---
title: "What is the negative rule?"
slug: "what-is-the-negative-rule"
updated: 2026-10-01T12:13:31Z
published: 2026-10-01T12:13:31Z
canonical: "docs.scaleinsights.com/what-is-the-negative-rule"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.scaleinsights.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# What is the negative rule?

The negative rule analyzes aggregated search term performance and adds **negative keywords/****product targets** to your **ad group**.

**Navigation:** Automation > Negative Rule

![](https://cdn.document360.io/f0238742-849b-4f29-9812-9b4fe8e273b6/Images/Documentation/negative-algorithm.png)

---

### How does the algorithm work?

When we look to negate keywords, we often evaluate the following.

- What source campaigns and ads will we use to analyze our search term performance?
- What are the criteria we use to decide the keywords to negate?
- What negative keywords match types?
- Which destination ad to create the negative keywords?

![negation_mechanism_generic](https://cdn.document360.io/f0238742-849b-4f29-9812-9b4fe8e273b6/Images/Documentation/negation_mechanism_generic.png)

---

Scale Insights can automate this process when assigning a negative rule to the destination ad.

![negation_mechanism_generic_rule](https://cdn.document360.io/f0238742-849b-4f29-9812-9b4fe8e273b6/Images/Documentation/negation_mechanism_generic_rule.png)

---

#### Search terms source

The search term source tells the negative rule on where to aggregate advertising performance.

![](https://cdn.document360.io/f0238742-849b-4f29-9812-9b4fe8e273b6/Images/Documentation/image-1658396813781.png)

---

**ASIN Search Terms:** Aggregates search terms from ad groups with the same sponsored type associated with the same ASIN.

![negation_mechanism_source_adgroup](https://cdn.document360.io/f0238742-849b-4f29-9812-9b4fe8e273b6/Images/Documentation/negation_mechanism_source_asin.png)

---

**Campaign:** Aggregates search terms from ad groups within the destination campaign with the same associated ASIN.

![negation_mechanism_source_adgroup](https://cdn.document360.io/f0238742-849b-4f29-9812-9b4fe8e273b6/Images/Documentation/negation_mechanism_source_campaign.png)

---

**Ad Group:** Aggregates search terms from the destination ad group itself.

![negation_mechanism_source_adgroup](https://cdn.document360.io/f0238742-849b-4f29-9812-9b4fe8e273b6/Images/Documentation/negation_mechanism_source_adgroup.png)

---

**Custom Group:** Aggregates search terms from ad groups with the same associated ASIN and custom group name.

![negation_mechanism_source_adgroup](https://cdn.document360.io/f0238742-849b-4f29-9812-9b4fe8e273b6/Images/Documentation/negation_mechanism_source_customgroup.png)

To do that, you need to tag both the source and destination ad groups with the same custom group name to associate them in the same logical group.

![import_mechanism_custom_name](https://cdn.document360.io/f0238742-849b-4f29-9812-9b4fe8e273b6/Images/Documentation/import_mechanism_custom_name.png)

---

#### Criteria

The algorithm will aggregate 60 days of search terms stats, skipping the past 2 days to account for data latency.

![](https://cdn.document360.io/f0238742-849b-4f29-9812-9b4fe8e273b6/Images/Documentation/1-retrieval-window(2).png)

**Note:** You can analyze up to 180 days of historical data and customize the number of days to skip.

Learn how the Negative Rule analyzes historical data: [How Do Algorithms Analyze Data?](https://docs.scaleinsights.com/docs/how-do-algorithms-analyze-data)

---

The algorithm will filter the aggregated search terms using the negative rule's criteria.

![negation_mechanism_criteria](https://cdn.document360.io/f0238742-849b-4f29-9812-9b4fe8e273b6/Images/Documentation/negation_mechanism_criteria.png)

---

#### Match Type

The algorithm will then create negative keywords based on the match type to the destination.

![negation_mechanism_match](https://cdn.document360.io/f0238742-849b-4f29-9812-9b4fe8e273b6/Images/Documentation/negation_mechanism_match.png)

---