About Search Ads negative keyword match types in TikTok Ads Manager

There are three negative keyword match types you can use to target the right audience when creating your Search Ads campaigns in TikTok Ads Manager: Broad match, Phrase match, and Exact match. Negative keywords prevent your ads from appearing alongside irrelevant or unsuitable search queries.

Negative keywords use the same match types as regular keywords.

How to enter negative keywords

To specify a match type, enter your negative keywords using the following syntax:

• Broad match: Enter the keyword without any special formatting (for example, running shoes).

• Phrase match: Enclose the keyword in quotation marks (for example, "running shoes").

• Exact match: Enclose the keyword in square brackets (for example, [running shoes]).

Important considerations for wording

It's important to consider wording variants when entering negative keywords.

• Negative keywords don’t block singular or plural forms, misspellings, and synonyms. You must add each variation separately.

• Capitalization is an exception; all casing variations are blocked once a keyword is added as a negative keyword.

For example, if you add [brown cat] as an exact-match negative keyword, a search for "brown cat" will be blocked, but searches for "brown kat" or "brown cats" will still be eligible to show.

When properly implemented, negative keywords allow you to achieve optimal performance while maintaining brand suitability on TikTok.

Broad match

Use broad match to block searches that contain all of your blocked words, even if they appear in a different order or if other words are present.

• Blocking level: High

• Blocking occurs when: The search contains every word in your negative keyword, in any order, and can include extra words.

Example: brown cat

Phrase match

Use phrase match to block searches containing your keyword phrase in the exact order you specify, even if other words appear before or after it.

• Blocking level: Medium

• Blocking occurs when: The search contains your phrase in the same order. Extra words can appear before or after the phrase, but not within it.

Example: "brown cat"

Exact match

Use exact match to block a search only if it is identical to your negative keyword.

• Blocking level: Low

• Blocking occurs when: The search is exactly the same as the inputted keyword, with no extra words and no changes in word order.

Example: [brown cat]

Next steps

Now that you understand the available Search Ads negative keyword types, learn how to set up your negative keywords in TikTok Ads Manager.