You sell it. They want to learn how to make it for free.

You sell handmade candles. Someone searches "how to make soy candles at home", sees your ad, and clicks. You just paid for that click. They were never going to buy. They wanted a free tutorial.

Here's why it happens. When your keyword is "soy candles", Google can show your ad for longer searches that contain those words, even when the person only wants to learn, not shop.

These searches often look harmless in your reports:

• "how to make..."
• "DIY..."
• "tutorial" or "recipe"
• "what is..."

The fix: open the list of searches that triggered your ads (Google calls it the search terms report). Look for words like the ones above. Add the clear ones to your negative keyword list, which is the list of words you tell Google never to show your ads for.

One warning: check before you block. If you sell courses or kits, "how to" might be exactly your buyer.

The habit: every Monday, scan last week's searches for "learn it myself" words. Ten minutes, once a week.

If you'd like help spotting these, JunkTerms gives you a free analysis of your search terms file: junkterms.com/demo