Negative keywords and negative keyword phrases for Yandex Direct: operators, selection and cross-negation

What negative keywords and negative keyword phrases are

First, two basic terms. A keyword phrase is a word or phrase that determines who an ad is shown to. A search query is what a person actually typed into search. Negative keywords and negative keyword phrases work the other way around: they tell Direct which queries the ad should not be shown for.

In everyday talk these terms are often used as synonyms, but Direct’s help documentation separates them. Negative keywords are added to a specific keyword phrase. Negative keyword phrases are set for an ad group or a campaign, to exclude impressions for the phrase as a whole. A negative keyword phrase of several words triggers when those words appear together in the query.

Example. A store sells new sofas and advertises on the phrase «buy a sofa.» The queries «sofa free pickup» or «sofa DIY blueprints» don’t fit: these people aren’t looking for a new sofa from the store. The words «free» and «DIY» are candidates for negative keyword phrases.

Where negative keyword phrases are set

Direct has three levels:

• Keyword phrase. Negative keywords are added directly to the phrase, and they only affect it.
• Ad group — part of a campaign that groups ads and keyword phrases together. An ad group’s negative keyword phrases affect all of its keyword phrases.
• Campaign — the top level, which contains ad groups. A campaign’s negative keyword phrases affect the whole campaign.

Direct also has a negative keyword phrase library — a catalog where frequently used negative keyword phrases are collected into sets. Sets supplement an ad group’s negative keyword phrases and affect impressions on an equal footing with them. You can connect them in a Unified Performance Campaign.

Interface block names change. As of the check date, the help documentation shows «Query and audience exclusion» for an ad group, and «Negative keyword phrases» on the campaign parameters page for a campaign. Where these settings sit in the overall order of creating a campaign is shown in the material on setting up a Direct campaign step by step.

Do negative keyword phrases work in the Advertising Network

Yes, but differently than in search. The Yandex Advertising Network (YAN) shows ads on sites and in apps outside the search results; more on how the Yandex Advertising Network works in a separate article.

In the network, a keyword phrase determines the topic of placements and the user’s interests. Negative keywords and negative keyword phrases here exclude impressions on unsuitable placements — ones where the keyword phrase and the negative keyword are mentioned side by side. The help documentation gives an example: an ad for new laptops with the negative keyword «repair» won’t show on a forum page discussing laptop repair.

Yandex advises using negative keyword phrases in the network only if you’re certain you aren’t cutting off your target audience. This option isn’t available for product ads in a Unified Performance Campaign.

How Direct applies negative keyword phrases: operators and word forms

Without operators, negative keywords work as broadly as possible: Direct accounts for all forms of the word and their combinations. A word form is the same word in a different number, case or tense: «sofa,» «sofas.» Word order doesn’t matter either: in the help documentation’s examples, the negative keyword phrase -laser gaming blocks the query «gaming computer mouse with a laser sensor.»

A match operator is a special character that narrows this broad rule. The minus sign itself goes before the excluded word: for example, buy sofa -free. Direct supports four operators in negative keyword phrases: " ", [ ], ! and +.

The examples below are for the keyword phrase «sofa.»

Operator	What it fixes	Negative keyword phrase	Blocks the query	Doesn’t block the query
no operator	nothing: all word forms and any order are counted	-kids folding	«folding kids sofas»	«kids sofa» — the query is missing the second word of the negative keyword phrase
!	the word form: number, case, tense	-!kids	«kids sofas»	«kid’s sofa» — a different form
+	a function word: a preposition, conjunction or pronoun that might otherwise be ignored	-+for kitchen	«sofa for kitchen,» «sofa for the kitchen»	«kitchen sofa» — no «for»
[ ]	word order; word forms and function words are still counted	-[sofa bed]	«sofa bed buy»	«bed or sofa which is better» — different order
" "	the number of words: only a query made up exactly of the negative keyword phrase’s words is blocked, with nothing extra	-"sofa free"	«free sofa,» «sofas free»	«sofa free pickup» — there’s an extra word

Operators can be combined. The help documentation, for example, has the negative keyword phrase -+with!laser sensor: it blocks «computer mouse with laser sensor» but lets through «computer mouse with optical sensor.»

Direct calls function words — prepositions, conjunctions, pronouns — stop words, and usually excludes them from a keyword phrase when selecting ads. Exactly how stop words are handled in negative keyword phrases without operators isn’t described separately in the help page on negative keyword phrases. If a preposition changes the meaning, it’s more reliable to fix it with the + operator, as in the help documentation’s examples.

Negative keywords for a keyword phrase vs. for an ad group: what’s the difference

The difference is in scope. A negative keyword affects only the keyword phrase it’s added to. An ad group’s or campaign’s negative keyword phrase affects all keyword phrases at that level.

An important rule: if all the words of a negative keyword phrase or negative keyword are contained in a keyword phrase, Direct ignores them. For example, a group has the keyword phrase «kids sofa,» and the group’s negative keyword phrases include «kids.» For this keyword phrase, the negative keyword phrase won’t trigger, but it will trigger for the group’s other phrases.

Practical takeaway. If a word is off-target only for one phrase, add it as a negative keyword to that phrase. If it doesn’t fit the whole product, move it to the ad group or campaign level.

How to pick negative keywords

There’s no universal list of negative keywords: off-target queries depend on exactly what you sell and where. So it’s better to pick them from your own data.

1. Before launch — look at queries in Wordstat. Wordstat is a Yandex tool that shows search query statistics, builds top-query lists for given words, and shows what else people searched for on the same topic. Go through the queries for your keyword phrases and note down off-target meanings. There’s a separate material on how to gather the queries people use to find you.
2. After launch — regularly open the «Search queries» report. It helps you analyze the queries your ads were shown for. You can add off-target queries right away with the «Add to negative keyword phrases» button and choose a level — ad group or campaign. Button and section names change; as of the check date, the report opens from the Report Library, «Placement optimization» section, or from the campaign list.
3. Cross-check a new negative keyword phrase against your keyword phrases. Check whether its word appears in queries you actually need. And remember that a negative keyword phrase fully contained in a keyword phrase is ignored.
4. Record the list and the reasons. Write down which word you added and why — that makes it easier to revisit decisions later.

Typical groups of off-target queries

Instead of a ready-made list, it’s more useful to keep in mind groups of meanings that often turn out to be off-target:

• free, no charge, download;
• DIY, how to make, blueprints;
• jobs, vacancies, salary;
• study queries: essay, term paper, «what is»;
• other brands, if you don’t sell them;
• cities and regions where you don’t operate.

A caveat: the same group can be off-target for one business and on-target for another. For a new-furniture store, «used» is an off-target query; for a classifieds platform, it’s the main demand. For an online school, «what is» and «how to make» might be the most useful queries of all.

Ready-made negative keyword lists: benefits and risks

Ready-made lists from the internet can be a starting point: they’re a reminder of groups of meanings that are easy to forget. But they aren’t built for your product. A word that looks obviously unnecessary in someone else’s list might be part of a target query for you.

If you do use such a list, go through it manually and cross-check it against the queries in Wordstat and the «Search queries» report. Adding the whole list without reading it is the easiest way to quietly cut off part of your demand.

How to avoid cutting off target traffic

Signs that negative keyword phrases are cutting off more than they should:

• impressions and clicks dropped noticeably right after you added new negative keyword phrases;
• impressions for a keyword phrase have almost stopped, even though there’s demand in Wordstat;
• queries that used to bring in inquiries have disappeared from the «Search queries» report.

What to check. Start with the most recently added negative keywords: is one of them a word that appears in target queries? Then check short, single-word negative keywords: they have the widest effect. Direct’s materials include a tip: if there’s a risk of cutting off part of your target audience, it’s better to use a multi-word negative keyword phrase, or leave the query for review. The same materials note that words like «reviews» and «forum» can show up in the queries of people who are still comparing options.

Cross-negation: what it is and whether you need it

Cross-negation is removing overlaps between keyword phrases with negative keywords, so the same query doesn’t match several phrases at once. For phrases where one contains another, Direct does this itself: according to the help documentation, negative keywords are automatically added to such phrases, and they stop competing with each other when an ad is selected for display.

The help page on keyword phrases doesn’t specify the exact scope of this automatic rule — within a group, a campaign, or across campaigns. So it’s still useful to check for overlaps, especially if similar phrases are spread across different groups and campaigns.

For bulk checking, Yandex has Direct Commander. In it, cross-negation fixes overlapping phrases that match the same search query: if two phrases differ by one word, a negative keyword is added to one of them. You can also optimize phrases from different groups or campaigns, but cross-negation will only be carried out between groups that show in the same regions and promote the same site. There’s also duplicate merging there: phrases that differ only in their negative keywords are combined into one, with the negative keywords of all the original phrases. Feature names change; as of the check date, the item is called «Optimize phrases.»

How to tell overlaps are a problem. The «Search queries» report has grouping by keyword phrase. If you see a query regularly coming in through the wrong phrase and the wrong group — not the one where an ad is prepared for it — that’s a reason to check for overlaps.

How to maintain your negative keyword phrase list

Negative keyword phrases aren’t a one-time setup. Queries change, you get new products and regions, and yesterday’s off-target word can become one you need.

• Review the queries report regularly. Pick the frequency based on impression volume: the more queries, the more often new off-target ones appear.
• Record your reasons. A short note on «why we added this» helps you avoid guessing, six months later, whether the word can be removed.
• Review the list when things change. A new product range, delivery to a new city, launching a free tier — reasons to check whether old negative keyword phrases are getting in the way.
• Watch the metrics. If you pay per click, clicks on off-target queries are paid for too — here’s how off-target clicks affect the cost of an inquiry. Lots of impressions with few clicks for a query shows up in the ad’s click-through rate.

FAQ

How many negative keyword phrases can you add?

As of the check date, Direct’s help documentation sets these limits: no more than 7 words in a single negative keyword phrase; an ad group’s negative keyword phrases — up to 4096 characters excluding spaces; a campaign’s negative keyword phrases — up to 20,000 characters excluding spaces. You can create up to 30 sets in the library, each up to 4096 characters excluding spaces, and attach up to three sets to a single group or campaign. Limits change, so check the help documentation before a large upload.

Do you need negative keyword phrases if autotargeting is on?

Yes. Autotargeting is a technology for showing ads without keyword phrases. When selecting ads to show in search, it also takes into account the negative keyword phrases set for the campaign and the ad group. The help documentation recommends adding irrelevant queries to negative keyword phrases, and in the «Search queries» report, impressions from autotargeting are marked in the «Impression condition type» column.

Can you use the same negative keyword phrases for all campaigns?

Technically, yes: that’s what sets in the negative keyword phrase library are for — they can be attached to several groups and campaigns. But it’s worth keeping a shared set only for words that are off-target for the whole business. If campaigns promote different products, each will have its own off-target queries.

Why did an ad show for a query that’s in the negative keyword phrases?

Common reasons, per Direct’s help documentation: all the words of the negative keyword phrase are contained in the keyword phrase, so Direct ignores it; a word is fixed with the ! operator in one form, but the query has a different one; the negative keyword phrase is in quotes, and the query has extra words; the negative keyword phrase has several words, and the query only contains some of them. Also check at which level the negative keyword phrase was added: a keyword phrase’s negative keyword doesn’t affect the group’s other phrases.