Running Amazon ads for your KDP books can be a great way to boost visibility, but it’s also easy to burn through your budget on the wrong kind of clicks. If you’ve ever looked at your ad reports and wondered why you’ve spent money without making a sale, negative keywords might be the tool you’re missing.
In this post, I’ll explain what negative keywords are, when to use them, and how to set them up in your Amazon ad campaigns, including what settings to choose and a few tips to avoid common mistakes.
What are negative keywords?
Negative keywords are words or phrases you add to your Amazon ad campaigns to tell Amazon not to show your ads when certain search terms are used. They’re basically filters that help prevent your ads from showing up for irrelevant or low-converting searches.
For example, if someone searches for “gratitude journal for teens” and you’re selling a gratitude journal for adults, you probably don’t want to pay for that click; it’s unlikely to lead to a sale. By adding that phrase as a negative keyword, you stop Amazon from showing your ad to people using it.
Why use negative keywords?
Here are some reasons you might want to add negative keywords to your campaign:
- To stop wasting money on irrelevant searches
- To filter out competitor brand names
- To avoid showing up for adult content (if your book isn’t)
- To exclude certain age groups or themes if they don’t apply
- To improve your ad’s overall performance and conversion rate
When should you use them?
Use negative keywords once you start getting data. After your campaign has run for a few days, check your Search Term report in the Ad Console. This shows you what people typed in before clicking on your ad.
Look for:
- Searches that don’t relate to your book
- Click-heavy phrases that haven’t resulted in any sales
- Brand names or author names that aren’t you
- Add those as negative keywords to avoid further wasted spend.
How to add negative keywords to your campaign
Step 1: Go to the Campaign Manager
Find the campaign you want to adjust and click into the ad group.
Step 2: Look for “Negative Targeting”
You’ll see a tab labelled Negative Keywords (or “Negative Targeting” in some views). Click “Add negative keywords.”
Step 3: Choose between “Negative Phrase” or “Negative Exact”
Here’s what each one does:
Negative Exact blocks only that exact search term, for example, “gratitude journal for teens”
Negative Phrase blocks any search containing that phrase in that order, such as “best gratitude journal for teens”
For most cases, Negative Phrase is the safer and more effective option, especially when trying to avoid brand names, series titles, or age ranges that don’t fit your product.
Step 4: Add your keywords
Paste in the keywords or phrases you want to block (one per line). Don’t use commas. Just hit save when you’re done.
Tips for better results
Start small — Don’t block too many phrases early on. Wait until you have enough data.
Review regularly — Check your Search Term report weekly to find new irrelevant clicks.
Use phrase match for flexibility — It blocks all variations that contain that string.
Be specific — Don’t block relevant long-tail phrases by accident.
Example use case
Let’s say you’re advertising a gratitude journal aimed at adults. You notice that people keep clicking your ad after searching for: “gratitude journal for teens”
Since your book isn’t aimed at teens, you could add:
gratitude journal for teens (as a negative phrase)
That would block:
“best gratitude journal for teens”
“printable gratitude journal for teens”
“guided gratitude journal for teens”
…and save you money on clicks that aren’t likely to convert.
Final thoughts
Negative keywords are a simple but powerful way to make your Amazon ads work harder for you. By blocking irrelevant searches, you can stretch your budget further and improve your click-to-sale ratio.
Even if you’re only spending a few pounds a day, it’s worth taking 10 minutes each week to check your search terms and tidy things up. The more targeted your ad traffic, the more likely you are to make sales.
If you’re running ads on a tight budget and want to get the most out of them, using negative keywords is a must. Keep refining as you go, and you’ll start seeing better results over time.
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