A negative keyword is a word or phrase that tells Google Ads not to show your ad for certain searches. A useful list excludes searches for work you do not offer while keeping searches from potential customers.
This guide gives you examples to review, not a list to paste into every account. The right choices depend on your services, locations and actual search results. No list can promise a particular saving or prevent every unsuitable click.
Start with the work you want to receive
Write down your wedding services, any other services you provide, the places you work and whether you accept destination weddings. Keep those details beside you when reviewing exclusions.
For example, a wedding business that also provides livestreaming should not exclude “live” simply because another videographer does not provide that service. A business that provides photography and video should protect both services.
Look at the searches that showed your ads
Use your Google Ads Search Terms report to review the searches available for your campaign. Look for searches clearly connected to another service, employment or equipment rather than your offer.
Do not assume that a question means the person will never hire you. Someone asking “how much does a wedding videographer cost?” may be comparing providers. Review the whole search and any available inquiry information before excluding it.
Understand what an exclusion can block
For Search campaigns, quotation marks create a negative phrase match. For example, “videography course” can exclude a longer search containing those words in that order. Square brackets create a negative exact match, which restricts that exclusion to the matching search without additional words.
Neither format makes an unsuitable choice safe. Excluding “cost”, “how much” or “my” can hide your ad from useful searches containing those words. Choose the wording and match type to fit the specific unwanted search.
See Google’s explanation of negative phrase match and the broader guide to negative keywords before applying a list.
Consider clear service mismatches first
These are examples to investigate, not universal recommendations:
- Employment or training: a search for a videographer vacancy or a videography course, when you offer neither.
- Equipment or software: a search to buy a camera or download editing software, when you do not sell those products.
- Other services: a search for a music-video producer or real-estate video, only if your business does not provide that work.
- Work outside your service area: a specific search for a location you cannot serve, after checking whether travel or destination work would make it relevant.
Prefer a clearly unrelated phrase over an isolated word that also appears in useful searches.
Keep uncertain choices separate
Price questions, reviews, directories, competitor names and research questions need individual judgment. They do not automatically identify a poor customer.
A competitor’s complete business name can be reviewed separately if excluding it fits your campaign. Do not turn part of that name into a generic exclusion. Review the effect on suitable inquiries rather than assuming all competitor searches are wasted money.
Apply the same care to wedding styles and cultural or religious terms. Explain actual service limits—such as travel, coverage hours or services you do not provide—rather than assuming a person’s religion or cultural background tells you what they need. Do not use broad identity labels as a substitute for checking the requested work.
Check location settings as well as location words
A city name in a search is not the same as the searcher’s physical location. Google Ads offers settings for people in your chosen locations and for people showing interest in those places. Choose settings that fit how customers can use your business.
A location-word exclusion only affects matching search wording; it does not replace your campaign’s location settings. Review both against your genuine service area and destination-work policy. Google does not guarantee perfect location accuracy.
Read Google’s current location-options guidance.
Review before you apply
Before adding an exclusion:
- Read the complete search and decide why it does not fit.
- Check every service and location you still want to advertise.
- Consider useful searches that contain the proposed words.
- Choose the narrowest wording and match type that solves the identified problem.
- Keep uncertain categories separate so they can be reviewed or removed easily.
- After making changes, review search results and suitable inquiries. A longer list is not automatically a better list.
Use a shared list only for exclusions that fit every campaign receiving it. A term unsuitable for one service may be useful for another.
Get help organizing your list
Wildwood’s wedding-business keyword tool organizes suggested exclusions around your services and locations. It shows examples, category counts and warnings before the $10 checkout. One purchase unlocks one saved project that you can edit and download again.
You still review the suggestions before using them in Google Ads. The tool cannot guarantee savings or suitable inquiries.
Want to check how your website appears in unpaid Google results too? Start a $3 Basic website audit.