Your dynamic search ads dynamically match your web pages to people's specific searches on Google. Set up exclusions to block pages on your site from generating ads – for instance, pages with sold-out products. This article explains how to exclude specific web pages and search terms (negative keywords) that you don't want used for generating or triggering your ads.
To learn more about targeting, start with About targets for dynamic search ads.
When to use
Exclude specific web pages. Creating exclusions for pages that contain words like 'sold out' or 'unavailable' is strongly recommended. This will prevent customers from viewing pages on your website that contain products that they won't be able to buy.
Exclude specific searches on Google. You'd like to prevent your ad about electronic devices from showing to someone searching for used camera or used television. You'd want to add used as a negative keyword since that person isn't likely to buy your new cameras and televisions.
Instructions to exclude specific web pages
- In your Google Ads account, click the Campaigns icon
.
- Click the Audiences, keywords and content drop-down in the section menu.
- Click Dynamic ad targets.
- Click the Negative dynamic ad targets tab at the top of the page.
- Click the plus button
.
- Use the 'Add to' drop-down menu to choose whether you want to add the negative dynamic ad targets to a campaign or an ad group.
- Click Select a campaign or Select an ad group and choose the campaign or ad group for the negative dynamic ad targets.
- Create one or more rules to exclude specific web pages. You can choose to exclude pages by category, page content, page title or URL.
- Use exact URLs: Enter or paste the exact URLs you want to exclude. Enter one URL per line.
Note: A URL with a capital letter (www.Example.com) is considered a different URL from one with a lowercase letter (www.example.com). So make sure that you specify the exact URL.
- Create rules to target web page: Use the drop-down menu to select Page content, Page title or URL, and then enter the conditions for the rule.
- Use exact URLs: Enter or paste the exact URLs you want to exclude. Enter one URL per line.
- Click Add to review the summary of rules.
- Click Save.
Instructions to add negative keywords
You can add negative keywords to your dynamic search ad campaign just as you'd add them to any other campaign. Even though dynamic search ads don't use keywords, negative keywords factor in when dynamic search ads appear to potential customers. Learn how to Add negative keywords to campaigns.
Add negative keywords to ad groups, campaigns and negative keyword lists
- Choose whether to add negative keywords to all campaigns or a specific campaign, then select the specific campaign or ad group.
- To edit negative keywords for all campaigns, click Edit exclusions.
- To edit negative keywords for a specific campaign, click the arrow
next to 'Show table', select the campaign you want to edit, then click Edit exclusions.
- Add your keywords, one per line. Make sure that your negative keywords don't overlap with your regular keywords, because this will cause your ad not to show.
- Note: If you’re adding negative keywords to a search campaign, you can choose a match type by using the appropriate symbols. For Display and video campaigns, all negative keywords will be added as broad match, and you won't be able to change the match type.
- If you’re adding your negative keywords to a campaign, you have the option to save the keywords to a new or existing negative keyword list and apply that list to the campaign. Tick Save to new or existing list, then enter a name for your new list or select an existing list.
- Click Done.
next to 'Show table', select the campaign you want to edit, then click Edit exclusions.Use an existing negative keyword list
- In your Google Ads account, click the Campaigns icon
- Click the Audiences, keywords and content drop-down in the section menu.
- Click Search keywords.
- Go to the 'Negative search keywords' tab and click the plus button
- Choose the Use negative keyword list option and select the campaign that you’d like to apply negative keyword lists to.
- On the table below, tick the boxes of the negative keyword lists that you’d like to use.
- Click Save.
Add or remove negative keywords lists from multiple campaigns
- In your Google Ads account, click the Tools icon
.
- Click the Shared library drop-down in the section menu.
- Click Exclusion lists and go to the 'Negative keyword lists' tab.
- To add a negative keyword list to multiple campaigns:
- Select the negative keyword list that you’d like to add.
- Click Apply to campaigns.
- Tick the boxes of the campaigns that you’d like to apply the list to.
- Click Done.
- To remove a negative keyword list from multiple campaigns:
- Select the negative keyword list that you’d like to remove.
- Tick the boxes of the campaigns that you’d like the list to be removed from.
- Click Remove list from selected campaigns.
Category exclusions
When the Dynamic Search Ad system finds a new page on a website, it may find relevant queries and start serving before the system has had time to categorise the new page. Once the page is categorised, it will stop serving in campaigns where that category is excluded. Later, once it's categorised, the search terms report will still reflect the current category, even if that page wasn't classified as such at the time of serving.
