Negative Keyword
TL;DR — A negative keyword is a search term an advertiser explicitly prohibits publishers from bidding on in paid search campaigns. Using a negative keyword in a paid ad for that offer violates the offer’s terms and can result in commission reversals or account penalties. On Involve Asia, where a negative keyword list exists on an offer page, PPC publishers must exclude these terms from their campaigns before going live.
What Is a Negative Keyword?
In paid search advertising, a negative keyword is a term you actively exclude from triggering your ad. In the context of affiliate marketing, negative keywords on an offer page take on a different meaning — they are terms the advertiser does not want any publisher to bid on when promoting their offer through paid search.
Common examples include the advertiser’s brand name, trademarked product names, or variations of their own campaign slogans. Bidding on these terms could intercept users already searching directly for the brand, effectively taking credit for traffic the advertiser was already going to receive without any publisher involvement.
Using a prohibited keyword in a paid campaign is a compliance violation, even if the ad itself looks legitimate. Advertisers monitor this, and publishers found bidding on restricted terms risk having their conversions reversed and their access to the offer removed.
Negative Keywords on Involve Asia
On Involve Asia, some offer pages include a list of negative keywords that publishers must not bid on in paid search campaigns. These sit alongside the offer’s recommended keywords and restricted traffic sources, giving PPC publishers a complete picture of what is and isn’t allowed for that offer’s paid promotion.
Before launching any paid search campaign for an Involve Asia offer, PPC publishers should check the offer page for both recommended and negative keywords, and configure their ad campaigns accordingly — adding any listed negative keywords as exclusions in their campaign settings to avoid accidental violations.
Related Terms: Recommended Keyword · SEM (Search Engine Marketing) · PPC Publisher · Restricted Traffic Sources · Compliance
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