Negative Keyword (Amazon Ads)

Negative keywords are one of the highest-ROI optimizations in Amazon PPC management, particularly for campaigns that use broad-match or auto-targeting. Without negative keywords, an auto-targeted campaign for a $39 wireless microphone might be paying for clicks from people searching 'free microphone test' or 'broken microphone repair' — neither of which converts. Pulling Search Term Reports weekly and adding negative keywords for any search term with 10+ clicks and zero conversions is a standard hygiene practice. Negative phrase match is more aggressive than negative exact match; the trade-off is over-pruning, where a phrase that occasionally converts gets blocked entirely.