Google’s documentation says advertisers can only add 5,000 keywords to a campaign-level negative keyword list. But one advertiser has reported successfully adding more – raising questions about whether this is a glitch or an unannounced update.
Why we care. Negative keyword lists are critical for advertisers, helping them cut wasted spend and prevent ads from showing on irrelevant searches. A higher limit could be a welcome change for large accounts managing thousands of exclusions – but only if Google confirms it’s intentional.
Driving the news. Stan Oppenheimer, paid search specialist at Dallas SEO Dogs, spotted a search campaign with more than 5,000 negatives (i.e. the published limit).
- Oppenheimer flagged the issue to Google, asking for clarification and for the official help docs to be updated.
Between the lines. If this is more than a glitch, it could be part of Google’s broader push to standardize campaign limits across formats. But the lack of clarity leaves advertisers unsure whether they can rely on the higher cap.
What’s next. Until Google confirms, advertisers should proceed cautiously – and assume the official 5,000-word cap still applies to search campaigns.
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Anu Adegbola has been Paid Media Editor of Search Engine Land since 2024. She covers paid search, paid social, retail media, video and more. In 2008, Anu’s career started with delivering digital marketing campaigns (mostly but not exclusively Paid Search) by building strategies, maximising ROI, automating repetitive processes and bringing efficiency from every part of marketing departments through inspiring leadership both on agency, client and marketing tech side. Outside editing Search Engine Land article she is the founder of PPC networking event – PPC Live and host of weekly podcast PPC Live The Podcast.
She is also an international speaker with some of the stages she has presented on being SMX (US, UK, Munich, Berlin), Friends of Search (Amsterdam, NL), brightonSEO, The Marketing Meetup, HeroConf (PPC Hero), SearchLove, BiddableWorld, SESLondon, PPC Chat Live, AdWorld Experience (Bologna, IT) and more.
