Negative keywords for criminal defense lawyers
Criminal defense keywords attract people researching public defenders, law students, and people trying to represent themselves. This list filters that traffic from your ads.
Why negative keywords matter for criminal defense lawyers
Searches for "DUI lawyer" or "criminal defense attorney" often include people looking for a free public defender, law students studying criminal procedure, and defendants trying to represent themselves in court. None of these searchers are hiring a private attorney.
Because criminal defense cases are often time-sensitive and high-value, protecting your budget from these non-converting searches means more of your spend reaches people who need to hire a lawyer right away.
The full list
53 terms. Review each one before adding — remove anything you actually sell.
Jobs and careers
- jobs
- careers
- hiring
- salary
- how to become a
- job openings
- employment
- resume
- internship
- apprenticeship
- public defender jobs
- paralegal jobs criminal law
- legal assistant hiring
- court clerk jobs
DIY and free
- diy
- free
- how to do it yourself
- at home remedy
- cheap
- homemade
- without calling
- myself
- tutorial
- free consultation
- represent yourself in criminal court
- pro se criminal defense
- fight ticket yourself
- diy plea bargain
Education and training
- school
- certification
- training course
- license requirements
- degree
- classes
- textbook
- study guide
- criminal law school
- bar exam prep criminal law
- paralegal certification course
- criminal justice degree program
Wrong service
- bail bonds near me
- jail inmate search
- court records lookup
- expungement eligibility checker
- public defender office contact
- criminal record check free
- what is a felony definition
- sentencing guidelines chart
- probation officer jobs
- legal aid free consultation
- court date lookup
- mugshot search
- traffic ticket payment
Competitors (add your own)
Add the names of local competitors you don't want to pay for. Review these case by case.
If your firm handles expungements as a service, remove "expungement eligibility checker" since some of those searchers are real leads.
How to add these in Google Ads
- Sign in to Google Ads and open the campaign you want to protect.
- Go to Keywords, then Negative keywords, and click the blue plus button.
- Choose whether to add them to this campaign, an ad group, or a negative keyword list you can share across campaigns.
- Paste the terms, one per line. Remove any you actually want to show for first.
- Click Save. Check the search terms report again after a week or two to see what's still getting through.
Find the searches wasting your budget — free audit
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Frequently asked questions
Does this block DUI lawyer searches?
No, high-intent terms like "DUI lawyer near me" aren't included in this list.
Should I add specific charge types I don't handle?
Yes, add any charges outside your practice area, such as federal crimes, if that's not your focus.
Is bail bonds traffic worth excluding?
Yes, bail bonds searchers are looking for a different service entirely and rarely convert into legal clients.
Related guides and tools
- Negative keyword list generator — A ready-to-copy negative keyword list for your industry.
- How to add negative keywords in Google Ads — Step-by-step: how to add negative keywords in Google Ads at the ad group, campaign or list level, and how to avoid blocking good traffic by mistake.
- Which Google Ads search terms are wasting your money — How to find the search terms wasting your Google Ads budget, group them into patterns, and exclude them with negative keywords without blocking real customers..
- Google Ads audit for criminal defense lawyers — Jurisdiction mismatches, charge types you don't take, and research-only searches are the common leaks.
Sources
Last updated · Written by the Claritad team (Kyle Edward Gilligan LLC). Claritad is independent software and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Google.