When to negate a search term

The search term

Search term Optional, just a label

Clicks

Orders

Spend $

From your Sponsored Products Search Term Report: Clicks, 7 Day Total Orders and Spend for this term.

The product it’s advertising

Selling price $ per unit

Profit before ads $ per unit: price minus Amazon fees and landed cost

How sure before you add a negative?

Higher thresholds reduce false positives for a single fixed test under the model, but cannot eliminate mistakes. Repeated checking and screening many terms increase the risk.

Cheat sheet

Clicks with no sale before you add a negative.

Find the row for your product’s break-even conversion rate. Rule of thumb: at 95%, it’s about 3 ÷ that rate.

Clicks with zero orders needed before a search term is proven unprofitable
Break-even conversion rate	80% sure	90% sure	95% sure	Spend to know

Break-even conversion rate = cost per click ÷ profit per sale before ads. The spend column uses your cost per click at the certainty you picked.