carfac - 3:21 pm on Jun 1, 2003 (gmt 0)

>>> If you broaden it out you could try phrase matches with some obvious negatives, but a well written ad should act as a sufficient deterrent to the waste of time clicks

Yes, but:
1) You only have so many words for your creative
2) Despite well-written creatives and well-targeted adword phrases, you can still have some overlap

I see negatives as just another way to "hone" to your target audience... and another way to filter. A third in a three-step process. All three steps (good ceative, good keywords and good negative kws) point toward your ultimate goal, getting QUALIFIED traffic.

As said above, people get lazy in their searches, and search unneccisaraly broad. I think "-free" is one of my best (negative) keywords because it takes more unqualified clicks away...

ultimately, I get less hits, but I am getting a very high CTR, usually 10 or above!

dave