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210+ Negative Keywords to Consider for B2B PPC
In business to business paid search, a large share of the traffic you can buy is worthless — not badly targeted, but structurally incapable of becoming a customer. Job seekers. Students writing…
In short
In B2B paid search a large share of available traffic is structurally incapable of buying — job seekers, students, people hunting for a free version. This is a 239-term starter list across ten categories, with the match-type behaviour that catches people out, and guidance on the three lists nobody can write for you: competitors, locations and adjacent services.
In business-to-business paid search, a large share of the traffic you can buy is worthless — not badly targeted, but structurally incapable of becoming a customer. Job seekers. Students writing assignments. People hunting for a free version of what you sell. They search using the same words your buyers use, they click at normal rates, and they will never purchase anything.
Negative keywords are how you stop paying for them. This is a starter list of 239 terms across ten categories, organised so you can take the sections that apply and skip the ones that do not.
How negative keywords actually work
A negative keyword tells Google not to show your ad when a search contains that term. They apply at campaign or ad group level, and they have their own match types, which behave differently from the positive kind:
- Negative broad — blocks searches containing all your words, in any order.
free trialblocks "free trial software" but not "free software". - Negative phrase — blocks searches containing the exact sequence.
"free trial"blocks "best free trial" but not "trial for free". - Negative exact — blocks only that precise search.
Two things catch people out. Negative keywords do not match close variants the way positive keywords do, so plurals and misspellings need adding separately — job does not block jobs. And a negative keyword will suppress your ad even when the rest of the search was perfect, so a term like free needs thought if you offer a free consultation.
Build the list before launch, then add to it every week from the search terms report. That report is the only place Google tells you what you actually bought.
The lists, ready to paste
239 terms across ten categories. Copy the ones that apply to your account and paste them straight into Google Ads — one keyword per line, which is the format the bulk box expects.
Match type
Phrase is the safe default. Broad blocks the most and can over-block; exact blocks only that precise search.
Example: "jobs"
01Jobs, careers and recruitment
39 keywords
The largest single source of wasted business-to-business spend. Anyone searching your service plus a job word is looking for employment, not a supplier.
"job""jobs""career""careers""vacancy""vacancies""hiring""recruitment""recruiter""recruiting""employment""employer""resume""resumes""cv""cover letter""job description""job application""apply online""interview""interview questions""internship""intern""trainee""apprentice""apprenticeship""staffing""staffing agency""placement""placement agency""headhunter""job portal""job board""job opening""job seeker""work from home""part time""freelance""freelancer"02Salary and compensation
14 keywords
A close cousin of the above, and worth separating because these searches often omit the word "job" entirely.
"salary""salaries""pay scale""payscale""wage""wages""stipend""ctc""compensation""how much do""how much does a""earning""earnings""income"03Education, courses and training
39 keywords
Students and career-changers researching a field, not buying services in it.
"course""courses""class""classes""training""tutorial""tutorials""certification""certificate""diploma""degree""syllabus""curriculum""institute""academy""university""college""school""student""students""learn""learning""study""study material""notes""pdf""ppt""assignment""thesis""dissertation""project report""mcq""quiz""exam""question paper""bootcamp""workshop""webinar""masterclass"Be careful here if you sell training. In that case this whole section becomes your positive keyword list rather than your negative one.
04Free, cheap and DIY
26 keywords
People looking for a way to avoid paying anyone. They convert at close to zero and click enthusiastically.
"free""for free""freeware""no cost""zero cost""cheap""cheapest""low cost""budget""affordable""discount""coupon""promo code""voucher""deal""offer""sale""bargain""open source""diy""do it yourself""homemade""myself""how to do it yourself""without agency""in house"If you run a genuine free trial or free consultation, remove `free` and `for free` from this list and block the specific unwanted phrases instead — `free download`, `free software`, `free tool`.
05Research, definitions and how-to
29 keywords
Top-of-funnel curiosity. Valuable for content marketing, expensive in paid search.
"what is""what are""meaning""definition""define""explain""explained""how to""how does""how do""why is""guide""beginners guide""introduction""basics""fundamentals""overview""history of""types of""advantages""disadvantages""pros and cons""benefits of""importance of""full form""wiki""wikipedia""quora""reddit"06Templates, samples and examples
18 keywords
People who want the artefact, not the service that produces it.
"template""templates""sample""samples""example""examples""format""formats""checklist""worksheet""spreadsheet""excel""google sheet""swipe file""boilerplate""mock up""dummy""test"07Software piracy and workarounds
15 keywords
Almost exclusively relevant if you sell software, and almost entirely worthless traffic.
"crack""cracked""keygen""serial key""license key""activation key""torrent""nulled""mod apk""hack""hacked""bypass""unlimited""lifetime free""alternative to"08Consumer intent on a business service
14 keywords
Where a business-to-business term has a consumer twin, these separate them.
"personal""for home""household""residential""individual""single user""hobby""student discount""for beginners""gift""toy""game""app store""play store"09News, reviews and comparison
28 keywords
People comparing rather than buying, or reading about the industry.
"news""latest news""blog""forum""review""reviews""ratings""rating""complaint""complaints""scam""fraud""is it legit""vs""versus""comparison""compare""top 10""best 10""list of""directory""case study""statistics""stats""report""trends""market size""market share"Keep `case study` on the list with your eyes open — it blocks genuine buyers researching your credibility as well as students. If your case studies are a real selling asset, move it to a bid-down rather than a block.
10Careers-adjacent and internal functions
17 keywords
Searches from people inside organisations who are not buying your service.
"hr""human resources""payroll""attendance""leave policy""employee handbook""onboarding checklist""login""sign in""portal""helpline""customer care number""toll free number""contact number""head office""address""near me jobs"
Three lists you must build yourself
The original version of this article filled these categories with placeholders like "competitor1" and "city1". That was useless, so here is what actually belongs in them.
Competitor names. Whether to block or bid on competitor brands is a real strategic decision, not a default. Bidding on them is legal and often sensible; it is also expensive and converts poorly in many markets. If you are not deliberately running a competitor campaign, add the names as negatives so they do not leak into your generic campaigns and distort the data. List your actual competitors, including common misspellings of their names.
Locations you do not serve. If you work in three cities, every other city is a negative. The efficient approach is to fix location targeting first — set it to people present in your service area rather than the default, which includes people merely showing interest in it — then add the specific place names that still slip through. Include the countries that generate your junk enquiries; most Indian accounts serving domestic clients need a handful of these.
Adjacent services you do not offer. The most account-specific list, and often the most valuable. If you do Google Ads but not SEO, seo is a negative. If you do paid search but not web development, website design is a negative. Write down everything a reasonable person might assume you do, and block whatever you would turn down.
Working the list properly
Add the relevant sections before launch. Then, weekly:
- Open the search terms report for the last seven days.
- Sort by cost, descending — the expensive irrelevant terms are the ones worth catching.
- Add anything unwanted as a negative, at the right level. Campaign-wide for universal junk, ad group level where it is only wrong in one context.
- Add the good terms you find as keywords in their own right.
Keep shared negative keyword lists at account level for the categories that never change — jobs, education, free — so a new campaign inherits them automatically rather than repeating the same lesson at your expense.
One caution worth repeating: over-blocking is a real failure mode. Every negative you add narrows reach, and an account choked with hundreds of poorly-considered negatives can starve itself of perfectly good traffic. Review the list twice a year and remove the ones that were never justified.
If you want a structured look at where an existing account is leaking money more broadly, the wasted spend calculator works through the arithmetic, and the account structure guide covers where negatives belong in a well-organised account.
Frequently asked
Do negative keywords match close variants like plurals and misspellings?
No, and this catches people out constantly. Unlike positive keywords, negative keywords do not automatically match close variants — adding `job` does not block `jobs`. Plurals, misspellings and common variations each need adding separately if you want them blocked.
Should negative keywords go at campaign or ad group level?
Campaign level for terms that are wrong everywhere, such as job and salary searches. Ad group level for terms that are only wrong in one context — a word that is irrelevant for one service line may be exactly right for another. For categories that never change across your whole account, use shared negative keyword lists so new campaigns inherit them automatically.
Can you have too many negative keywords?
Yes. Every negative narrows reach, and an account choked with hundreds of poorly considered exclusions can starve itself of perfectly good traffic. Over-blocking is a real failure mode, not a theoretical one. Review the list roughly twice a year and remove anything that was never justified.
Should I add competitor brand names as negative keywords?
If you are not deliberately running a competitor campaign, yes — otherwise those searches leak into your generic campaigns and distort the data. Bidding on competitor brands is legal and sometimes sensible, but it should be a deliberate campaign with its own budget and its own expectations, not something that happens by accident.
- Negative Keywords
- B2B
- PPC
- Wasted Spend
Next step
Score your account
Twenty questions across tracking, structure, landing pages and bidding. You get a score and a prioritised list of what to fix first.
