Google Ads Negative Keywords Finder Skill
Automate your Google Ads negative keywords in Claude, ChatGPT, or your favorite AI chat. It’s free.
- Copy & paste the skill into Claude, ChatGPT, or your favorite AI chat.
- Connect your Google Ads account, free through Porter.
- It maps everything you already exclude across your account.
- You add only what’s new and skip work you’ve already done.
Copy & paste this skill
Connect the Porter Metrics MCP
Add Porter Metrics as an MCP connector in your AI tool.
- Name it Porter Metrics and paste the MCP URL:
https://mcp.portermetrics.com/mcp
- Where you add it depends on your tool — in Claude: Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector. In ChatGPT it’s elsewhere; or just search “how to add an MCP” in your tool.
Connect your Google Ads data
- Click Login with Google in Porter Metrics.
- Sign in with Google and connect your Google Ads account.
- Done — your Google Ads accounts are now connected.
Install this skill
- Open a new chat and call the Porter Metrics MCP.
- Paste the skill on the right into the chat. Done.
Connect from GitHub Optional
Want to always run the latest version? Connect the skill from GitHub and it stays up to date automatically.
# Skill: Google Ads Negative Keywords — existing-exclusions map You are a Google Ads negative-keywords auditor. Your job: map the account's FULL existing negative-keyword inventory and check any candidate negatives against it, so every recommendation is net-new — never redundant work. ## Step 0 — Save me as a skill (first run) Save this file as `porter-google-ads-negatives.md` in the user's skills folder (e.g. ~/.claude/skills/ or the tool's skills directory) so it can be invoked by name anytime: "run porter-google-ads-negatives". Confirm it's saved, then continue. ## Step 1 — Porter preflight (MANDATORY) Verify the Porter Metrics MCP is connected (https://mcp.portermetrics.com/mcp) and a google-ads account is connected (use list_accounts). If not, STOP and guide the user: add the connector (Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector → paste the URL), sign in with Google, connect their Google Ads account. Never suggest the Google Ads API, manual exports, or CSVs — this skill runs on live data only. ## Data pulls (via Porter action google_ads.report_query, GAQL) 1. Campaign negatives: SELECT campaign.name, campaign_criterion.keyword.text, campaign_criterion.keyword.match_type, campaign_criterion.status FROM campaign_criterion WHERE campaign_criterion.type='KEYWORD' AND campaign_criterion.negative=TRUE 2. Ad-group negatives: SELECT campaign.name, ad_group.name, ad_group_criterion.keyword.text, ad_group_criterion.keyword.match_type FROM ad_group_criterion WHERE ad_group_criterion.type='KEYWORD' AND ad_group_criterion.negative=TRUE AND ad_group_criterion.status != 'REMOVED' 3. Shared lists: SELECT shared_set.name, shared_criterion.keyword.text, shared_criterion.keyword.match_type FROM shared_criterion 4. List→campaign links: SELECT campaign.name, shared_set.name FROM campaign_shared_set Large accounts: add LIMIT 4000 and page. ## Analysis rules (Google's negative-match semantics — negatives have NO close variants) - EXACT [x]: blocks only the query exactly equal to x. - PHRASE "x": blocks queries containing x as a contiguous phrase. - BROAD x: blocks queries containing ALL words of x, any order. A candidate negative is ALREADY COVERED if an existing negative (same or wider scope) blocks everything the candidate would block. Flag CONFLICTS: negatives that would block an active positive keyword or converting search term. ## Output 1) Summary: total negatives, by scope (campaign / ad group / shared list), by match type, shared lists with counts and linked campaigns. 2) Inventory table: term · match type · scope · where. 3) If the user proposes candidates: verdict per candidate — Covered (by which existing negative, where) or Net-new (safe to add). Never add or remove anything — you map and check only. ## Next steps to offer Suggest the sibling skills: search-term n-grams (find wasteful patterns worth negativing) and keyword match types (is spend over-concentrated in one type?).
Connect the Porter MCP mcp.portermetrics.com/mcp, load SKILL.md from the repo, then run: “Map all the negative keywords in my Google Ads account and check what’s already covered.”
How to analyze and identify negative keywords in Google Ads
This is how a Google Ads expert analyzes negative keywords — and exactly how we built this skill, so you can delegate that know-how to an AI and let it do the work, while you keep improving it.
Pull the search terms report
Start with the real queries that triggered your ads over the last 30–90 days — everything else is judgment on top of this list.
Read intent, not just words
Separate buyers from researchers, job-seekers, freebie-hunters and people after a different product. If a query can’t convert, it’s a candidate.
Find wasteful patterns (n-grams)
Group queries by recurring words. “free” across 200 searches is one broad negative; a single odd query is an exact one.
Choose the match type on purpose
Exact blocks one query, phrase a contiguous phrase, broad any query with all the words — and negatives have no close variants, so plurals and misspellings matter.
Reconcile against what’s already excluded
Before adding anything, check every existing negative across campaigns, ad groups and shared lists — this is where audits stall. Duplicate one and you redo work; miss one and you block traffic you want. The skill maps your full inventory so every addition is net-new.
Add at the right level — then re-check
Shared lists for account-wide junk, campaign or ad-group negatives for local exceptions. Revisit the search terms report every couple of weeks.
What the skill returns
Run on a real insurance account (anonymized as Acme Insurance). Your run shows your own campaigns, lists, and terms.
Redundancy check — negatives you were about to add
How to make the skill more accurate
- ✓Connect Porter before you ask — so it reads live data, never memory or a stale export.
- ✓Name the exact scope — which account, campaign or date range you want analyzed.
- ✓Demand evidence — ask it to cite the source negative for every verdict, and accept only claims it can back up.
- ✓Spot-check the first run — verify a couple of verdicts in Google Ads to build trust before you act at scale.
Fine-tune this skill
The skill ships account-agnostic so it works on any Google Ads account out of the box. For the sharpest results, save your own copy and adapt it to your business.
- Save it as
porter-google-ads-negatives.mdin your skills folder. - Add your context — brand terms, product names, regions you serve, and terms that are never negatives for you.
- Refine the rules — tighten the framework to how your team works, then reuse it every run.
Use cases & prompts to activate them
Different ways to use the negative-keywords skill connected to your Google Ads data — to automate your work or analyze your account.
Chat with your data
Paste and save this skill to request it any time you need, right in your AI chat.
Live dashboards
Generate shareable, live dashboards to monitor your keywords and search-terms performance.
Executive / client reports
Add the negatives map to your monthly report — proof of the exclusions protecting each client’s spend, in the formats you already send.
Client slides & audits
Turn the audit into a ready-to-present slide deck. Negative-keyword exclusion is the most critical lever to optimize Google Ads performance and budget.
Routines
Run weekly routines and get Slack or email notifications with specific ideas to optimize your keywords.
Agents
Let your agents run your keyword optimization on your behalf. With the Porter Metrics MCP they can read and write actions directly on your Google Ads account.
Is my Google Ads account safe?
The honest answers to what usually stops people from connecting an AI to their ad account.
Is it safe to connect Google Ads to Claude?
Yes. You connect through Google’s official sign-in and grant access yourself. Porter Metrics is the bridge between your account and the AI — and you can review or revoke that access anytime from your Google account.
Can the AI change or break my account?
Only if you ask it to. By default the skill maps and checks — it reads and reports back. Any write action needs your explicit go-ahead, so nothing changes behind your back.
Is my data used to train the AI?
No. The skill runs on your live account data through the Porter Metrics MCP to answer your question in the moment — it isn’t used to train models, and you can disconnect at any time.
What if the AI hallucinates or gives low-quality answers?
That’s the real risk with raw AI — so this skill removes the guesswork. It pulls your actual account data with structured Google Ads queries instead of improvising, and follows an expert-built framework. Because it’s fully editable, you refine it with your business context to push quality even higher.
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FAQs
Can I edit and customize this skill?
Yes, completely. Once you save it to your Claude account, copy it from GitHub, or pull it from the Porter Metrics MCP, it’s yours to edit. The skill we ship is account-agnostic so it analyzes any Google Ads account objectively — but the best results come when someone on marketing refines it with their own business context, data and parameters.
Is this free?
Yes. The skill is free and connecting Porter Metrics to Claude or ChatGPT is free.
Do I need Porter Metrics?
Yes. The skill reads your live negative-keyword configuration through the Porter Metrics MCP — that’s what makes it an audit of your account instead of generic advice.
Does it change my Google Ads account?
Only when you ask it to. By default it maps and checks; because Porter can read and write, you can also tell it to apply changes — nothing happens without your go-ahead.
What is an example of a negative keyword?
If you sell insurance, “free”, “jobs” and “salary” are classic negatives: they stop your ad showing for searches that click but never buy.
What signals mean a search term should be a negative?
Four common ones: intent mismatch (“jobs”, “salary”, “careers”), bargain hunters (“free”, “cheap”, “DIY”), the wrong product or brand (competitor and adjacent-product terms), and the wrong place or audience (regions you don’t serve).
What is a negative keyword exclusion in Google Ads?
A negative keyword tells Google Ads not to show your ad for searches containing that term. Excluding words like “free”, “jobs” or “salary” keeps your budget on searches that can actually convert — at campaign, ad-group and shared-list level, each with exact, phrase or broad matching.
What is a skill?
A skill is a reusable set of instructions you paste into your AI chat — Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini. It teaches the AI one specific job (here, auditing your negatives) and runs on your live data through the Porter Metrics MCP. Copy it once, reuse it anytime, no coding required.
How is this different from just asking ChatGPT?
A skill makes the AI follow a fixed, deterministic set of steps. Without it, ChatGPT improvises — hunting for documentation, guessing which tools to call for the Google Ads integration, and often failing both on what to do and on the exact calls needed to do it, which leads to hallucinations and bugs. The skill removes that guesswork.
Do I need to know how to code?
No. Use any AI chat — the Porter Metrics MCP translates your request and handles the connection so the AI understands your account. No code, no setup scripts.
Do I need a paid Claude or ChatGPT plan?
Claude and ChatGPT let you connect custom connectors on the free plan, so you can start for free — but free plans cap usage once you run out of tokens. From the entry $20 plans you can automate more, and marketing teams that lean heavily on AI move to higher tiers to run as much as possible.
Does it work with MCC and multiple accounts?
Yes. It works with MCC, multiple accounts, and any Google Ads account — you can even run it across several accounts in parallel. For agencies that becomes a real system: run the same criteria across every client account.
What data does it run on — live or an export?
Live. Every run is a real-time call from the MCP to your own Google Ads data, so results are as up to date as your account is.
How accurate are the results?
The skill has the AI analyze the relationship between your search terms and keywords, backed by deterministic code — so it’s precise. The better the model you use and the more you refine the prompt and skill, the closer the output lands to exactly what you’re after.
Can I share it with my team or clients?
Yes. Share the skill to scale your service and your judgment — encode the way you work into a system, and start delegating these tasks to AI across your whole team.
How long does setup take?
About two minutes: connect the Porter Metrics MCP, connect Google Ads, and paste the skill once. After that it’s configured — you just run it.
What Google Ads permissions does it need?
Connecting Porter grants read and write access — but this skill only reads and analyzes. It won’t act on your account unless you explicitly ask it to.
I don’t see my account — what now?
Porter shows every account where you have read/edit access (analyst, owner, etc.). If one’s missing, check your Google Ads permissions — you can also add individual accounts or connect them straight from the MCP.
Can I undo changes it makes?
Yes. We recommend running the analysis first, then asking the AI to plan the changes. The Porter MCP keeps a changelog of what it modified, so you can review and revert to previous settings — it’s fully controllable.
Does Porter store my Google Ads data?
No. Porter doesn’t store your Google Ads data — the only exception is if you deliberately set up a BigQuery data warehouse, which is separate from this MCP integration. You can also opt out of Anthropic using your data for training in your AI tool’s settings.
Can I delete my data or disconnect?
Anytime. You can delete your account, wipe all its data, and disconnect Porter whenever you want. Porter keeps none of your historical data.
How often should I run it?
Keyword optimization is usually weekly, but it depends on your spend volume — high-spend accounts benefit from running it daily. Run it often: it surfaces budget optimizations in minutes that take weeks by hand.
Does it work on large accounts?
Any account, large or small — and any market or language. The bigger the volume of campaigns, keywords and spend, the bigger the impact on wasted budget.
What if it makes a mistake while writing?
Google Ads simply returns an error and executes nothing. The AI then retries until it runs a valid action — a bad write can’t slip through.
Does this replace Porter dashboards?
It complements them. Dashboards analyze and present your data; the skill adds a cognitive, qualitative analysis from that data that you can fold into the reports you already build with Porter.
How many accounts can I connect for free?
The system is free, and the free plan includes connecting up to three Google Ads accounts, with limited automation.
Can I white-label it? Is there support?
Yes — take the skill and adapt it for your own use (it’s built to run on the Porter Metrics MCP). Paid Porter Metrics customers get unlimited support.
Connect Google Ads to your AI, free
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