Google Search Console regex filter adds negative matching option

In April, Google added regular expression filtering support to some of the Search Console reports. The issue was, it only let you filter on positive matches, not exclude negative matches. Today, Google announced you can now perform negative matches using regular expressions (regex) in the performance report in Google Search Console.

The announcement. Google said “starting today the Performance report filter supports both matching and not matching regex filters.”

How to access it. This filter is “available through a secondary dropdown, which appears after picking the “Custom (regex)” option in the filter selector.” You can then select “doesn’t match regex” as an option.

What it looks like. Here is a screenshot of this option:

More help. Google added more examples and “quick tips” to its announcement blog post.

Why we care. Being able to filter out pages, queries, and so on is important for marketers. Now, with the ability to use negative matching for regex in Search Console, you can do just that. Regex is complex but powerful, so have fun with this new option.

About The Author

Barry Schwartz a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land and a member of the programming team for SMX events. He owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics. Barry’s personal blog is named Cartoon Barry and he can be followed on Twitter here.

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