Negative keywords not working? They don't match close variants
Negative keywords do not match close variants, so plurals and synonyms need their own entry; only casing and misspellings are covered. Negative broad blocks a search only if it contains all your words, phrase needs them in order, exact needs the whole search. Check the search terms report to see what still slips through.
Why the negative did not block it
Normal keywords stretch: broad match reaches related searches, and every match type covers close variants. Negative keywords do not. Google's help is direct: negative keywords won't match to close variants or other expansions. If you exclude "repair", a search for "repairs" or "fixing" can still show your ad. Casing and misspellings are handled for you, everything else is not.
The 3 negative match types
Google's own example uses the negative "running shoes":
| Negative type | Blocks | Does not block |
|---|---|---|
| Broad (default) | "blue running shoes", "shoes running" | "running shoe" (a word is missing) |
| Phrase | "blue running shoes" | "shoes running" (different order) |
| Exact | "running shoes" only | "blue running shoes" (extra word) |
Negative broad is the default and blocks only when all its words are in the search. A 2-word negative is narrower than it looks.
What to add
- The plural and singular: "repair", "repairs".
- The synonyms people really type: "fix", "service", "technician".
- Single-word negatives for the concept you never want: one word in broad blocks every search containing it.
Why the ad looked relevant anyway
In a thread on r/googleads this week an advertiser found that Google paired their repair searches with the one generic headline, "24/7 Local Customer Support". Several advertisers there answered that they pin headlines so every combination still says what the business does. It does not replace negatives, but it stops the ad from inviting the wrong click.
Find what still slips through
The search terms report shows what people actually typed. Ads MCP connects your AI assistant to your Google Ads account in read only mode: search_terms lists them, find_wasted_spend flags the ones that spent without converting, and negative_keywords_file writes the CSV to import in Google Ads Editor, plurals included if you ask.
Ads MCP is a read-only Google Ads connector for ChatGPT, Claude and other AI assistants. It finds the searches that spend without converting and hands you a file to import. Free: 50 tool calls a month.
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