In 2025, Amazon advertising is more competitive than ever. Ensuring every dollar spent on ads drives maximum ROI is paramount. One of the most overlooked yet powerful tools to optimize ad spend is negative keywords.
Many brands bleed thousands of dollars on unqualified traffic simply because they fail to refine their keyword strategy. This guide will help you understand how negative keywords can transform your Amazon advertising strategy, backed by real-world data and case studies. Plus, we’ll explore how SalesDuo can help implement these strategies efficiently.
What Are Negative Keywords?
Negative keywords prevent your ads from showing up for irrelevant searches, ensuring you don’t pay for clicks that won’t convert.
Negative keywords are specific words or phrases that prevent your ad from appearing on Amazon’s search results page when those terms are included in a shopper’s query. By strategically using negative keywords, advertisers can filter out low-converting or irrelevant searches, ensuring their ad spend is directed toward audiences with higher purchase intent.
For example, if you sell premium organic coffee beans, you wouldn’t want to show up for searches like "cheap coffee beans" or "instant coffee". Adding these as negative keywords ensures your budget is spent only on high-intent searches.
Types of Negative Targeting:
Negative targeting on Amazon is an essential strategy for advertisers who want to refine their ad campaigns, eliminate wasteful spending, and improve their return on investment. By using negative targeting, advertisers can prevent their ads from showing up for irrelevant or low-converting search terms, product listings, or audience segments. Below are the different types of negative targeting available on Amazon and how they can be utilized effectively.
1. Negative Keyword Targeting
Negative keyword targeting allows advertisers to prevent their ads from appearing in search results for specific keywords that do not generate sales or are irrelevant to their products. This helps reduce wasted ad spend and ensures that ads are only shown to potential customers with a high likelihood of conversion.
There are two types of negative keyword match types on Amazon:
- Negative Exact Match: This prevents the ad from appearing when a customer searches for that exact keyword or phrase without any additional words before or after it. For example, if “leather wallet” is set as a negative exact match, the ad won’t show when a customer searches for "leather wallet," but it might still appear for searches like "black leather wallet for men."
- Negative Phrase Match: This prevents the ad from appearing in any search query that contains the negative keyword phrase in the same order. For example, if “leather wallet” is set as a negative phrase match, the ad won’t show for searches like "black leather wallet for men" or "best leather wallet under $50," but it may still show for "wallet made of leather."
Negative keyword targeting is crucial for refining ad spend, especially in broad or automatic campaigns, where Amazon's algorithm may otherwise trigger ads for unrelated searches.
2. Negative Product Targeting
Negative product targeting allows advertisers to exclude specific ASINs (Amazon Standard Identification Numbers) from triggering their ads. This is useful in scenarios where certain competitor products or low-performing ASINs do not convert well.
For example, if an advertiser is selling a premium coffee maker and notices that their ads are frequently shown on product pages for a cheap, low-quality coffee maker, they may want to add that ASIN to their negative targeting list. This prevents their ads from being displayed on that product detail page, ensuring they are only shown in more relevant places.
Negative product targeting is particularly useful in Sponsored Display and Sponsored Products Manual Targeting campaigns, where ads can appear on specific product detail pages. By excluding low-performing or irrelevant ASINs, advertisers can optimize their targeting for better results.
3. Negative Category Targeting
In some cases, entire product categories may not be relevant to an advertiser's product or brand. Negative category targeting enables advertisers to exclude entire categories from their campaigns, preventing ads from being shown in those sections of Amazon.
For example, if an advertiser is selling high-end gaming laptops, they might want to exclude categories like "budget laptops" or "kids’ learning computers" because those shoppers are unlikely to purchase an expensive gaming laptop.
Negative category targeting is particularly helpful when running Sponsored Display campaigns, where Amazon automatically places ads in various categories. By refining which categories are included and excluded, advertisers can improve their overall ad performance.
4. Negative Audience Targeting (Amazon DSP Only)
For advertisers using Amazon DSP (Demand-Side Platform), negative audience targeting is a powerful tool to refine campaign reach and exclude certain customer segments. Unlike keyword or ASIN exclusions, negative audience targeting focuses on customer behaviors, demographics, and past purchase data.
Some common use cases for negative audience targeting include:
- Excluding past purchasers: If a brand sells a one-time-use product (e.g., a high-end mattress or refrigerator), it may not make sense to keep advertising to customers who have already purchased the product. By excluding past buyers, the brand can focus on acquiring new customers.
- Avoiding irrelevant demographics: If an advertiser is selling a product specifically for women, they may want to exclude male shoppers to ensure their ads are only shown to the most relevant audience.
- Filtering out low-intent shoppers: Some audiences might not be ready to buy yet. For example, if someone has only viewed blog content related to a product category but has never added an item to their cart, an advertiser may exclude them to focus on more engaged buyers.
Negative audience targeting is available only through Amazon DSP, making it a more advanced feature for advertisers looking to run highly targeted programmatic ad campaigns.
Differences Between the 4 Types of Negative Targeting
Why Negative Keywords Matter
Amazon’s PPC ecosystem is growing, with over $40 billion spent on ads in 2024. As competition intensifies, brands must eliminate wasteful spending. A study by Tinuiti found that brands optimizing their negative keywords saw a 28% reduction in wasted ad spend and a 22% increase in ROAS.
The Financial Impact of Negative Keywords
Consider the following scenario:
By simply implementing negative keywords strategically, brands can save up to 30% on wasted ad spend and increase profitability.
Implementing a Negative Keyword Strategy
Step 1: Analyze Your Search Term Report
Your Amazon Search Term Report provides a goldmine of insights. Regularly reviewing it will help identify keywords that:
- Have high impressions but low conversions – These keywords attract traffic but fail to result in sales. Identifying and negating them prevents budget drain.
- Generate irrelevant clicks – Some search queries drive traffic from users who are not your target audience. Excluding these improves conversion rates.
- Drain ad budget without driving sales – If a keyword has excessive clicks but no purchases, it likely indicates a misalignment between user intent and product relevance.
Step 2: Classify Keywords Based on Intent
Step 3: Add Negative Keywords at the Right Level
Negative keywords can be added at three levels:
- Campaign Level – Blocks keywords across all ad groups within a campaign. This is ideal for broad-level keyword filtering.
- Ad Group Level – More granular control within a campaign. Best used when different ad groups target slightly different audiences.
- Account Level (via Bulk Operations) – Best for large-scale management, allowing for systematic exclusion of irrelevant terms across multiple campaigns.
Managing Negative Keywords:
- Continuously refine your negative keyword list – Regularly updating your negative keywords ensures they align with evolving campaign goals and customer search behaviors.
- Monitor search term reports for underperforming queries – Analyzing search term data helps identify irrelevant searches that are draining your ad spend. Flag and exclude them as negative keywords.
- Exclude competitor brand names strategically – If bidding on competitor names isn't part of your strategy, adding them as negative keywords prevents unnecessary clicks from customers searching specifically for those brands.
- Eliminate low-performing long-tail keywords – Some long-tail keywords generate traffic but fail to convert. If a keyword consistently has high clicks but no purchases, consider negating it.
- Segment negative keywords by match type – Using a mix of negative exact match (to block specific phrases) and negative phrase match (to prevent variations) ensures more refined targeting.
- Refine negative keywords for automatic campaigns – Auto campaigns often pick up broad or irrelevant search queries. Regularly review and exclude keywords that don’t contribute to conversions.
- Leverage historical data for optimization – Identify patterns in past campaigns to determine which keywords led to wasted spend and proactively exclude them in new campaigns.
- Balance keyword blocking to avoid over-restriction – Overloading your list with negative keywords can limit your reach. Ensure that blocked terms don’t accidentally exclude valuable search traffic.
Common Negative Keyword Mistakes (and How to Fix Them)
- Not reviewing search term reports regularly – Brands often assume that once a campaign is set up, it will continue running efficiently. However, keyword performance changes over time, and failing to monitor search term reports can lead to wasted ad spend. Fix this by reviewing search term data weekly and updating negative keyword lists accordingly.
- Overblocking keywords and reducing visibility – Some brands go overboard with negative keywords, accidentally blocking terms that could still drive conversions. The key is to strike a balance—remove irrelevant traffic without limiting potential buyers.
- Using only exact match negatives and ignoring phrase match negatives – Relying solely on exact match negatives can be limiting. Instead, use phrase match negatives to prevent your ads from appearing in broader, unrelated searches.
How SalesDuo Can Help
Managing negative keywords manually is time-consuming and prone to errors. SalesDuo provides end-to-end Amazon advertising optimization services, helping brands:
- Automate negative keyword tracking and implementation – No more manually updating keyword lists.
- Run deep-dive analytics on wasted spend – Identify where ad budgets are being wasted and correct inefficiencies.
- Use AI-driven insights to refine PPC strategies – Smart automation ensures real-time adjustments to ad campaigns.
- Improve campaign efficiency and maximize profitability – Every dollar is optimized for better returns.
With real-time analytics, SalesDuo helps brands make data-driven decisions, ensuring ad spend is optimized continuously.
The Future of Amazon Negative Keywords in 2025
With advancements in AI-driven advertising, brands will need to:
- Utilize machine learning to predict and block wasteful keywords – AI models can anticipate and flag low-performing search terms before they impact campaign performance.
- Implement dynamic negative keyword updates – Instead of manual updates, AI-powered systems can adjust negative keyword lists in real-time based on market trends.
- Leverage voice search data to refine negative keyword strategies – As voice search grows, understanding conversational queries and eliminating irrelevant ones will be critical.
Brands that proactively implement these strategies will stay ahead in an increasingly competitive marketplace.
Conclusion
An optimized negative keyword strategy is essential for improving Amazon advertising performance in 2025. Eliminating wasteful spend ensures higher ROAS, better conversions, and lower ACOS. Instead of manual guesswork, SalesDuo helps brands implement data-driven, automated solutions to maximize advertising efficiency.
Ready to optimize your Amazon ad spend? Contact SalesDuo today and start driving profitable growth.
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About the Author
Badal Tharayil is a master of customer success, turning first impressions into lasting partnerships. Known for proactive communication and flawless onboarding, he’s the bridge between client satisfaction and operational excellence. Outside work, Badal loves exploring cinema, expressing himself on the dance floor, and staying energized through fitness pursuits.
