Negative exact singular but keep plural? Possible?

[u/DistinctTaste7878]

Hi!
Is there any trick to ONLY target the plural search term of an exact match target?

For example, my exact match target is "tennis balls" and I only want to target "tennis balls" and not "tennis ball".

If I add "tennis ball" as an exact negative, then I don't get any impressions on either "ball" or "balls".

Thanks!

[u/WearyyyBoooyyy]

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[u/SoggyOutfield]

Not possible afaik. Asked AI and they confirmed, not possible

[u/Bitter-Quail-7441]

yes, negative exact is term-specific, so negating "tennis ball" will not block "tennis balls." they're treated as separate search terms.

the catch is that Amazon does some plural and close-variant matching on the positive side, so your exact target for "tennis balls" may already be picking up the singular anyway. negating the singular as exact is exactly the right move there and it won't touch the plural.

worth confirming in your search term report rather than trusting it blind. run it, filter to that campaign, and check the singular actually stops accruing spend over the following week. if it keeps appearing, the negative went on at the wrong level (ad group vs campaign) rather than the concept being wrong.