The Ultimate Negative Keyword List: 250+ Terms by Industry (2026)

How to Use This List

Negative keyword lists are the fastest way to stop your Google Ads budget from leaking into irrelevant searches. But copying a template blindly is risky too: a term that makes sense for an e-commerce store can mean lost revenue for an education platform.

This guide has two parts: general categories almost every account can use safely, and industry-specific lists. Before adding any term, take five seconds to sanity-check it against your business model — words like 'used' or 'cheap' can bring customers or waste depending on what you sell.

We recommend adding these at campaign level as broad match negatives. In Google Ads go to Campaign > Keywords > Negative search terms for bulk adding.

1. Freebie Seekers (No Purchase Intent)

The most fundamental category. A user searching 'free' is the furthest from spending money. If you have no freemium offer, add the whole list:

• free, free download, freebie, no cost, gratis
• free trial (if you do not offer one)
• crack, pirated, warez, torrent, full download
• unlicensed, cracked version, apk download
• giveaway, coupon, promo code, discount code (unless you are a coupon site)

2. Information Seekers (Learning Mode)

These users are researching, not buying. Unless content marketing is your goal, paying ad money for this traffic is waste:

• what is, meaning, definition, explained
• how to, diy, do it yourself, homemade, recipe
• example, examples, template, sample, pdf
• course, tutorial, learn (if you do not sell courses)
• wikipedia, reddit, forum, complaints

3. Job & Career Seekers

People who want to work in your industry are not people who want to buy from you. Critical for service businesses:

• jobs, job openings, hiring, careers, vacancies
• salary, salaries, how much does earn, hourly rate
• resume, cv, interview questions, exam
• internship, apprenticeship, certification program
• how to become, requirements to become

4. Second-Hand & Bargain Hunters

If you sell new products or premium services, these searches will not convert. Skip this list if you DO operate in resale:

• used, second hand, secondhand, pre-owned, refurbished (if you do not sell refurbished)
• craigslist, ebay, facebook marketplace
• cheapest, cheap, low cost, budget (if you are positioned premium)
• rental, rent, for rent, hire (if you only sell)
• installments, trade-in, swap

5. Wrong Geography

Even with correct geo-targeting, users search with other city names while physically inside your area. If you serve specific regions only, negate the major cities you do not serve:

• Major cities outside your service area
• abroad, overseas, international (if you operate domestically)
• online, remote (if you only serve in person)

6. Competitor & Brand Confusion

Bidding on competitor brand names can be a deliberate strategy — but doing it unknowingly usually means expensive clicks and poor quality scores. Also exclude similarly named but unrelated brands.

For example, someone searching 'moof' might be looking for Apple's legendary dog-cow mascot — which is exactly why we negate 'moof apple' and 'clarus' ourselves.

Ready-Made Lists by Industry

These mini-lists come from the waste patterns MoofSearch detects most often across customer accounts:

• E-COMMERCE: order tracking, track my order, returns, how to return, complaints, customer service number, store hours
• LEGAL: law school, study law, bar exam, petition template, case lookup, free lawyer, legal aid
• HEALTH/CLINICS: public hospital, book appointment nhs, side effects, reviews of users, drug price
• SAAS/SOFTWARE: open source, github, free alternative, crack, self hosted (if not offered), api docs
• EDUCATION: accredited, government funded, free course, certificate lookup
• REAL ESTATE: deed lookup, property tax, lease agreement template, zoning lookup, for sale by owner

Adding the List Takes 10 Minutes. Keeping It Alive Is Ongoing Work

A template list is step one; every account develops its own waste patterns. Google makes broad match a little more aggressive every year — a campaign that was clean yesterday can start spending on irrelevant queries today.

That is why winners are the advertisers who scan their search terms report consistently. MoofSearch automates exactly this: AI scores every search term for purchase intent and industry context, lists negative candidates in seconds, and pushes your decisions to Google Ads in one click. With 20 free credits you can scan your first 2,000 terms today.