A Google Ads negative keywords list stops your ads from showing on searches that will never become customers: job seekers, DIY learners, course hunters, people looking for competitors, spare parts or other cities. For a local service business, start with a universal list (in English and Arabic), add a sector list, choose match types carefully – negatives don't cover plurals or synonyms – and review your search terms report every week while campaigns are new.
Open the search terms report of an untouched local service account and you will usually find the same uninvited guests: "AC technician jobs Dubai", "how to clean sofa at home", "moving boxes for sale", "نقل كفالة". Each click might cost only a few dirhams or riyals, but together they can swallow a meaningful share of a small budget and drag down click-through rate. This guide gives you a working negative keyword strategy for service companies in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, with starter lists by sector in English and Arabic, and the match-type rules you need so you do not block good customers by accident.
If you are still deciding how much to spend at all, start with our guide on what Google Ads costs in the UAE. Negatives are what make that budget efficient.
How negative keywords actually match
Negative keywords behave differently from regular keywords, and most wasted spend comes from misunderstanding that. According to Google's help page About negative keywords:
| Negative match type | Blocks the ad when the search… | Example: negative "car ac" |
|---|---|---|
| Negative broad (default) | contains all the negative terms, in any order | Blocks "car ac repair" and "ac for car"; does not block "car" alone |
| Negative phrase "…" | contains the exact terms in the same order, with other words allowed around them | Blocks "car ac repair Dubai"; does not block "ac for car" |
| Negative exact […] | is exactly those terms, in that order, with nothing extra | Blocks only "car ac" |
Three rules matter most in practice:
- No close variants. Google states negatives don't match close variants. Excluding "job" does not exclude "jobs"; excluding وظيفة does not exclude وظائف. Add both forms and obvious synonyms.
- Casing and misspellings are handled, according to Google. With Arabic, we still add common alternative spellings (أ/ا, ة/ه, ى/ي) for the most expensive terms, because spelling habits in Gulf searches vary widely.
- Very long searches can slip through. Google notes that a negative appearing after the 16th word of a search may not block the ad.
Account-level negatives vs shared lists vs campaign negatives
Google gives you three places to put negatives, and each has a job.
| Where | Limit (per Google Help) | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Account-level negative keywords | Up to 1,000 terms per account | Terms that are wrong for every campaign: jobs, courses, adult or irrelevant brands |
| Negative keyword lists (shared library) | Up to 20 lists, 5,000 terms each | Themed lists you attach to several campaigns: "DIY & how-to", "Wrong cities", "Competitors", "Products & parts" |
| Campaign or ad group negatives | Set within each campaign | Routing traffic between your own campaigns, for example keeping "deep cleaning" out of the sofa cleaning ad group |
According to Google's page on account-level negative keywords, the account list applies to search and shopping inventory across Search, Performance Max, App, Shopping, Smart and Local campaigns. That makes it powerful – and risky. Only put terms there that you are sure should never trigger any campaign.
The universal starter list for local services
These categories apply to almost every service business. Treat them as candidates to confirm against your own search terms, not a list to paste blindly.
| Category | English terms | Common Arabic terms (UAE/KSA) | Watch out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jobs and hiring | jobs, job, vacancy, vacancies, hiring, salary, career, careers, cv, recruitment | وظائف، وظيفة، توظيف، راتب، رواتب، شواغر | Avoid مطلوب as a broad negative: "مطلوب شركة تنظيف" is a customer |
| Learning and courses | course, courses, training, certificate, diploma, learn, tutorial | دورة، دورات، كورس، تدريب، شهادة، تعلم | Clinics offering patient education sessions should check first |
| DIY and how-to | how to, diy, yourself, at home (check), homemade, video | طريقة، بنفسك، بالبيت (check)، فيديو، شرح | "at home" may be a home-visit service search; use phrase negatives |
| Research only | pdf, meaning, definition, wikipedia, history | بحث، تعريف، معنى، pdf | Low volume but pure waste |
| Marketplaces and used | used, second hand, for sale, dubizzle, olx | مستعمل، للبيع، حراج، دوبيزل | For sellers of goods this list is different |
| Free | free (review first) | مجانا، مجاني (review first) | Blocks "free inspection" / "معاينة مجانية" if you offer it |
Want a ready list built from your own search terms?
Send us your service, city and, if you already advertise, an export of your search terms. We will reply with an initial plan: a draft negative list in English and Arabic and the terms we would keep.
Sector lists: cleaning, AC repair, clinics, movers
Cleaning companies
Typical waste: cleaning products, equipment and car washing. English: cleaning products, detergent, vacuum cleaner, machine, car wash, car detailing, cleaning jobs. Arabic: مواد تنظيف، منظف، جهاز تنظيف، مكنسة، غسيل سيارات، تلميع سيارات. Be careful with maid-related searches (شغالات، خادمات، maids): some UAE cleaning companies sell hourly maid services, so this is a business decision, not an automatic negative. More on structuring these accounts in our cleaning company marketing service; we have worked with businesses in cleaning services.
AC repair and maintenance
Typical waste: buying an AC unit, spare parts, car AC and technician jobs. English: car ac, auto ac, ac price (when you only repair), ac for sale, buy ac, spare parts, compressor price, remote control, ac technician jobs. Arabic: تكييف سيارات، مكيف سيارة، سعر مكيف، مكيف للبيع، قطع غيار، كمبروسر سعر، ريموت مكيف، وظائف فني تكييف. If you also sell and install units, keep "price" and "buy" terms and route them to an installation campaign instead. See how we approached AC services marketing.
Clinics and medical centres
Typical waste: medical jobs and studies, government hospitals, symptom research and medication lookups. English: nursing jobs, doctor jobs, medical college, residency, government hospital, symptoms (review), medicine price, pharmacy. Arabic: وظائف تمريض، وظائف أطباء، كلية طب، زمالة، مستشفى حكومي، أعراض (review)، سعر دواء، صيدلية. Do not blanket-block "symptoms"/أعراض if you run condition-awareness campaigns. Healthcare ads also have to follow advertising rules; our guide to Google Ads for dental clinics and medical marketing service cover that side.
Moving companies
The word "transfer" or نقل is the classic trap in the Gulf. English: visa transfer, sponsorship transfer, car ownership transfer, school transfer, moving boxes for sale, truck driver jobs, car shipping (unless offered). Arabic: نقل كفالة، نقل ملكية، نقل مدرسة، نقل خدمات، كراتين للبيع، وظائف سائق، شحن سيارات (check). Our moving company case study and moving company marketing page show the wider setup.
Wrong cities and competitor names
Cities and areas you do not serve
Location targeting decides where your ads can show, but people often type a city into the search itself. A Dubai-only company may want to exclude searches that name other emirates: abu dhabi, al ain, ras al khaimah, fujairah (Arabic: أبوظبي، ابوظبي، العين، رأس الخيمة، الفجيرة). A Riyadh-only company might exclude jeddah, dammam, khobar, makkah (جدة، الدمام، الخبر، مكة). Add both spellings with and without hamza. Also check your location option in campaign settings – whether ads reach people in your area only or people interested in it – because that affects which out-of-area searches you see.
Competitor brand names
Broad match can show your ad when someone searches for a specific competitor by name. Unless you deliberately run a separate competitor campaign, add competitor brand names (English and Arabic spellings) to a "Competitors" list. If you do run one, attach that list only to your other campaigns. Never use competitor trademarks in your ad text without checking Google's trademark policies.
A search terms review routine
- Pull the report. In Google Ads, open Insights and reports → Search terms for the last 7 days (new campaigns) or 30 days (stable ones). Note that not every search term is shown.
- Sort by cost. Review the expensive terms first; ignore one-off cheap clicks for now.
- Tag each term. Good (keep), bad (negative), or unclear (watch). Use conversions, calls and WhatsApp clicks to decide – tracked properly through call and WhatsApp conversion tracking.
- Find the root word. If "ac technician jobs Dubai" and "ac jobs Sharjah" appear, the negative is "jobs" (broad) – plus "job" – not each full query.
- Pick the level. Universal waste goes into the account-level list; themed waste into a shared list; routing problems into campaign negatives.
- Check for conflicts. Make sure the new negative does not block one of your own keywords. Google Ads flags conflicting negatives, but check manually for high-value terms.
- Log it. Keep a simple sheet of what you excluded and why, so the next person does not undo it.
Weekly reviews in the first month are usually worth the time; after that, every two to four weeks is typical for small local accounts, and weekly again whenever you add broad match keywords or a new service.
Mistakes that block good customers
- Adding "free" as a broad negative when you advertise free inspections or quotes.
- Excluding "price"/سعر when your best customers compare prices before booking.
- Pasting a 500-word generic list from a foreign website that includes words like "what" or "best".
- Using negative broad for a two-word term that should have been phrase, blocking unrelated good queries.
- Putting campaign-specific negatives into the account-level list, silently starving another campaign.
- Forgetting Arabic plurals and spellings, so وظائف is blocked but وظيفة still spends.
- Never revisiting the list when you add a new service – yesterday's negative may be today's product.
Clean traffic also improves what happens after the click. Pair your negatives with focused pages; our landing page guide for Google Ads explains how. For trades and contractors, our lead generation guide shows the wider funnel.
How we work at ZED
ZED Marketing is a remote agency running Google Ads for local service businesses and clinics in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and German-speaking markets. On every account we build negative lists in the languages your customers actually search in, organise them by account, list and campaign level, and review search terms on a fixed rhythm. We judge changes by calls, WhatsApp chats and bookings, not only by click volume. The account and its data stay in your name. We also run home services marketing and pest control marketing, where these lists are especially important.
Negative keywords FAQs
What is a negative keyword list in Google Ads?
It is a shared list of words or phrases you do not want your ads to show for. You create it once in the shared library and apply it to several campaigns. Google allows up to 20 lists per account with up to 5,000 negative keywords each, plus a separate account-level list of up to 1,000 terms.
Which match type should I use for negative keywords?
Use negative broad for single words that are always irrelevant, such as "jobs". Use negative phrase when the word order matters, such as "car ac". Use negative exact for one specific query you want to block while still allowing longer searches that contain it.
Do negative keywords block close variants and plurals?
No. Google states that negative keywords don't match close variants, so you need to add synonyms and singular or plural forms yourself, for example both "job" and "jobs", or وظيفة and وظائف. Google says casing and misspellings are accounted for automatically.
Should I add "free" and "cheap" as negative keywords?
Not automatically. "Free" blocks job and DIY searches, but it would also block "free inspection" or "free quote" searches that may be good leads. "Cheap" or رخيص can be a real buyer in price-sensitive services. Check your search terms report before excluding them.
Should I add competitor names as negatives?
If you are not deliberately bidding on competitors, yes – add the main competitor brand names and their Arabic spellings so broad match does not spend on people looking for a specific company. If you do run a competitor campaign, keep those names as negatives only in your other campaigns.
How often should I review search terms?
Weekly in the first month of a new campaign or after big changes, then every two to four weeks once the account is stable. High-spend accounts or broad match campaigns benefit from weekly reviews.
Do negative keywords work in Performance Max?
Account-level negative keywords apply to search and shopping inventory in campaign types including Performance Max, according to Google's help page. Controls change over time, so check the current options in your account.
Put every dirham and riyal on real customers
Share your service and area, and we will draft the negative lists your account is missing.
Clean up my Google Ads Call us on 01097079170