Keywords: add, bulk paste, and suggest keywords for an ad group

Each ad group has its own keyword list. Keywords are on Responsive Search Ad, Responsive Display Ad, and Microsoft Ads search previews. Open the ad in the editor and click the Keywords tab, next to Ads. The panel shows the count, such as Keywords (12). You can add one keyword, bulk paste or upload a list of thousands, or let AI suggest keywords. Keywords work on the Free tier and on Studio.

On a ChatGPT ad, the same tab is called Context hints. See Edit a ChatGPT, X, or Reddit ad.

How do I add a keyword?

Click Add keyword. A new row appears with the text New keyword, match type Broad, and status Active. Click the text to type over it. Press Enter or click away to save, and Esc to cancel. A counter shows how many of the 80 characters you used.

Pick Exact, Phrase, or Broad in the row's match type list. The match type saves as soon as you pick it.

How do I bulk paste or upload a list of keywords?

1. Click Bulk add keywords.
2. Paste your list into the box, one keyword per line, or click Upload file and pick a CSV or XLSX file with a Keyword column.
3. To set a match type, press Tab after the keyword and type exact, phrase, or broad. The short forms e, p, and b work too. A keyword in [square brackets] is added as Exact, and one in "quotes" as Phrase. If you copy two spreadsheet columns, keyword and match type, the tab is already there.
4. A line with no match type is added as Broad.
5. Under the box you see how many keywords are ready, how many duplicates were removed and how many were skipped. Click See keywords to check each line, then click Add, such as Add 200 keywords.

A paste of more than 500 lines turns into an attachment called Pasted text. Click Show keywords to look through it.

Every added keyword starts as Active. Cancel closes the box without adding anything.

Which pasted keywords are skipped?

The editor checks the list before anything is saved and shows a Result for each line, such as Ready, Duplicate, Already in this ad group, or skipped.

• Duplicates in the paste, and keywords already in this ad group, are removed.
• Lines over 80 characters are skipped. In a big list you can pick Trim to 80 instead of Skip.
• Lines with more than 10 words are skipped.
• Lines with symbols such as ! @ % have the symbols removed. You can pick Skip instead.
• A line that starts with a minus sign, a negative keyword, is skipped.

After a big list is saved you can click Download skipped to get the skipped lines as a CSV.

How do I add thousands of keywords at once?

Paste or upload the list as above. When 200 or more keywords are ready, How do you want to add them? offers two choices.

• Add all keeps every keyword. It saves them in batches of 500 and sorts them into themes, such as Water heater or Drain cleaning, from the words your keywords share.
• Clean up with AI first suggests what to remove, merge or add, using this ad and its landing page. Each suggested change has a tick, and nothing is saved until you confirm. Click Check with AI to start.

While a big list saves, the Keywords panel shows Adding 5,000 keywords with how many are done and how many batches are left. You can keep editing. Keep the tab open until it finishes. Cancel stops it, and the keywords already added stay saved. Click Add the other to finish the rest. If a batch fails, Retry adds what did not save, and Download gives you the unsent keywords as a CSV.

How do I work through a long keyword list?

The list shows 50 keywords at a time, with page controls such as 1–50 of 3,200. Type in the search box to narrow it.

When an ad group has 200 or more keywords, you can group the list by Theme, Match type, or None. Click a group on the left to see only those keywords. Regroup sorts the keywords into themes again. Themes come from the words your keywords share and do not use AI.

Can AI clean up a keyword list I already saved?

Yes. When an ad group has 200 or more keywords, click Clean up with AI at the top of the Keywords panel. It reads your list against this ad and its landing page, then suggests what to remove, merge, or add. Tick the changes you want and confirm. Nothing changes until you do, and a message offers Undo.

The check reads the list in batches of 100 keywords. Each batch uses one AI credit. See Draft copy with AI for how credits work. Clean up with AI shows only to people who can edit the preview.

Can AI suggest keywords?

Yes. Click Suggest keywords at the top of the Keywords panel. The editor reads the ad's Final URL and its headlines and descriptions, then adds new keywords to the list as Broad and Active. The button reads Suggesting… while it works.

• When it is done, you see a message such as Added 12 suggested keywords.
• Keywords already in your list are skipped. If every suggestion is already there, the message says All suggested keywords are already in your list.
• If nothing comes back, the message says No keyword suggestions were returned. Add a Final URL or more ad copy, then try again.

Each click uses one AI credit, the same as Suggest copy. See Draft copy with AI for how credits work.

How do I change the match type or status of many keywords?

Tick one or more keywords, or tick the box in the header row to select every keyword on the page. To pick every keyword across all pages, click Select all. A bar then offers:

• Status sets Active, Paused, or Removed.
• Match type sets Exact, Phrase, or Broad.
• Move to theme moves them to another theme, when the list is grouped.
• The bin deletes them.

Each row shows its status as a coloured badge.

How do I show a keyword in the phone preview's search bar?

Each saved keyword has an eye button. Its tooltip says Show in preview search bar. Turn it on for the keywords you want. In Mobile view, the search ad then shows one of them typed into the search bar above the ad, and Shuffle moves to the next one. Only Active keywords show there. With none turned on, the search bar reads Search Google..., or Search the web... on a Microsoft Ads preview. Click the eye again, Remove from preview search bar, to take a keyword out.

Can my client comment on a keyword?

Yes. Each saved keyword row has a comment button. A comment there is pinned to that keyword, and the thread is labelled with the keyword and its match type, such as Keyword: "running shoes" (Exact). See Comment on a preview and collect client feedback.

How do I delete a keyword?

Click the bin on its row. The keyword is removed, and a message such as Deleted "running shoes" offers Undo for a few seconds. To delete several at once, tick them and click the bin in the bar. Deleting more than 50 asks you to confirm first.

Limits and other details

• A keyword can be up to 80 characters and up to 10 words.
• An ad group holds up to 20,000 keywords. If a list would go over, the box says how many fit, and only those are added.
• Viewers and share links see the list but no edit buttons. Keywords cannot be changed in the demo.
• Find & Replace does not search keywords.
• Keywords leave the editor in the Google Ads Editor (CSV) export when you tick Include keywords with match types, and in the PPC Ad Editor Template (Excel). A PDF lists up to 200 keywords per ad group, then says how many more there are. See Export or download a preview.