How do I add negative keywords to one campaign?

How to Add Negative Keywords to One Campaign

Adding Manually via the Keywords Menu (Bulk Input)

This is the fastest method if you have a list of terms ready.

Navigate to Keywords: In your Google Ads account, click on Campaigns in the left-hand menu, and then click Audience, Keywords, and Content > Keywords.
Select Campaign: Click on the specific Search Campaign you want to update (e.g., “Test Search Campaign”).
Go to Negative Keywords: In the sub-menu that appears above the data table, click the Negative keywords tab.
Initiate Add: Click the “+ Negative Keywords” button to add a new negative keyword list.

Choose Destination: Select ‘Campaign level’ or ‘Ad group level’ from the options.

Campaign Level (Recommended): This applies the negative keyword to every Ad Group in the selected campaign.
Ad Group Level: This applies the negative keyword only to a specific Ad Group.

Input Keywords: Enter or paste your list of negative keywords, one per line. Use the correct syntax to define the match type:

Broad: free plumber courses
Phrase: “cheap plumber jobs”
Exact: [plumbing salary]

Save: Click Save.

Advice on Negative Match Types

Negative Match Type	When to Use It	Example (Blocks searches related to ‘free service’)
Negative Exact [keyword]	To block highly specific, unwanted searches.	[free plumber service]
Negative Phrase “keyword”	To block searches containing a specific phrase, where the word order matters.	“free service call”
Negative Broad keyword	To block all related searches. Use sparingly as it can block relevant queries.	free service

Last Updated 2nd February 2026.

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