How Often Should You Review and Update Negative Keywords?

What a monthly review should cover

A monthly negative keyword audit usually starts with the search term report. The main candidates for negative keywords include:

• Search terms with high impressions but a low click-through rate
• Clicks that did not produce orders
• Queries that are loosely related or outside the product's use case
• Repeated terms that keep appearing after bid adjustments

Adding these as negatives prevents the same inefficient matches from consuming budget in the next cycle. Reviewing match types alongside negatives can also reveal whether a term should be blocked at campaign or ad group level.

When to increase review frequency

Monthly reviews are enough for many accounts, but high-spend accounts often need more frequent attention because the volume of search term data grows faster. A sudden CTR drop is another clear signal to pull the report early and check whether new irrelevant queries are entering the campaign.

New product launches, seasonal demand changes, and recent bid or targeting adjustments can also introduce unexpected search terms. A weekly or biweekly review during these periods can help catch waste before it becomes expensive.

Making negative keyword cleanup more efficient

Manual review works, but it can become time-consuming when campaigns are large. Tools that rank underperforming search terms by spend, CTR, and conversion metrics can help you prioritize the most impactful negative keywords. For example, Amazon Negative Keyword Tool by Todoza is built to support cleanup decisions within the specific campaign context.

Using a dashboard to track CTR trends alongside negative keyword work can also show whether performance improvements are holding over time. The important habit is to review consistently and turn findings into clear negative keyword lists, not just one-off fixes.