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What is the blacklist/whitelist rule?

Learn about the blacklist/whitelist rule.

Updated over 4 months ago

  • As we run ads, we often find irrelevant and poor-performing search terms.

  • For example, if we sell spatula, we do not want "spatula toys" to be triggered in our existing and future ads.

  • With the blacklist algorithm, you can create a list of irrelevant keywords and have the system automatically create them as negative exact/phrase keywords in assigned ad groups.

Navigation: Automation > Blacklist/Whitelist Rule

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Steps to blacklist/whitelist keywords

  • Step 1: Go to Blacklist/Whitelist Rule.

  • Step 2: Click the Blacklist/Whitelist Rules tab and select the product to customize.

  • Step 3: Add keywords to the lists.

  • Step 4: Select your ads and enable the Blacklist/Whitelist Rule


Blacklisting keywords

  • Negative Exact List: The algorithm will add the blacklisted keywords as negative-exact keywords to the assigned ad groups.

  • Negative Phrase List: The algorithm will add the blacklisted keywords as negative-phrase keywords to the assigned ad groups.

Whitelisting keywords

  • Exact Whitelist: The system will prevent Blacklist, Negative, and Negative Word algorithms from negating the whitelisted keywords as negative-exact.

  • Phrase Whitelist: The system will prevent Blacklist, Negative, and Negative Word algorithms from negating the whitelisted keywords as negative-phrase.

  • Phrase Whitelist does not prevent keywords that include the phrase from being negated.

  • For example, whitelisting "spatula" in Phrase Whitelist will not prevent "spatula turner" from being negated.

Nullifying blacklisted keywords

  • The keywords in Exact Whitelist will nullify the same keywords in the Negative Exact List.

  • The keywords in Phrase Whitelist will nullify the same keywords in the Negative Phrase List.

  • The keywords in Exact Whitelist will not nullify the same keywords in the Negative Phrase List.

  • The keywords in Phrase Whitelist will not nullify the same keywords in the Negative Exact List.

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