How to add or delete keywords

Note

Keywords can only be added to Search campaigns. It's not possible to add keywords to other campaign types.

For an ad to go live, its ad group must contain at least one keyword. To learn more, see What are keywords and how should I build my keyword list?

Before creating new keywords, if you have existing keywords in another online advertising program, consider importing those keywords into Microsoft Advertising. You can also add negative keywords.

Note

Keywords cannot be managed at the account level. Keywords can only be managed at the campaign or ad group levels. However, negative keywords can be managed at the account level. To learn more about managing negative keywords, see How to add keywords that won't trigger my ads (negative keywords).

Note

• All keywords must adhere to Microsoft Advertising policies.
• Each keyword can contain up to 100 characters, including spaces.
• Some common variations of keywords, such as adding punctuation ("'," "!") to a keyword, count as duplicates in your list. Microsoft Advertising automatically removes all duplicates from the list, but these variations are still valid keywords for your ad.

Create new keywords

1. From the navigation menu on the left, hover over Campaigns and select Keywords > Keywords.
2. Select Add.
3. Use the dropdown menu to Select an ad group.
4. Enter keywords.
5. Select Save.

Edit the bid, match type, landing page URL, or landing page options for keywords

Note

You can't change the actual keyword text once it's created. To update a keyword, delete the existing keyword and add a new one. When you add a new keyword, it will be submitted for editorial review after you select Save. You can still edit keyword settings like bid, match type, and landing page URL—just not the keyword text itself.

1. From the navigation menu on the left, hover over Campaigns and select Keywords > Keywords.
2. In the table, select the checkbox next to the keywords that you want to change.
3. Select Edit, and then choose an action to take. For example, select change current bids.
4. Select Save.

Enable, pause, or delete keywords

1. From the navigation menu on the left, hover over Campaigns and select Keywords > Keywords.
2. In the table, select the checkbox next to the keywords that you want to delete.
3. Select Edit, and then choose an action to take. For example, select Enable, Pause, or Delete.

Note

You can also copy keywords from one ad group or campaign to another.