Getting junk clicks for local service campaign. How to stop this?

Hey guys,
I’m running a Google search campaign for a local junk removal business (targeting a specific city in the US).
My problem is that my budget gets eaten up by completely irrelevant searches, even though I've added a ton of negative keywords. People are clicking but they are looking for jobs or completely different services.
Should I switch from phrase match to exact match only? Or is there a better way to filter out this junk traffic?
Thanks!

Personally, I would swap to exact match and laser target my keywords.

berryblushie said:

Hey guys,
I’m running a Google search campaign for a local junk removal business (targeting a specific city in the US).
My problem is that my budget gets eaten up by completely irrelevant searches, even though I've added a ton of negative keywords. People are clicking but they are looking for jobs or completely different services.
Should I switch from phrase match to exact match only? Or is there a better way to filter out this junk traffic?
Thanks!

Click to expand...

I wouldn’t switch to exact match only. First check the Search Terms report and add the irrelevant queries as negative keywords.

Also check:

Location setting → People in or regularly in your target location
Turn off Search Partners for testing
Add negatives like jobs, salary, DIY, free, tools, etc.
Keep exact + phrase match for your main service terms.

I faced a similar issue before. The best fix was reviewing actual search queries and removing unwanted patterns, because match type alone doesn’t always solve irrelevant traffic.

the same happened to me i even changed to exact match its still the same until i start pausing them one after another

I think don't go only with exact match. First check your search terms report and see what kind of bad searches are triggering your ads. Add those words as negative keywords, especially job related words like jobs, hiring, salary, career, etc.

Also try using more high intent keywords like "junk removal service near me" or "hire junk removal company" instead of broad words like just "junk removal".

You can keep some phrase match keywords but monitor them regularly. Exact match can reduce junk clicks but it can also reduce good traffic.

100% switch to exact match and be a hawk on the 'Search Terms' and add negatives daily