On 21 July 2025 advertisers reported seeing a "Negative keyword lists" option inside live Google Ads Performance Max campaigns, a capability that Google's help documents still describe as unavailable. The discovery indicates Google may be running a limited test to expand brand-safety controls for PMax.
Negative keyword lists in Performance Max
The control surfaced in several European accounts without any public announcement.
- Dutch consultant Adriaan Dekker shared screenshots on LinkedIn after spotting the setting.
- He credited Jeremy Young and Alyssa Knab of Young & Digital with the initial find.
- The UI now lets advertisers attach an existing shared list or create a new one directly inside a PMax campaign.
- Google's "Negative keyword lists aren’t available to use in your Performance Max campaigns." help page has not been updated.
- The feature appeared in both English and Dutch interfaces; the extent of the rollout is still unclear.
Background
Performance Max replaced Smart Shopping and Local campaigns in 2022, and advertisers have since requested stronger negative keyword controls to protect their brands.
Google enabled account-level negative keywords through support representatives in January 2023 and launched brand exclusions for search and shopping queries in April 2024. Neither update allowed advertisers to reuse shared lists at the campaign level, a capability long available in standard Search and Shopping campaigns.
If this test rolls out globally, it would bring PMax in line with those campaign types and reduce the need for workarounds or support tickets.
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