Negative Targeting
Definition
The practice of explicitly excluding specific subreddits, interest categories, keywords, or audience segments from Reddit Ads campaign delivery — ensuring ads do not appear in contexts that are inappropriate, off-brand, or low-performing.
Context
Reddit's brand safety controls allow exclusion of NSFW content, specific subreddits, and certain content categories at the campaign level. Advertisers with particular brand safety requirements can supplement platform-level controls with placement-level exclusion lists built from subreddit research conducted before campaign launch.
Relevance to Reddit
Negative targeting is as strategically important as positive targeting. Excluding irrelevant or brand-unsafe communities prevents wasted spend and protects brand context. Build a negative community list from any initial community targeting campaign based on performance data — communities generating clicks without conversions are candidates for exclusion.
