What is the difference between negative phrase and negative exact on Amazon?

Negative Phrase blocks the specific keyword sequence and any query containing it. Negative Exact blocks the specific term, but contrary to popular belief, Amazon also automatically blocks plurals and misspellings (e.g., negating 'shoe' also blocks 'shoes').

Should I negate keywords with high ACoS?

Generally, no. If a keyword is generating sales, it is relevant. High ACoS is usually a bid issue, not a keyword issue. Instead of negating (which kills the revenue), calculate a lower bid to achieve your target profitability.

Does Amazon have negative broad match?

No. Amazon Ads only supports Negative Phrase and Negative Exact match types. There is no Negative Broad match option for Sponsored Products.

Amazon PPC Negative Keywords: The Surgical Guide

Your Amazon PPC negative keywords can make or break your profitability. And a lot of the time they do not do what you think they’re going to do… and that’s where the danger lurks. Here’s why… and how you can use them with laser precision to optimize your Amazon PPC.

You open your Search Term Report and see the damage immediately. “Plastic water bottle” is eating your budget, but you sell “Stainless steel bottles.”

Every irrelevant click is a direct hit to your profit margin. You are paying Amazon to send traffic to a listing that will never convert. Your ACoS is spiking, and your instinct is to start slashing keywords to stop the bleeding.

Stop chopping blindly. Negative keywords are a scalpel, not a hatchet. If you cut too aggressively, you risk severing the arteries of your profitable sales. This guide provides a surgical decision tree to eliminate waste without destroying your campaign performance.

What Are Amazon Negative Keywords? (And Why They Matter)

A negative keyword is a specific instruction you give to Amazon’s advertising algorithm: “Do not show my ad if a shopper types this.” It is the primary defense mechanism against wasted ad spend in Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands campaigns.

Think of negative keywords as a sieve. You want high-intent shoppers (gold spheres) to pass through to your product page, while blocking irrelevant “window shoppers” or those looking for incompatible products (red rocks).

Illustration of a funnel filtering out red debris while letting gold spheres pass through, symbolizing negative keywords blocking irrelevant traffic.

The ROI Impact

Implementing a robust negative keyword strategy delivers two distinct financial benefits:

Immediate Cost Reduction: You stop paying for clicks that result in zero sales.
Secondary CTR Boost: By eliminating irrelevant impressions, your Click-Through Rate (CTR) improves. A higher CTR signals relevance to Amazon’s A9 algorithm, which can lower your Cost Per Click (CPC) over time.

The Two Negative Match Types (And The “Exact” Lie)

Unlike standard targeting, Amazon only offers two match types for negative keywords: Negative Phrase and Negative Exact. Note that Negative Broad Match does not exist on Amazon.

Negative Phrase Match

This match type blocks the specific phrase and any search query that contains that phrase in that specific order.

Function: Blocks “phrase” + “phrase [suffix]” + “[prefix] phrase”.
Use Case: Broad exclusions of entire verticals. For example, if you sell “Women’s Shoes,” negating “Men’s” (Negative Phrase) effectively blocks “Men’s shoes,” “Shoes for men,” and “cheap men’s shoes.”
Risk: The blast radius is high. Be careful not to block long-tail variations that might be profitable.

Negative Exact Match (The Truth Filter)

This match type is designed to block specific keywords. However, most sellers misunderstand how “exact” Amazon’s algorithm actually is.

A diagram showing a central keyword trapping nearby variations inside a circle, illustrating that negative exact match blocks plurals and misspellings.

Visual Logic: The Blast Radius of Negative Exact

Before you negate a term, understand what else you are killing.

Scenario / Input	User Expectation (The Myth)	Actual Outcome (The Truth)	Engineer's Verdict
Negative Exact: "running shoe"	Blocks only the specific string "running shoe".	Blocks Plurals: Also blocks "running shoes". Blocks Misspellings: May block close variations.	CAUTION: Ensure you want to block the plural form before applying.
Negative Exact: "shoes for men"	Blocks only "shoes for men".	Ignores Stop Words: Also blocks "shoes men" and "men shoes".	CAUTION: Amazon ignores "for", "the", "of". You are blocking more than you think.
High ACoS Term: Spend $50, Sales $40 (125% ACoS)	"I should negate this to lower my ACoS."	Revenue Loss: You lose $40 in sales and the organic ranking juice that came with it.	CORRECTION: Lower the Bid. Do not Negate. Protect the order volume.
Relevant "Bleeder": 18 Clicks, 0 Sales	"This keyword doesn't work."	Listing Failure: The keyword brought the traffic; your listing failed to convert it.	INVESTIGATE: Check your price/reviews relative to competitors on that specific search page first.

The “Safe Negation” Decision Tree (DIFM Asset)

An isometric conveyor belt sorting red waste blocks from gold profit blocks, symbolizing the decision process for negative keywords.

Don’t act like a bot. Simply seeing “0 Sales” is not enough reason to negate a keyword. You need to investigate the context. Use this logic flow before negating any term from your Search Term Report.

flowchart TD Start([Start: Analyze Search Term
Search Term Report
Last 60 Days]) --> Check{Initial Filter} %% Initial Filters Check --> |Spend > $0
AND Sales = $0| ZeroSales{Zero Sales?} Check --> |ACoS > Target ACoS| HighACoS{High ACoS?} Check --> |Other| Monitor1[Keep Monitoring] %% Zero Sales Path ZeroSales --> |Yes| Irrelevant{Completely
Irrelevant?
e.g., 'Plastic Cup'
when selling 'Glass Vases'} ZeroSales --> |No| Monitor2[Keep Monitoring
Low spend terms] Irrelevant --> |Yes| NegExact1[NEGATIVE EXACT
Immediate Action
Pure waste - cut it out] Irrelevant --> |No| RelevantButNoSale{Relevant but
Not Converting?} %% High ACoS Path HighACoS --> |Yes| HasSales{Making Sales?
e.g., 80% ACoS vs 30% Target} HighACoS --> |No| InTarget[Within Target ACoS] HasSales --> |Yes| DoNotNegate[DO NOT NEGATE
Reduce Bid Instead
New Bid = Target / Current * Current Bid
High ACoS = bid problem,
not keyword problem] HasSales --> |No| RelevantButNoSale %% Relevant but No Sale Path RelevantButNoSale --> ClickCheck{≥ 15 Clicks?
Statistical Significance
Rule of Thumb} ClickCheck --> |No| WaitData[WAIT
Insufficient Data
Don't guess - need more clicks
Assumes 7-10% CVR] ClickCheck --> |Yes| Investigate{Investigate:
Is main image/price
competitive for this search?} Investigate --> |No| OptimizeListing[Optimize Listing First
Check price vs competitors
Improve main image
Add missing features] %% --- THIS WAS THE MAIN ERROR BELOW (Fixed bracket) --- Investigate --> |Yes| NegExact2[NEGATIVE EXACT
After Investigation
Relevant traffic but listing
failed to convert] %% Additional Case: Root Problem Start --> RootCheck{Multiple variations
of same bad word?
cheap, free, DIY,
used, repair} RootCheck --> |Yes| NegPhrase[NEGATIVE PHRASE
Root word only
Don't play whack-a-mole
Kill the intent, not variations] RootCheck --> |No| Check %% Styling classDef danger fill:#ff6b6b,stroke:#c92a2a,color:#fff classDef warning fill:#ffd43b,stroke:#fab005,color:#000 classDef success fill:#51cf66,stroke:#2b8a3e,color:#fff classDef info fill:#74c0fc,stroke:#1864ab,color:#fff classDef process fill:#e9ecef,stroke:#495057,color:#000 class NegExact1,NegExact2,NegPhrase danger class DoNotNegate,WaitData warning class InTarget,Monitor1,Monitor2 success class Start,Check info class OptimizeListing,Investigate,ClickCheck process

How to Identify & Implement Negatives

Your source of truth is always the Search Term Report. Do not guess what customers are typing; let the data tell you.

Identifying “Bleeders”

Download Report: Go to Advertising > Reports in Seller Central. Request a “Search Term” report for the last 60 days.
Filter for Irrelevance: Look for terms with Clicks > 15 and CTR < 0.2%. A low CTR often indicates that the customer saw your ad but found it irrelevant to their query.
Filter for Waste: Look for terms with Spend > Profit Margin and Orders = 0.

Implementation Levels

Ad Group Level: The surgical approach. This is best for segmenting variations. For example, if you have a “Red Shirt” Ad Group and a “Blue Shirt” Ad Group, you should add “Blue” as a negative keyword in the “Red Shirt” Ad Group. This prevents keyword cannibalization.
Campaign Level: The nuclear option. This blocks the term for every ad group in the campaign. Use this only for competitors or completely irrelevant terms that should never trigger any ad in that campaign.

Advanced Strategy: Nuances & Exceptions

The High ACoS Trap

One of the most common mistakes sellers make is treating high ACoS terms as “bad” terms.

A comparison showing scissors cutting a connection versus a dial being turned down, illustrating the difference between negating a keyword and lowering a bid.

⚠️ WARNING: STOP. Put the Scalpel Down.

Before you click “Archive” or “Add Negative,” understand this: A high ACoS is rarely a keyword problem.

Most sellers treat their Search Term Report like a crime scene, looking for keywords to kill. This is how you strangle your own growth.

The Trap: You see a keyword with 80% ACoS. You panic and negate it.
The Reality: That keyword brought you a paying customer. It did its job.
The Real Problem: You paid too much for the click (Bid issue) or your product didn’t convince enough people (Conversion Rate issue).

The Engineer’s Rule: Never negate a search term that has generated a sale, no matter how expensive it was. If it converts, it is an asset. Manage the bid, fix the listing, but do not kill the traffic.

Only negate traffic that is fundamentally irrelevant to what you are selling.

If you have a keyword with high ACoS, use this formula to adjust your bid instead of negating:

Bid Correction Formula

New Bid = (Target ACoS / Current ACoS) * Current Bid

Competitor Brand Names

Should you negate competitor names?

Yes: If your conversion rate on their terms is abysmal.
No: If you are running a “conquesting” strategy. Many sellers find profitable sales by targeting competitors. Only negate if the data proves you cannot convert their customers.

ASIN Negation

In Auto campaigns, Amazon targets specific ASINs (product pages). If your ad appears on a competitor’s product page that is much cheaper or has far better reviews, your conversion rate will likely suffer. You can negate that specific ASIN to stop bleeding budget on that placement.

Conclusion: Investigate Before You Amputate

Negative keywords are a tool for relevance, not just cost-cutting. A campaign full of negative keywords and low sales is usually a sign of a bad product or listing, not bad ads.

Always look at the Conversion Rate and Click-Through Rate before pulling the trigger. If a keyword is relevant but not converting, fix your listing first. Negate only as a last resort.

Action Plan:

Download your Search Term Report today.
Identify your “Bleeders” (High Spend, 0 Sales).
Run them through the Safe Negation Decision Tree.
Apply Negative Exact matches carefully, remembering that “Exact” includes plurals and very close matches.