What Bidhelm blocks on its own
Bidhelm reads the searches that triggered your ads. When a search keeps costing money with no conversions, or plainly isn't about what you sell, Bidhelm adds it as a negative keyword on that campaign. For Orbit, a search like "free sprint planning template" might get clicks from people looking for a spreadsheet, not issue-tracking software.
Every block Bidhelm makes shows in History.
Whether this happens on its own is set by Block irrelevant searches under Settings › Permissions. Set to Acts on its own, Bidhelm blocks searches without waiting. Set to Asks first, it holds each block and asks for your yes. See Permissions.
See what's blocked
- Open Ads and select a campaign.
- Open the Search terms tab.
- Select the Blocked filter.
The list shows every search blocked on that campaign. When Bidhelm knows what a search had cost before it was blocked, the row says so, for example "Blocked. Was spending $84 with no signups", and the Saved column shows the amount. Otherwise the row reads "Blocked. Your ads no longer show for this".
When any blocked search has a figure, the filter reads Blocked · $X saved. That amount is what those searches had actually cost at the moment they were blocked. It isn't a projection.
Searches blocked directly in Google Ads appear in the list too. They have no saved figure.
On the full search list, a blocked search says when it was blocked and, where Bidhelm recorded one, why.
Block a search yourself
On the Search terms tab, every search that hasn't converted has a Block button. Select it and your ads stop showing for that search. Bidhelm blocks it as a broad match negative keyword on the campaign and records what the search had cost so far.
The filters help you find candidates:
- No signups (named after your conversion, so it may read No leads): searches spending with nothing to show for it.
- Brought signups: searches that convert. These have Add keyword instead of Block, which adds the search as a phrase match keyword so it's bid on directly.
Unblock a search
The dashboard has no unblock button. To unblock a search, ask Bidhelm in chat, for example: "Unblock 'free sprint planning template' on the Sprint Planning campaign." Bidhelm removes the negative keyword and your ads can show for that search again.
You can also remove the negative keyword in Google Ads directly. Bidhelm picks up the change on its next sync.
Common questions
Open the block in History, or ask Bidhelm in chat about it. Where Bidhelm recorded a reason, it's also shown under the search on the Search terms tab.
No. The campaign's budget stays the same. The money that search was taking goes to other searches instead.
Set Block irrelevant searches to Asks first under Settings › Permissions. Every block then waits for your yes.