Google Ads negative keywords: a starter list for medical practices

Why practices need Google Ads negative keywords from day one

Healthcare words attract people who aren't patients. In the same Keyword Planner data, "dental offices hiring" draws 1,300 US searches a month and "dental hiring" 880. Both are job searches, and both contain words a dental campaign bids on. "Cost of opening a dental practice" (50 a month) is a business owner, not a patient.

Every one of those clicks costs the same as a patient's. A new campaign without negatives pays to learn this the expensive way.

Make it a shared list: copy these terms into a spreadsheet grouped by theme, add them in Google Ads as a shared negative keyword list, then delete anything that doesn't fit your services.

If you'd like to see how much of your spend already goes to searches like these, the ads section of our free marketing audit is a quick first look.

Starter negatives: jobs, schools and training

Notation: plain words are broad match negatives, "quoted" phrases are phrase match, and [bracketed] terms are exact match.

Jobs and careers

• jobs, job — the single biggest leak in most practice accounts; add both forms because negatives don't cover plurals.
• hiring, hire — catches "dental offices hiring" and "clinic hiring near me."
• careers, career, employment — job-board phrasing.
• salary, pay, wages — people comparing jobs, not care.
• resume, interview — job applicants.
• "dental assistant", "medical assistant", "front desk" — role names, phrase match so "assistant" alone stays open if you need it.
• internship, externship, volunteer — students seeking placements.

Schools and training

• school, schools, college, university — prospective students.
• course, courses, class, classes — training searches.
• certification, license, "board exam" — professionals, not patients.
• "continuing education", CE — clinicians earning credits.
• "how to become" — career research.
• textbook, pdf, "study guide" — students.

Business owners and vendors

• "opening a", "start a practice", "practice for sale" — owners researching the business.
• software, EHR, billing — vendors and admin staff.
• marketing, "for dentists", "for chiropractors" — other businesses selling to you.

Starter negatives: free, DIY and at-home searches

These need more judgment, because some look like waste but signal a buyer.

• "free clinic", "free dental care", "free care" — people who need a sliding-scale or charity clinic you can't be.
• diy, "do it yourself", "at home", "home remedy", "home remedies" — people trying to avoid a visit.
• kit, kits, "over the counter", amazon — product shoppers ("at-home whitening kit").
• "natural remedies", "essential oils" — usually not looking for a clinician.
• pictures, images, meme — curiosity searches.
• symptoms, "what is", definition — research-stage searches; block only if your budget is tight and the search terms report confirms they don't convert.

Don't over-block. "Cost" and "price" look like bargain hunting, but for elective care (implants, Invisalign, LASIK, laser hair removal) they are often the strongest buyer signal you'll see. "Free consultation" is a buyer search if you offer one. Block phrases, not single words, when in doubt.

Wrong service, wrong specialty, wrong location

This group is specific to your practice, so treat these as prompts rather than a list to paste.

• Services you don't offer — a general dentist who doesn't place implants should block "implants"; a family practice that doesn't do cosmetic treatments should block "botox."
• Specialties you aren't — "pediatric" for an adult-only practice, "orthodontist" for a general dentist who refers out.
• Animals — vet, veterinary, dog, cat, horse, equine. Chiropractors and physical therapists see these more than you'd expect.
• Other cities and neighborhoods beyond your area — add names that appear in search terms, and fix location targeting first so they appear less.
• "online", telehealth, virtual — only if you don't offer virtual visits.
• Competitor brand names — optional; some practices bid on them, many don't.

Match types for negatives, and common mistakes

Negative match types behave differently from keyword match types. Google's negative keyword rules (opens in a new tab) (checked October 22, 2026):

Google is explicit that "negative keywords won't match to close variants or other expansions." Add plurals and synonyms yourself. Casing and misspellings are handled automatically.

Common mistakes:

• Adding "dental" or "doctor" as a negative by accident — it blocks everything. Check new negatives against your own keywords.
• Using exact match for job terms, which leaves "dental jobs hiring now" open.
• Forgetting the plural ("job" without "jobs").
• Blocking "cost," "price" or "free consultation" on elective-care campaigns.
• Adding negatives at the wrong level, so a term blocked for one service also blocks another.

The weekly search terms report routine

The search terms report shows the actual searches that triggered your ads, not just your keywords. Fifteen minutes a week:

• Set the date range to the last 7 days (14 in quiet accounts).
• Sort by cost, highest first.
• For each irrelevant search, pick the shortest word or phrase that captures the theme and add it as a negative.
• Decide the level: campaign or ad group for service-specific terms, shared list for universal junk like "jobs."
• Note good searches you're not bidding on and add them as keywords.
• Check that no new negative blocks one of your own keywords.

Low Quality Score and wasted clicks often share a cause: ads showing for searches that don't match the page. If both show up, read about Quality Score. For a full account review, use the full Google Ads audit.

Shared negative lists across campaigns

Universal junk belongs in one shared list, not copied into every campaign. Google lets you create negative keyword lists (opens in a new tab) of up to 5,000 negatives each, with up to 20 lists per account, and apply one list to several campaigns at once. Edits to the list apply everywhere it's used.

A practical structure:

• "Universal – jobs and schools" applied to every campaign.
• "Universal – DIY and free" applied to every campaign except elective-care ones that offer free consultations.
• Service-specific negatives kept at campaign level, where they can't leak across.

Specialty pages go deeper on each field; see Google Ads for dentists for implant and Invisalign specifics.

Medfy's Google Ads add-on does this routine daily: it reviews search terms and adds negative keywords inside guardrails you set, and every change is logged and reversible. See Medfy pricing. For the bigger picture, start with Google Ads for medical practices.

Frequently asked questions

How many negative keywords should a Google Ads account have?

There's no target number. A new practice account usually starts with a few dozen themed negatives, such as jobs, schools and DIY terms, then grows with whatever the search terms report reveals each week. Google allows up to 5,000 negatives per shared list and 20 lists per account, so capacity is rarely the limit. Quality matters more: one wrong negative can block real patients.

Do negative keywords block close variants?

No. Google says negative keywords won't match close variants or other expansions, so you need to add synonyms and singular and plural forms yourself. Blocking 'job' won't block 'jobs'. Google does handle casing and misspellings automatically. Positive keywords work the other way and do reach close variants, which is why negatives need more manual care than keywords.

Should a practice block searches containing 'free'?

Usually, but check first. 'Free' often signals someone looking for a free clinic, free samples or a do-it-yourself fix, which a paid practice can't serve. But 'free consultation' is a real buyer search for elective care such as implants, Invisalign or cosmetic treatments. Block phrases like 'free clinic' and 'free dental care' rather than the single word if you offer free consults.

How often should I check the search terms report?

Weekly for most practice accounts, and every few days during the first month of a new campaign, when waste shows up fastest. A 15-minute weekly pass is enough: sort by cost, mark anything irrelevant, add it as a negative at the right level, and note searches worth adding as keywords. Accounts with larger budgets benefit from a daily review.