How-to · Updated October 11, 2026
Add negative keywords to a Performance Max campaign
Updated October 11, 2026
15 minutes
To add negative keywords to Performance Max, open Campaigns, then Keywords, select the Negative keywords tab, click the plus button, pick the campaign and enter one negative per line. Preview the impact first. Negatives cover Search and Shopping only and skip plurals and synonyms, so list every form you want blocked.
Before you start
- Standard or Admin access to the Google Ads account. Read-only access can view campaigns but cannot edit them.
- The searches you want to block, from the Search terms and landing pages for Performance Max view of the search terms report, with the word in each that makes it wrong.
Preview what the negatives would cost
Run the negatives through Google's impact preview before adding them, since a negative on Performance Max can cut conversions you did not know came from that search.
- In the Campaigns menu, click Search keywords, then click the plus button to add new keywords.
- Add one keyword per line, up to 10 at a time, and click Preview impact. For now, Google offers this preview for Performance Max campaigns only.
- Read the predicted change. Google shows it as a percentage of conversions or conversion value, depending on the bid strategy: its example is a -10% loss turning 100 conversions a day into about 90.
- Google suggests you may skip or refine a negative with a high predicted loss. Weigh it against your own records first: the preview counts conversions, not customers, so a large predicted loss on a search that never brings a customer is a reason to look at what the campaign counts as a conversion.
Add the negatives to the campaign
Add each negative at the campaign level, in every form you want blocked, because Google says negatives do not match plurals, synonyms or close variants.
- Click the Campaigns icon, then Keywords, and select the Negative keywords tab.
- Click the plus button and select your Performance Max campaign.
- Add keywords one per line, or select an existing negative keyword list. With no symbols a negative is broad match; quotation marks make it phrase match, and square brackets, such as [free trial], make it exact match.
- Add the singular, the plural and any synonym as separate lines. A law firm blocking "internship" also needs "internships"; a software company blocking "download" also needs "downloads". Capital letters and misspellings are covered on their own.
- To reuse these on other campaigns, tick Save to new or existing list and name the list.
- Click Save.
Google says Performance Max negatives apply to Search and Shopping inventory only. A search term that shows up on Display or Video inventory needs excluded content keywords, under Content suitability in the Tools menu.
Block words that are wrong everywhere at the account level
A word that is wrong for every campaign, such as words job seekers use, belongs in the account's own list, which Google applies to search and shopping inventory in Performance Max and the other search campaign types at once.
- Click the Admin icon, then Account settings, and expand the Negative keywords section.
- Click the plus button and enter one word or phrase per line, with each singular and plural form.
- Click Save. To change a negative's match type, use the drop-down in the Match type column.
Google applies the account list to search and shopping inventory in Search, Performance Max, App, Shopping, Smart and Local campaigns, up to 1,000 negatives. Keep a word at campaign level when another campaign should still show for it.
Check it worked
Click the Campaigns icon, then Keywords, and open the Negative keywords tab. Each negative should be listed against the Performance Max campaign, or the list you saved it to.
After a week, open Search terms and landing pages for Performance Max with a date range that starts the day after you saved. Searches containing the blocked words should be gone from the Text ads and Shopping ads rows. If one still appears, compare it word by word with your negative for a missing plural or synonym. A missing row is not proof on its own, since the report leaves out searches only a few people made.
Why a blocked word can still get through
A negative only blocks the forms it lists, so "consultation" does not block "consultations". Google also says an ad can still show when a search runs past 16 words and the negative comes after the 16th. The how-to on fixing negative keywords that don't block walks through each case.
Negatives or a brand exclusion for your own business name
To keep Performance Max off searches for your own name, a brand exclusion fits better than negatives. The how-to on stopping Performance Max spending on your brand name has the steps.