You want to prevent your ads from appearing for certain search terms. How would you do it?
Correct Answer
D) Add negative keywords to your campaign or ad group
Key takeaways
Negative keywords are the only direct query control available in Shopping campaigns.
They can be added at campaign or ad group level, and apply without changing the feed.
Shopping supports negative keywords but not positive ones, because matching comes from product data.
Why is this the correct answer?
Negative keywords are the only direct control over which queries a Shopping campaign can appear for. You cannot add positive keywords to Shopping, because Google matches the ad to the query using the product data, but you can exclude terms at either campaign or ad group level, and the exclusion takes effect without touching the feed. This is the standard way to cut out queries that attract clicks but never convert, such as the word free, a competitor's brand, or a size or colour you do not stock.
Why are the other options wrong?
A) Remove products from your product data
Removing products stops them being advertised for every query, not just the unwanted one. It throws away the traffic you do want along with the traffic you do not.
B) Remove the related search terms from your product titles in your product data
Editing product titles to avoid a term degrades the data Google uses to match you to good queries as well as bad ones, and the change is slow to take effect because the feed has to be reprocessed. A negative keyword is precise and immediate.
C) Put shorter description in your product data
Shortening descriptions does not reliably block anything. It weakens matching in general, with no control over which queries are lost.
Frequently asked questions about this topic
Where do I add negative keywords to a Shopping campaign?
Open the campaign in Google Ads and go to the Audiences, keywords and content section, then Search keywords, then the Negative keywords tab. You can add them to the single campaign, or apply a shared list across several campaigns from Tools, Shared library, Negative keyword lists.
How do I find which search terms to exclude?
Use the Search terms report on the campaign, which shows the actual queries that triggered your ads rather than the terms you targeted. Sort by cost and look for spend with no conversions, because those are your negative keyword candidates.
Do negative keywords work the same way in Shopping as in Search?
The match types behave the same, but the context differs. In Search they subtract from keywords you chose, whereas in Shopping they are your only lever, because there are no positive keywords to refine.
Official documentation: https://support.google.com/ds/answer/4601299?hl=en
Topics in this question
About the Shopping Ads Certification
The Shopping Ads Certification checks that you can run retail campaigns end to end: product data in Merchant Center, linking it to Google Ads, and choosing between Standard Shopping and Performance Max to drive sales and value.
Exam guide and all 407 Google Ads Shopping questions →Related Google Ads Shopping questions
- 1What can you do to help prevent Standard Shopping ads from appearing when you don’t want them to?Explained
- 2Where should you add negative keywords if you want to help prevent Standard Shopping ads from appearing when you do not want them to?Explained
- 3Which two statements capture what differentiates Shopping campaigns from Search campaigns? Choose two. Select 2 Correct ResponsesMultiple correct
- 4Which two statements describe what makes Shopping campaigns different from Search campaigns? Choose two. Select 2 Correct ResponsesMultiple correct
- 5Which two statements accurately convey what differentiates Shopping campaigns from Search campaigns? Choose two. Select 2 Correct ResponsesMultiple correct
- 6If Standard Shopping ads appear when you do not want them to appear, how can you resolve this problem?