Negative embedded match gives an advertiser the ability to show for every variation of a keyword, except for the keyword itself. This negative matching feature is only available on Google AdWords at present.

Why is it useful?

• Allows you to control ad serving for an ad group (resolve conflicts with other keywords triggering your ads).
• Allows your ads not be displayed for low ROI keywords, yet show for all their more specific variations.

How does negative embedded match work:

• Insert -[keyword] into your ad group.
• Insert “keyword” (you could also use broad match) into your ad group

An Example:

For this example, the scenario would be that you sold all types of laptop accessories. However, the keyword ‘laptop accessories’ has a low ROI, but every more specific (3+ word combo) has a good ROI. In this case, you would want your ad to show for all variations of ‘laptop accessories’ but not when the actual keyword ‘laptop accessories’ was searched.

• Insert -[laptop accessories] into your ad group
• Insert “laptop accessories” (you could also use broad match) into your ad group

You should have an ad group that looks like:

Take Control of Your Ad Serving

An advertisers desire should be to control ad serving to the point where their ads are only served on profitable keywords. It’s important to find negative keywords that are not helping you work towards that goal and filter out underpreforming keywords.