Automotive
Automotive keywords sit directly next to the largest DIY community on the internet. Bid on transmission repair and Google will happily show your ad to someone reading a torque spec, decoding a P0420, or pricing a used transmission on RockAuto. Dealerships get the same problem from the research side: blue book lookups, VIN decoders, recall checks and forum threads that never end in a test drive. These negatives clear the parts, manuals, recall and hobby traffic out of the account while leaving budget shoppers and used-car intent alone.
817
Negative keywords
18
Categories
8
Terms to protect
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Who you are paying for
Someone within driving distance who wants to buy a vehicle, book a repair, or get tires fitted in the next week or two.
These terms look like obvious waste in automotive and are usually the opposite. Blocking them is the fastest way to make a negative keyword list cost you money.
Do not blanket-block these
A used-car dealer is selling nothing but used inventory, so a broad "used" negative turns the account off. Block the parts variants only: "used engine for sale", "used transmission for sale".
Cheap cars and under-5000 searches are real buyers on a buy-here-pay-here lot, and they close. Only block DIY price phrasing such as "cheapest way to fix transmission" and leave inventory queries running.
For buy-here-pay-here and in-house finance this is the highest intent phrase in the vertical, not waste. Block it only if every deal you write goes through an outside lender that pulls credit.
Collision centres and body shops book most of their work off free-estimate searches, so it stays a target keyword. Only block the free diagnostic and free towing variants if you do not actually offer them.
If you buy junk, salvage or non-running vehicles, the whole scrap and salvage group is your lead source. Delete that group before uploading instead of blocking the calls you are paying to get.
Dealers running a we-buy-cars or trade-in acquisition campaign get real sellers from valuation searches. Skip the valuation group entirely if you are trying to source inventory rather than sell it.
Nearly every profitable automotive query carries a location modifier, so never negative the geography itself. Block the intent in front of it instead, like "junkyard parts near me".
Franchise dealers get paid warranty labour for recall work and it is one of the cheapest ways to fill a service bay. Block recall research only if you are an independent shop that cannot perform it.
817 terms shown
Industry
Word count
Categories
Someone pricing a part or reading a torque spec is fixing it in their own driveway.
Code and symptom searches are diagnosis research, and most of them end at a YouTube video.
A person downloading a service manual has already decided not to pay a shop.
Blue book and VIN report searches are homework that happens weeks before any purchase.
Recall lookups and lemon law research are warranty admin, not paid service demand.
Technicians and salespeople looking for work cost the same per click as a buyer.
Renting for a weekend or qualifying a car for Uber is not buying or servicing one.
Sim racers, diecast collectors and track fans spend their money on hobbies, not vehicles.
Title transfers and plate renewals are government paperwork a dealer cannot sell against.
Scrap value and auction access searches are people disposing of a car, not buying one.
Fleet buyers and owner-operators need a different account, not your retail campaign budget.
Bikes, campers and boats share vocabulary with cars but almost never share a customer.
Claim paperwork and impound fees are administration, and the repair decision is not theirs yet.
Charging maps, octane debates and tread-life data are reading, not a booking.
Wrap tutorials and install guides are enthusiasts doing the work in their own garage.
Forum threads and owner-to-owner listings route the buyer straight past your lot.
Coupon-only and charity-repair searchers will not authorise a paid repair order.
Brand history and barn-find nostalgia is reading material with no transaction behind it.
Switch on Universal above to merge the 1,559 terms that waste money in every account. The two lists never overlap, so nothing is duplicated when you copy them together.
Someone with a specific legal matter who is looking to hire a lawyer and will book a consultation this week.
Someone shopping for coverage right now who will complete a quote form or call an agent to bind a policy.
A homeowner with a broken or aging system who wants a licensed company to come out, quote the work and do it.
A patient with a specific problem who is choosing a provider and is ready to book an appointment.
A patient with a specific problem or procedure in mind who is ready to book an appointment and pay for treatment.
A homeowner ready to list, or a buyer ready to tour and write an offer, in the market this advertiser actually serves.
Someone who needs money or a financial product now and is ready to start an application with a lender, broker or advisor.
Someone ready to buy a specific product from your store at the price you advertise.
An evaluator or budget holder at a company that can pay for seats and is looking to start a trial or book a demo.
Someone choosing a programme to pay for who is ready to apply, request information or book a call with admissions.
Someone with dates in mind who is ready to book a room, a seat, a tour or a package.
Someone looking for a gym, studio, trainer or clinic near them who is ready to book a tour, a first class or a consultation.
Someone researching a specific treatment who is ready to book a consultation or an appointment at a clinic near them.
A person with a substance use problem, or the family member acting for them, who is ready to admit to a programme they can pay for in a state the facility serves.
They are the searches that look close enough to your keywords for Google to match them, but come from people who will never buy. Automotive keywords sit directly next to the largest DIY community on the internet. Bid on transmission repair and Google will happily show your ad to someone reading a torque spec, decoding a P0420, or pricing a used transmission on RockAuto.
817 terms across 18 categories, and none of them repeat the universal list, so you can apply both without duplicates. Every term is free to copy or download as a CSV that imports straight into Google Ads Editor.
Yes. The universal list covers the waste every advertiser sees, such as job seekers, students and freebie hunters. This page covers what only wastes money in your vertical. Keep them as two separate shared lists in Google Ads so you can tell which one is doing the work.
No list is safe to paste unread, which is why the terms above this list exist. A used-car dealer is selling nothing but used inventory, so a broad "used" negative turns the account off. Block the parts variants only: "used engine for sale", "used transmission for sale".
Adscriptly
Blocking bad traffic is half the job. Adscriptly sends the other half back to Google: which clicks became qualified calls, booked jobs and closed revenue, so the algorithm bids on outcomes instead of clicks.