In B2B, Google Ads is about managing intent, not budget

Setting up a Google Ads B2B campaign is quite different from retail advertising. A consumer searches for "running shoes" and may buy within minutes. A purchasing manager searches for "stainless steel flange supplier," shortlists a few companies, requests proposals and compares them for weeks. Search volume is low and the value of a single customer is high. That is why in B2B the goal isn't to get lots of clicks but to bring fewer, and the right, people to your site.

In this post we look at the three areas that leak the most budget when setting up a campaign: match types, negative keywords and the search terms report. There's a checklist at the end.

Match types — how much freedom are you giving Google?

When you add a keyword in Google Ads, the match type determines which searches your ad can appear for. Put simply, it's the permission you give Google on how broadly it may interpret the keyword.

In practice it's safer to start with phrase and exact match, and to try broad match carefully only after the account has gathered data. Broad match isn't bad, but to work well Google needs to know what a "good result" is. In an account without conversion tracking, broad match spreads the budget across irrelevant searches. We explain how to set up tracking in our post on conversion tracking.

The negative keyword list — B2B's real weapon

A negative keyword means "don't show my ad on searches containing this word." For B2B companies this is often the setting that saves the most money. At the start, these groups are useful in almost every account:

• Job and career searches: job posting, hiring, salary, internship, careers, CV
• Education searches: what is, homework, pdf, thesis, lecture notes, exam
• Individual and small purchases: second hand, used, repair, at home, hobby
• Wrong product or service: models you don't sell, work you don't do
• Competitor brand names (unless you are deliberately bidding on competitor terms)

It's worth thinking before blindly blocking informational words like "what is." In some industries an engineer first researches "what is" and then looks for a supplier. That person is better captured with a good guide article than with an ad, which is a job for search engine optimization (SEO).

Keeping the negative list as a shared list at account level saves you from repeating the same cleanup every time a new campaign is created.

The search terms report — the one report to read every week

Your keyword list shows which searches you want your ad to appear for. The search terms report shows which searches it actually appeared for. The gap is often surprising.

Review this report frequently in the first weeks of a campaign and regularly after that. For each row, ask one of three questions:

1. Is this search exactly our customer? If so, add it as a separate keyword with exact or phrase match.
2. Is it completely irrelevant? Add it to the negative list.
3. Unsure? Watch it for a few more weeks and see whether it brings conversions.

In recent years Google hasn't shown every search in this report; some low-volume terms can stay hidden. Even so, the visible part gives the clearest picture of the account's health.

Other B2B-specific settings

A few settings that matter as much as keywords but are often overlooked:

• Location option: The default setting can include people "showing interest in" the target area. Showing ads only to people who are actually in the area gives cleaner results for most local B2B businesses.
• Ad schedule: Purchasing departments work during business hours. Review the quality of night and weekend clicks separately.
• Search partners and the Display Network: These options may come switched on in a search campaign. Starting with Google search only and turning them on based on results gives you more control.
• Landing page: If the ad talks about a product group, the person who clicks should land on that product group's page, not the home page. We cover preparing landing pages in a separate post.
• Feedback on sales outcomes: It's possible to report back to Google Ads whether a form lead actually turned into a proposal and an order (offline conversion import). The system then learns to look for people who become customers rather than people who fill in forms.

Pre-campaign checklist

• Has conversion tracking (form, phone, email, WhatsApp) been tested?
• Are campaigns split by product group or service?
• Is a core keyword list with phrase and exact match ready?
• Has a shared negative list been created at account level?
• Do location and scheduling settings fit your business model?
• Does each ad group go to its own landing page?
• Is it clear who will read the search terms report, and how often?

How we do it at Globya

We start digital advertising work not from the ad account but from your sales process. Which product or service leaves the most profit, who handles incoming leads, how long it takes to issue a proposal; we build the keyword structure after talking these through. Because the landing page, tracking and forms are handled by the same team, the ads and the website never drift apart. We've summarized our experience working with wholesalers and manufacturers on our wholesale and B2B distribution page.

Frequently asked questions