candidate
  • "project management software for students" → "students" negative candidate
  • "project management software comparison" → keep (buyer research)
  • "project management software jobs" → "jobs" negative
  • "project management software open source" → "open source" if not applicable

Use "People Also Ask"

The "People Also Ask" section shows related questions:

  • "What is project management software?" → informational
  • "Is [product] free?" → price-sensitive
  • "How to use [product]" → existing user, not buyer

Google Trends reveals seasonal patterns and related queries.

Enter your main term and check "Related queries":

  • Rising queries show emerging search patterns
  • Some may be irrelevant to your business
  • Add irrelevant rising queries as preemptive negatives

Seasonal Patterns

Some queries spike seasonally:

  • "Tax software" spikes Jan-April
  • "Back to school [product]" spikes August
  • "Black Friday [product]" spikes November

If you can't fulfill seasonal demand, consider seasonal negatives.

Technique 6: Internal Data Mining

Your own business data contains negative keyword gold.

Customer Service Inquiries

What do non-customers contact you about?

  • Wrong product inquiries → add those product terms as negatives
  • Job inquiries → confirm job-related negatives
  • B2B inquiries to B2C business (or vice versa)

Sales Team Feedback

Ask your sales team:

  • What leads never convert?
  • What common misunderstandings exist?
  • What do unqualified leads typically search for?

Website Search Data

If you have internal site search:

  • What do visitors search for that you don't offer?
  • What searches lead to exits?

Technique 7: Industry-Specific Negative Lists

Some negatives are universal within industries. Learn from others.

Common Industry Negatives

B2B Software:

  • free, open source, crack, download
  • jobs, careers, salary, interview
  • tutorial, course, training, certification
  • review, reddit, comparison

E-commerce:

  • DIY, homemade, recipe
  • free, cheap, discount, coupon
  • wholesale, bulk (if retail only)
  • near me (if online only)

Local Services:

  • [other cities you don't serve]
  • DIY, how to, yourself
  • jobs, hiring, careers

Professional Services:

  • free consultation (if you charge)
  • cheap, budget, discount
  • template, sample, example

Build and Share Lists

Create shared negative lists by category:

  • Jobs/careers list
  • Free/cheap list
  • DIY/informational list
  • Geographic exclusion list

See building negative keyword lists for organization strategies.

Technique 8: Competitor Ad Copy Analysis

What competitors say in their ads reveals targeting:

Look For

Qualifiers they use:

  • "Enterprise" suggests SMB searches are negative-worthy
  • "For small business" suggests enterprise exclusion
  • "Professional" suggests consumer exclusion

What they emphasize:

  • If everyone emphasizes "not free," free-seekers must be a problem
  • If everyone emphasizes a specific use case, others may not convert

Putting It All Together

Research Workflow

  1. Start with Keyword Planner (30 minutes)

    • Enter core keywords
    • Document irrelevant suggestions

  2. Mine Google Autocomplete (30 minutes)

    • Test main keywords with letter combinations
    • Note patterns

  3. Competitor Analysis (1 hour)

    • Review 3-5 competitor keyword strategies
    • Identify gaps and differences

  4. Community Research (1 hour)

    • Browse relevant Reddit/forums
    • Note non-customer language

  5. Internal Data Review (30 minutes)

    • Customer service patterns
    • Sales team feedback

  6. Compile and Organize (30 minutes)

    • Create categorized negative lists
    • Set up shared lists in Google Ads

Prioritization

Not all negatives are equal. Prioritize:

  1. High volume + completely irrelevant = Add immediately
  2. High volume + probably irrelevant = Add with monitoring
  3. Low volume + completely irrelevant = Add to be thorough
  4. Uncertain relevance = Don't add, monitor in search terms

Maintaining Research-Based Lists

Proactive research isn't one-and-done:

  • Quarterly refresh: Re-run keyword planner and autocomplete research
  • Competitor monitoring: Check for new competitor terms periodically
  • Industry changes: New products, trends, and terminology emerge
  • Seasonal updates: Add/remove seasonal negatives as appropriate

Conclusion

Proactive negative keyword research reduces wasted spend from day one. Instead of paying to learn what doesn't work, you start with cleaner campaigns and iterate from there.

The most effective approach combines:

Do the research upfront, and you'll spend less time cleaning up later.