Search Terms to Negative Keywords: Closing the Loop in Google Ads

Reviewing search terms for wasted spend is one of the most common jobs on the Google Ads connector, and pushing negative keywords is the single most used write action on any Windsor connector. A large share of teams that pull search terms also push a negative list in the same week, closing the loop rather than just reading a report.

Pull search_term, search_term_match_type, clicks, conversions, and
spend for the last 30 days. Which search terms have clicks but zero
conversions, or cost above $20 with no conversions?

What counts as wasted spend

Three patterns catch most of it: search terms with clicks but no conversions, a search term whose cost is high relative to the campaign average with nothing to show for it, and terms that are clearly off-intent for what the ad group targets (a product name search landing on a generic ad group, for example). search_term_match_type tells you whether the term reached you through broad, phrase, exact, or a near-variant match, useful context for deciding whether the fix is a negative keyword or a tighter match type on the existing keyword instead.

Turning the review into a negative list

Once an assistant has the wasted-spend list, it can draft the negative keywords directly: each one needs the keyword text and a match type, BROAD, PHRASE, or EXACT. A person should approve the list before it goes live; the assistant does the analysis, not the final call.

From the search terms above with no conversions, draft a negative
keyword list with match types. Show me the list before pushing it.

Pushing the negatives

Negative keywords can be pushed at the campaign level, blocking the terms across every ad group in that campaign, or at the ad group level, blocking them in just one. Campaign-level is the right choice for terms that are irrelevant everywhere in that campaign; ad-group-level is for terms that are fine in one ad group but not another. Once pushed, the negatives can be read back with campaign_criterion_keyword_text, campaign_criterion_keyword_match_type, and campaign_criterion_negative at the campaign level, or the equivalent ad_group_criterion_* fields at the ad group level, to confirm the push landed.

Push these terms as campaign-level negative keywords with EXACT match.
Then pull campaign_criterion_keyword_text and campaign_criterion_negative
to confirm they're live.

The dashboard version

For a scheduled view instead of an on-demand pull, the Power BI Google Ads Search Term Dashboard Template and the Tableau Google Ads Search Queries Dashboard Template chart the same fields. An assistant is the faster path when you want to act on a specific list of terms today; a dashboard is the better fit for a recurring weekly review.

Related reading

• Google Ads Reporting and Analytics: A Complete Guide
• Google Ads “Fields Cannot Be Queried Together” Error: Troubleshooting Guide
• Power BI Google Ads Search Term Dashboard Template
• Tableau Google Ads Search Queries Dashboard Template
• How to Connect Google Ads to Claude