Track Negative Keyword Candidates

What makes a search term a candidate

Negative keyword candidates usually share a recognizable pattern. A term can attract clicks and spend without producing orders, or it can generate sales at a return that falls well below the campaign’s target. Some candidates also show strong impressions but a conversion rate that is weak compared with similar queries in the same ad group.

• High spend, low return: the term clears a meaningful cost level but produces little or no revenue.
• ROAS below target: efficiency is weak for that specific campaign, not just against a generic account rule.
• Conversion gap: the query earns clicks but rarely becomes an order.

Use campaign-specific thresholds

A fixed rule for every campaign can be misleading. A $12 click with no sale may be a clear negative in a low-margin campaign but too early to judge in a high-consideration product campaign. Better tracking compares each search term against that campaign’s ROAS, conversion rate, and objective. Amazon Negative Keyword Tool by Todoza uses this campaign-specific approach to sort terms into negative keyword candidates, bid-reduction opportunities, or queries that need more data.

That kind of classification keeps the review list short and makes it easier to act on the most promising cleanup opportunities across an account.

When this matters

Tracking helps most when you manage several campaigns or marketplaces at once. The same search term can look wasteful in one placement and profitable in another, especially if products have different prices or conversion timelines. A repeatable process reduces the chance of over-negating a term that just needs a different bid or more time.

It also creates a useful checkpoint when multiple people review an account. Campaign changes remain manual, but the candidate list gives the team a shared starting point for decisions.