What are Negatives?

Negatives are the keywords you DO NOT want to bid on.

Usually, when optimizing a PPC campaign, the first thing I notice is the lack of negatives. In AdWords,

A broad keyword is a keyword that will trigger an ad if a search term includes the terms in any order (and usually along with other terms). These other terms are typically things that Google deems relevant.

A phrase keyword is a keyword what will show if the search terms contains it in the exact order, before or after.

An exact keyword is a keyword that matches the search query exactly.

A negative keyword is a keyword that you never want your ads to show for. If you sell only “Red Widgets,” you can add negatives for blue and green. The search query “Blue Widgets” will no longer trigger your ads.