[...] No doubt this explains the importance of negative keywords to the beginning however i tend to stay away from negative keywords and research my campaigns in depth in order to cover all potential keyword avenue’s without the use of negative keywords. Let me explain using an example I previously used in my post on the difference between Broad,phrase and exact match keywords. [...]

Thanks for your comments. I am more of the opinion that using exact and phrase is the best option particulary on smaller set up’s where budget is limited and its essential its kept.

My preference is always covering every single keyword possible for a subject on exact or phrase match so therefore you cut down on wastage keywords. As shown in the example broad match can throw up all types of combinations (feature hose water to name one) which have no relevance to the search term. Covering all the potential avenue’s while on exact and phrase match reduces this potential wasteage. Negative keywords can be used to eliminate some of this however i would always suggest exact and phrase on smaller accounts and on larger accounts maybe ‘test the water’ as you stated with broad match keywords.

Thanks for your time.

I have always been of the opinion that you should start a campaign with a lot of keywords and have them on broad match. After a trial period I would then whittle down to the top performing keywords and do a Search Query Report to find negatives and therefore cease wasting a lot of money on keywords that do not necessarily relate to your business.

I think on large accounts like you are use to working on negatives do not come into play as much but when working on smaller accounts they are vital to make sure you do not waste money.

Cheers.