SellerVisor Blog

Amazon advertising automation Part 2: 'Automatically blocks keywords that are inefficient in PPC? Negative keyword automation'

Posted 4/8/2026 1:06:13 AM

Thank you to the customers using SellerVisor.
Continuing from the last installment, we are running a series on Amazon advertising automation. In the previous part, we explained how to track competitors' product keywords so you can identify efficient keywords for competitor products and automatically create campaigns even while you sleep. It's great these days that it can find money-making keywords and even create ad campaigns automatically while you sleep.

If you fall into any of the situations below, you should definitely read to the end of this installment.
First, check whether any of the following apply to you.

Amazon Ads Current Situation Checklist!


- You launched a product and initial ad performance was okay but it keeps getting worse
- Others say their ACOS is 30%, but my ad campaigns are over 200%
- You know ad campaign optimization in theory but it's too bothersome
- It feels like only ad spend is going out and sales aren't happening. If only ad spend were a bit lower, I think it would sell


How is it? Do you think your situation is exactly the same? Do you relate? If so, you have an opportunity to optimize your Amazon ads. You can reasonably spend less on ads while maintaining or increasing sales. The ad optimization you know in theory can now be automated.

Perhaps you reading this have heard of negative keywords.
It's a very important element in Amazon advertising, so you probably know it already.
For those who might not know, briefly explained: when running Amazon ads, if your ads are being shown for keywords you don't want and ad spend is leaking out, you register those keywords as negative keywords so they no longer trigger your ads.

What is negative keyword registration work?

Usually you open the Amazon advertising search term report in a spreadsheet file, find negative keywords while looking through it, copy those keywords, move to the Amazon Seller Central page to add negative keywords, and perform these tedious tasks. Naturally it takes a lot of time and is very tiring, monotonous, and repetitive work.

If you don't do this work, you can't proceed with Amazon ad optimization. Therefore it's a very important task and many Amazon sellers undergo this work in pain. If this is too difficult, sellers give up on this task and their Amazon ad efficiency worsens, or they have to hire an agency to do this work for them.

How do you feel reading up to here? If you don't want to be in this pain or have already experienced it, now is your chance to get out of that pain. What if negative keywords were found and added automatically while you sleep?

By now in your head...

"But... what if important keywords get added as negative keywords?"

I know you might think like this.
Because I actually sell products on Amazon, I understand these practical pains well.
But how about this?
If you register important keywords for your product as protected keywords to prevent mistaken registration, and only automatically add the remaining inefficient keywords? That would be the best option.

Now I'll explain how that is possible.

Amazon Ads Automation Part Two: 'Automatically block poorly performing PPC keywords? Negative Keyword Automation'





1. After logging into SellerVisor, select Settings (Ads, Language, Newsletter) from the gear icon at the top right.




2. Go to the Negative Keyword Automation settings page.

If you scroll a little further down in Settings, you'll find the area to configure Negative Keyword Automation. Check the image above. Here you can set up negative keyword automation with the conditions you want. The items on this page are intuitive and easy to understand, but since beginners may read this article, I will explain the items.

  • Enable negative keyword automation
    This is the switch to turn on the automatic negative keyword registration feature.
    It automatically finds and handles inefficient search terms that match the configured conditions.
  • Dry run mode (report only, no writes)
    This is a test mode that doesn't actually register anything but shows which keywords would be caught.
    Beginners should first review results in this mode before applying them in practice. (You receive it by email)
  • Lookback Days
    The setting that determines how many recent days of data to evaluate.
    If left empty, it evaluates based on the entire accumulated data.
  • Minimum Clicks
    Determines from how many clicks a search term should be inspected.
    Prevents hastily blocking search terms with too little data.
  • Maximum Orders
    Only search terms with orders less than or equal to this value are considered negative candidates.
    If set to 0, only search terms with no orders at all are targeted.
  • Maximum ACOS (%)
    Search terms with ACOS higher than this value can be judged inefficient.
    Use it to filter out search terms with very poor ad spend to sales efficiency.
  • Minimum Spend ($)
    Determines that only search terms that spent at least this much on ads will be evaluated.
    Reduces unnecessarily blocking search terms that have almost no spend.
  • Ad Automation ASINs
    The item to select which ASINs this automation should apply to.
    If left empty, it applies to all target ASINs; if selected, it applies only to the chosen product.
  • Scope
    Setting that determines the scope to which negative keywords are applied.
    Typically used to decide whether to apply at the Campaign level or group level.
  • Negative Match Type
    Determines whether the blocking method of negative keywords is Exact or Phrase.
    Exact blocks only when it exactly matches; Phrase blocks more broadly when the phrase is included.
  • Auto campaigns only
    Means to apply negative keywords only to automatic campaigns.
    Useful for reducing unnecessary search term waste in automatic campaigns.
  • Manual campaigns only
    Means to apply negative keywords only to manual campaigns.
    Used when you want to clean up only inefficient search terms within campaigns you already operate manually.
  • Minimum Impressions
    Only search terms with impressions above this minimum are evaluated.
    Excludes search terms with too few impressions since it's too early to judge them.
  • Max Negatives Per Run
    Determines the maximum number of negative keywords to add per run.
    A safety measure to prevent too many keywords from being blocked at once.
  • Run Interval (Days)
    Item that sets how many days apart this automation will run.
    If set to 1 it runs daily; set to 7 it runs once a week.
  • Save
    The button that saves the settings you just configured.
    You must save for the settings to actually take effect.
How is it?
If you've read this far, you may be thinking:
“The feature is good, but what values should I start with?”
“What if I configure it wrong and important keywords get blocked?”
“How should a beginner use it safely?”
These questions are perfectly natural.
Because negative keyword automation
shouldn't be a function that just blocks a lot indiscriminately,
it should be a feature that automatically cleans up search terms that are simply wasting money.
In other words, instead of simply blocking everything with a high ACOS,
it's much safer and more practical to automate around search terms that have accumulated a decent number of clicks, spent enough ad budget, but resulted in no orders.
Therefore, SellerVisor recommends approaching it with presets like the ones below so that beginners can easily utilize it.
Please see the presets below.

Which settings are good to start with?


Two Negative Keyword Automation Presets

Rather than fiddling with many complicated settings,
it's best to start with one of the two scenarios below at first.
The core is simple.
  • If you're a beginner, use the safe option
  • If your account accumulates a lot of data, go a bit faster
Approach it this way.

Preset 1. Safe


Auto Campaign Waste Cut

This preset is the most recommended method for those starting negative keyword automation for the first time.
In short,
It's a setting that safely cleans up search terms in automatic campaigns that spend money but have no orders.
Automatic campaigns have the advantage of discovering good search terms,
but conversely they often show your ads for search terms that only vaguely match your product
or for search terms that just waste ad spend.
So at first it's safest to clean up automatic campaigns.

Recommended settings


  • Enable negative keyword automation: ON
  • Dry run mode: ON
  • Lookback Days: 30
  • Minimum Clicks: 12
  • Maximum Orders: 0
  • Maximum ACOS (%): leave empty
  • Minimum Spend ($): 10
  • Ad Automation ASINs: Select all or specific ASINs
  • Scope: Campaign
  • Negative Match Type: EXACT
  • Auto campaigns only: ON
  • Manual campaigns only: OFF
  • Minimum Impressions: 300
  • Max Negatives Per Run: 10
  • Run Interval (Days): 7

Why set it up this way?


First, the reason we set Lookback Days to 30 is
if you look over too short a period, a few random clicks can
cause you to hastily block a search term.
About 30 days gives a bit more stability to see “Is this really a consistently poor-performing search term?”
And it's also important to set Minimum Clicks and Minimum Spend together.
Search terms with only a few clicks or almost no ad spend are too early to judge.
On the other hand, if clicks and spend have accumulated to some extent but there are no orders,
there is less reason to keep that search term active.
The most important value here is Maximum Orders = 0.
A keyword that has produced even one order may still be worth keeping.
But a keyword with zero orders and only accumulated clicks and cost
is much more clearly a candidate for automatic cleanup.
Also, setting Negative Match Type to EXACT is important.
If you start broadly with Phrase from the beginning,
you may end up blocking many related search terms more than expected.
For beginners, it's much better to start cautiously with Exact.

Recommended for these people

  • People using ad automation for the first time
  • Those who want to first reduce waste from auto campaigns
  • Those worried that important keywords might be mistakenly blocked
  • Those who don't yet have much advertising data

Preset 2. Enhanced


Fast Waste Cutter

The second preset
is for those who want to reduce ad spend waste a bit faster.
In short, this preset
is a setting that blocks no-order search terms more quickly in accounts where data has accumulated to some extent.
If you are already running ads consistently
and your account accumulates a fair number of clicks and ad spend per day,
inefficient keywords will reveal themselves quickly without waiting 30 days.
In that case, it's better to clean up at a slightly faster rhythm.

Recommended settings


  • Enable negative keyword automation: ON
  • Dry run mode: ON for about 1 week of testing first
  • Lookback Days: 14
  • Minimum Clicks: 15
  • Maximum Orders: 0
  • Maximum ACOS (%): leave blank
  • Minimum Spend ($): 20
  • Ad Automation ASINs: recommended to select mainly core ASINs
  • Scope: Campaign
  • Negative Match Type: EXACT
  • Auto campaigns only: OFF
  • Manual campaigns only: OFF
  • Minimum Impressions: 500
  • Max Negatives Per Run: 20
  • Run Interval (Days): 3

How is this setting different?


The biggest difference is the speed of judgment.
Because it looks at the last 14 days instead of 30,
it can filter out inefficient search terms more quickly.
Also, since Minimum Spend is set a bit higher,
only search terms that have actually incurred a certain amount of cost are targeted.
In other words, rather than under-tested search terms,
it will more quickly cut search terms that show “this has spent enough ad budget but still gets no orders.”
Run Interval is also short at 3 days.
This means you can clean up problem search terms more frequently
instead of waiting a week after a problem is confirmed.
However, this preset
may be somewhat fast for accounts with little data.
If you're a seller with low ad volume, we recommend starting with the safe preset first.

Recommended for these people

  • Accounts with consistent accumulation of clicks and ad spend
  • Sellers with some advertising experience
  • Those who want to reduce overall waste faster, not just in auto campaigns
  • Those who want to more aggressively prevent ad spend leakage

Why not use ACOS as the default preset?


Many of you might think this.
“If an ad is inefficient, can't we just automatically block keywords with high ACOS?”
Theoretically, that might seem reasonable.
But real ad operations are not that simple.
Even if ACOS is high,
that keyword might still be in a testing phase,
it might be a keyword you need to carry long-term,
or it might be intentionally run for brand expansion.
On the other hand,
a search term with plenty of clicks, sufficient ad spend, and zero orders
is much clearer to judge.
So the basic principle of negative keyword automation
is safer and more practical when built around No Orders + Enough Clicks + Enough Spend
rather than High ACOS.

If you're just getting started, do this


The most practically recommended sequence is as follows.

Step 1

First, start with the safe preset.

Step 2

Turn on Dry run mode and watch the results first.
That is, don't actually register anything; just check which search terms are picked as negative candidates.

Step 3

After reviewing the results,
if the search terms that you feel “these can really be blocked” are being correctly identified,
then switch to actual automatic registration.

Step 4

When ad data accumulates faster and your ad scale begins to grow,
you can move to the enhanced preset then.

But one more thing is important here

Protect important keywords


While reading this far, you may have thought this.
“What if important keywords get automatically added to negatives?”
That's a valid concern.
This is a very realistic worry.
Therefore, SellerVisor provides a Protected Keyword Registration feature alongside negative keyword automation.
Simply put, this feature
tells the automation:
“These keywords are important for my product, so don't touch them automatically.”
Having this mechanism makes the automation much safer
and ensures it operates in the direction you intend.

How to set up Protected Keyword Registration

Register keywords to protect first

Negative keyword automation is a powerful feature.
But running it without safeguards
can make you worry that it will even touch the core keywords you want to keep alive.
So it's good to register the keywords you want to protect first.



1) Go to the menu


Open the top-right menu in SellerVisor and you will see the items below. (Refer to the image above)
  • Automation & Keyword Tracking ASIN Settings
  • Protected Keyword Registration
From here, go into Protected Keyword Registration.
This menu is
a space to pre-register keywords that the automation should not touch.

2) Check recommended keywords by ASIN




When you enter the settings page,
you will see the Protected Keyword Recommendations screen.
Here, recommended keywords are organized by ASIN.
SellerVisor shows keywords it judges to be highly relevant to the product
as initial candidates.
For example, under a specific ASIN as shown on the screen,
  • indoor door mat
  • quick dry chenille mat
  • machine washable entryway rug
Recommended keywords can appear like this.
The advantage of these recommended keywords is
you don't have to think of every keyword from scratch,
SellerVisor first suggests “these keywords could be protection candidates.”




Check the keywords to protect


There are checkboxes to the left of the recommended keyword list.
Select the keywords you want to protect here.
The criteria here are simpler than you might think.

It's good to protect these kinds of keywords


  • Core main keywords for my product
  • Keywords that have already converted or that you want to continue pushing
  • Keywords you want to keep long-term even if ad efficiency wavers briefly
  • Keywords highly relevant to my product
  • Keywords that must be preserved for brand operations
Conversely
If a keyword is also irrelevant, keeps costing money, and is not strategically important,
there is no need to protect it.
The key is this.
“This keyword should be kept even if it doesn't produce results right away.”
Protect such keywords.




Select a Match Type


Next to each keyword is a Match Type field.
Usually you choose either EXACT or PHRASE.

EXACT

Protect only when it exactly matches that keyword.
This is the most conservative and safest method.

PHRASE

You can protect a wider range including various search terms that contain that phrase.
Use this when you want to protect a slightly broader scope.
For beginners,
we recommend protecting primarily with EXACT at first.
If you set the protection scope too broadly,
automation may end up cleaning up fewer search terms that it should handle.




You can also add keywords manually


Recommended keywords alone may be insufficient.
Because besides the keywords SellerVisor recommends,
you may have strategic keywords you know better yourself.
In the Custom Keywords input on the right,
you can enter keywords you want to protect manually.
For example
  • keyword1, keyword2
  • keyword1; keyword2
  • Enter multiple items with line breaks
Enter them like this.
Then select the Match Type below
and click Add to add them to the list.
This feature is especially useful in cases like the following.
  • Long-tail keywords you really want to push
  • Keywords important for brand strategy
  • Keywords you want to build ranking for in the future
  • Key expressions that differentiate from competing products
In other words, recommended keywords are a starting point,
and strategic keywords are something you complete yourself.




Save with Save Selected


After checking and adding,
finally click the Save Selected button to save.
After this process,
even if the negative keyword automation runs,
the keywords protected here will not be added to automatic blocking.
In other words, automation doesn't run blindly,
but becomes automation that reflects your operational intent.
This difference is really important.

How should you understand the Protected Keyword feature?


This feature is not simply a function to store keywords.
More precisely,
it's a function that lays guardrails in advance so automation doesn't make mistakes.
Automation is powerful because it handles repetitive tasks.
But it doesn't know all contexts perfectly like a human.
For example,
  • Keywords that should be continued even if temporarily inefficient
  • Keywords connected to the product's identity
  • Keywords that need long-term ranking building
These keywords
should not be cut off by looking only at short-term efficiency.
So when using negative keyword automation,
this sequence should always be followed.

Decide what to protect first, then automate

Going in this order is much safer.

Summary


In this article, among SellerVisor's ad automation features,
we explained negative keyword automation and
the Protected Keyword Registration feature that acts as a safety device together.
The core is simple.
When operating Amazon ads, what's important is
not only finding good keywords,
but also consistently cleaning up inefficient keywords that only spend money.
However, although everyone knows this is important,
in practice it's tedious, repetitive, and exhausting work.
So many sellers usually end up in one of three situations below.
  • They know they should do it but keep postponing
  • They give up because it's too cumbersome
  • They end up paying someone else to handle it

SellerVisor was created to turn those repetitive tasks
into a system.
  • If you set condition values
  • it can automatically find inefficient search terms
  • and automatically register them as negative keywords
  • and important keywords can be protected as Protected Keywords.
In other words,
it's not about blocking automatically without thought,
but automating so that what needs protecting is protected and what needs cleaning is cleaned.
I think this approach is realistic.
Actual ad operations are not as neat as theory.
Therefore, automation especially needs safety measures.

Amazon ads
can be a tool to generate revenue if managed well,
but if not managed they can become a drain of ad spend.
In particular, negative keyword cleanup
is fundamental to improving ad efficiency, yet
it's so repetitive and cumbersome that many sellers miss it.
But now this important task
no longer requires opening Excel, copying, pasting, and adding one by one.
What you need to do
gradually decreases,
and instead you should make the system handle repetitive tasks.
I believe that's ultimately
the way to run Amazon ads longer and more stably.


How does that sound? To use this feature you need at least SellerVisor's Growth Plan.
We need to clarify this point.
Because the core of what we explained in this article is not just viewing data, but whether ad automation actually runs.
Starter is fine for checking SellerVisor's basic structure and trying features lightly.
But the flow explained in this article, that is,
  • Tracking efficient keywords of competing products
  • Automatically creating campaigns based on those keywords
  • Automatically registering inefficient search terms as negative keywords
  • Protecting important keywords as Protected Keywords
This kind of practical ad automation operation becomes available starting from the Growth Plan.
The differences are clear.
  • Ads Automation ASINs
    • Starter: 5
    • Growth: 10
  • Keyword-based Automated Campaign Creation
    • Starter: Not available
    • Growth: Up to 5 available
  • Access
    • Starter: Core pages only
    • Growth: full access including advanced Ads automation / operations pages
In short, Starter is closer to a stage for learning the structure,
and Growth is the stage for actually executing ad automation.
Why is this important?
Because Amazon advertising is ultimately boring and simple repetitive work,
the person who executes it accurately and repeatedly wins.
Even if you discover good keywords, if you don't create campaigns you miss the opportunity to increase sales.
Even if you know inefficient search terms, if you don't register them as negatives ad spend continues to leak.
So what's important is not "knowing" but making it execute automatically.
That changes starting from the Growth Plan.
While you sleep, campaigns can be created based on efficient keywords of competing products,
and underperforming search terms can be cleaned up as negative keywords.
From this point, advertising becomes less manual management and more of an operational system running according to set criteria.
So the Growth Plan fits better for people like these.
  • Those who want to manage ads for multiple ASINs together
  • Those who want to go beyond tracking competitor keywords and actually create campaigns
  • Those who want to automate negative keyword cleanup instead of doing repetitive manual work
  • Those who want to manage ad operations by system rather than by intuition
  • Those who find ad management bothersome (wish someone would manage it well for me...)
On the other hand, the following people can start with Starter first.
  • Those using SellerVisor for the first time
  • Someone who can spend about 2 hours a day looking at ads and doing detailed work
  • Someone who does not rely on Amazon ads
In the end, the criterion is simple.
If you don't need campaign automation, Starter is fine.
But if you want actual automation—tracking competitor product keywords, automatically creating campaigns, and automatically registering negative keywords—you should start with the Growth Plan.
The core of the features explained in this article is exactly that.
Not managing ads more diligently by hand,
but building a structure that automatically runs good keywords and automatically removes inefficient keywords.
And this aspect should not be seen merely as a difference in plan price.
The difference between Starter and Growth is $50 per month, but in actual ad operations this difference can have a surprisingly large effect.
When managing ads, unnecessary ad spend can continue because inefficient search terms are not blocked in time, and conversely, sales opportunities can be missed because efficient keywords are discovered but not immediately linked to campaigns.
With the Growth Plan, you can connect these flows through automation, allowing you to simultaneously manage areas where ad spend can be reduced and areas that can generate additional revenue opportunities.
So the $50 monthly difference is less a simple cost gap and more a difference between continuing to manage ads manually or switching to a structure that operates according to certain criteria.
In practice, even slightly reducing the areas where ad spend leaks can more than offset that difference.
If this leads to automatically creating campaigns based on efficient keywords from competitor products, you can create opportunities for additional revenue beyond merely saving costs.
So after seeing the features in this article,
“This is enough to want to properly automate once,”
If you feel that way, start with the Growth Plan rather than Starter right now.
If you have any questions, please contact [email protected].
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