Last updated: 7 November 2026
The Google Ads search terms report shows the actual searches that triggered your ads, and it is the first report I open in any Search account. I have managed paid search since 2013, and this report is where I look first for wasted spend. This guide explains how I read it, why I block waste with account-level negatives, and when I pick phrase or exact match.
Quick Answer: What is the Google Ads search terms report?
The Google Ads search terms report lists the real searches that triggered your ads, with cost, clicks and conversions for each. A keyword is what you bid on, and a search term is what someone typed. I use the report to block irrelevant searches with account-level negatives in phrase and exact match, and to find converting terms worth adding.
Key Observations
- The report shows real searches, but Google leaves out terms without enough query activity.
- Shopping and Dynamic Search Ads targeting do not use keywords, so their rows show no keyword.
- I check conversion tracking before I call any search term waste.
- Account-level negatives cover Search, Shopping and Performance Max, up to 1,000 per account.
- Negatives do not match close variants, so I add plurals and synonyms myself.
Here is how I use the main parts of the report.
| Column | What it tells me | What I do with it |
|---|---|---|
| Search term | The words someone actually typed | Judge intent: buyer, researcher or wrong audience |
| Match type | How closely the term relates to the keyword | Spot keywords that drift into loose matches |
| Keyword (added column) | Which keyword triggered the term | Tighten or pause keywords that pull poor traffic |
| Cost and conversions | What the term spent and what it returned | Block spend with no return, promote the winners |
Want a second pair of eyes on your search terms before more budget leaks out?
Where do you find the search terms report in Google Ads?
In your account, select Campaigns, then go to Search terms under Insights and reports. That path comes from Google’s help page on the search terms report. I usually start at account level, then open the campaigns that spend the most.
For Performance Max, choose the Search terms and landing pages for Performance Max view from the dropdown. Google’s page on the Performance Max search terms report says it also shows landing pages and ad formats. Its data starts in March 2023, and store visit conversions are not available there.
Before I read anything, I add the Keyword column. It shows which keyword triggered each search term. That is the fastest way to find a keyword that keeps pulling the wrong traffic.
How is a search term different from a keyword?
A keyword is what you add to an ad group, and a search term is what a person actually types. Google’s search terms help page defines a search term as a word or set of words a person enters when searching on Google. Because of match types, one keyword can trigger many different search terms.
The Match type column shows how closely each search relates to your keyword, which may differ from the match type you set. Close variants can include singular and plural forms, acronyms and stem words, per the same Google page. So a broad keyword can show an exact row when someone typed the keyword word for word.
Google also notes that Shopping and Dynamic Search Ads targeting do not use keywords, so those rows return no keyword. For Shopping, the product title and the rest of the feed do the matching. I cover that side in my guide to Google Shopping feed optimization.
How do I read the search terms report row by row?
I read it for intent and cost, not for single odd queries. I sort by cost, look at what each search wanted, and group similar terms into themes. A theme of job seekers or DIY searches gets blocked as a pattern, not one row at a time.
Why do I check conversion tracking first?
If tracking is broken, every search term looks like waste. Before I judge any term, I check that GA4, Google Tag Manager and enhanced conversions are recording the actions that matter. A term with spend and no conversions only tells you something when conversions are counted correctly.
What steps do I follow on each review?
The routine is the same on every account, whether it sells products or generates leads.
- Confirm conversion tracking is recording correctly for the date range.
- Sort search terms by cost and read the top rows for intent.
- Mark each term as a block, a keep or a candidate for its own exact keyword.
- Group the blocks into themes and add them as account-level negatives in phrase or exact match.
- Check every new negative against live keywords so nothing good gets blocked.
- Add strong converting terms as exact match keywords in the ad group they fit.
Step five matters more than it looks. Google warns that a negative that overlaps a regular keyword will stop your ad from showing. One careless negative can switch off a keyword that converts.
What does the report not show you?
It does not show every search. Google says some search terms that do not have enough query activity are omitted from the report to keep with its privacy standards. So the rows you see may not cover every click or every dollar in the campaign.
Why do I use account-level negative keywords?
I use them because one list protects every campaign at once. Google’s page on account-level negative keywords says the list covers search and shopping inventory in Search, Performance Max, App, Shopping, Smart and Local campaigns. A campaign launched next month is covered from its first day.
Campaign-level negatives alone leave gaps. If a job search is blocked in one campaign but not in another, the second campaign still pays for it. On CANA Wine Company, negatives were held at account level because a miss at campaign level is a miss everywhere.
Google allows up to 1,000 negative keywords at the account level. You add them under Admin, then Account settings, then the Negative keywords section, and pick broad, phrase or exact from a dropdown. For bigger needs, Google allows 20 negative keyword lists per account, each with up to 5,000 keywords.
When does a campaign-level negative still make sense?
Campaign-level negatives are for steering, not blocking. If a search is good for the business but belongs in another campaign, a negative in the wrong campaign sends it to the right one. Account-level negatives are for searches you never want to pay for anywhere.
Should negative keywords be phrase match or exact match?
Use phrase match negatives for themes and exact match negatives for single searches you want gone without side effects. I build the starting list in both, before launch. Google shows the syntax on its negative keywords page: a phrase negative sits in quotes, and an exact negative sits in square brackets.
The difference is reach. A phrase negative like “running shoes” blocks any search that contains those words in that order, such as blue running shoes. An exact negative like [running shoes] blocks only that search, so blue running shoes can still show. Both examples come from Google’s own help page.
Negatives also behave differently from regular keywords. Google says they do not match close variants, so you add singular and plural forms and synonyms yourself. They do handle casing and misspellings on their own. An ad can still show when the negative word comes after the 16th word of a very long search.
This table shows what each negative match type blocks, using Google’s running shoes example.
| Negative match type | How you enter it | Blocks | Still allows | When I use it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Broad (default) | running shoes | Searches with all the words in any order, such as blue running shoes | Searches missing a word, such as running shoe | Not my starting choice |
| Phrase | “running shoes” | Searches with the words in that order, such as blue running shoes | shoes running, running shoe | Themes such as job or DIY wording |
| Exact | [running shoes] | Only the search running shoes | blue running shoes | One search whose words also appear in good searches |
Source: Google Ads Help, About negative keywords and the expert mode version.
What goes on my negative list before launch?
I build the first list from the business, not from waste that has already happened. Job and career terms, DIY and how-to wording, training courses, and free or discount seekers are common starting themes. The CANA Wine Company case study lists themes like these, from jobs and recipes to tours and age-related terms.
Judgment matters as much as coverage. On CANA, the team chose not to negative the word gift, because gifting is one of the strongest commercial clusters in that niche. A lazy list would have blocked some of the best buyers.
How does the search terms report work for Performance Max and Shopping?
It works, with limits. The Performance Max view shows search terms with landing pages and ad formats, and Google advises you to prioritize conversion data over clicks and impressions. To block a term, you add negatives at the account or campaign level for search and shopping inventory.
Performance Max negatives apply only to Search and Shopping inventory, per Google’s page on negative keywords in Performance Max. For Display and Video placements, you use excluded content keywords instead. That is one reason I set account-level negatives in phrase and exact before a Performance Max campaign goes live.
My other Performance Max guardrails sit outside this report. I exclude irrelevant placements, and I exclude blog and other non-selling URLs so the campaign only sends traffic to pages that convert. I explain the full setup in my guide to building a Performance Max campaign.
What happened when I cleaned up search terms in real accounts?
Two lead generation accounts show the pattern. In both, the waste came from searches that looked close to the business but came from the wrong audience.
A commercial cleaning equipment supplier
This supplier sells industrial floor scrubbers, sweepers, robotic cleaners, machine hire and maintenance plans in Southeast Queensland. Searches from homeowners, job seekers and DIY repair queries were eating the budget, and buy, hire and service intent shared the same campaigns. The cleaning equipment case study sets out the full starting point.
The team built a negative keyword system to block residential cleaning, job and career, training course and DIY repair searches. Campaigns were split by product line and intent. Conversion tracking was cleaned so forms and calls fed accurate signals to bidding.
Across two 90-day windows, conversions went from 29 to 154 and cost per conversion fell 73%, from A$109.64 to A$29.69, per the same case study. Negatives were one part of that change, alongside structure, ad copy, landing pages and tracking.
A local signage company
Local signage searches pull in a lot of unrelated traffic, from DIY sign makers to job seekers and people after software tools. The team ran a search term and negative keyword audit, restructured campaigns and match types, and checked that conversions reflected real business value. ROAS went from 1.5x to 7.35x, as the signage case study reports.
If your search terms are full of job seekers, DIY searches or the wrong audience, I can find the waste and build your negative list.
How often should you review the search terms report?
Review it regularly, and most closely in the first weeks of a new campaign. I start new Search campaigns on exact match for roughly the first 15 days. Exact match costs more per click, but the traffic matches, so the report stays clean while the account builds conversion data.
Google says it is critical to use Smart Bidding with broad match. That is why I do not open broad match in a new account. Broad only works once the account has conversion data, and by then I prefer to let Performance Max do the broad job. I explain that choice in my post on broad match in Google Ads.
On low-volume accounts that run exact match only, cost per click can run high. There I test manual CPC to control click costs, and the search terms report shows whether those clicks are the right ones. Accounts with enough conversion data move to Maximize conversion value and then target ROAS.
Search terms are also a keyword source. A converting term that is not yet a keyword becomes an exact match keyword in the ad group it fits. The best searches then get their own bid and ad, instead of riding on a looser keyword.
FAQs
How do I find the search terms report in Google Ads?
In your Google Ads account, select Campaigns, then open Search terms under Insights and reports. For Performance Max, choose the Search terms and landing pages for Performance Max view. Add the Keyword column so you can see which keyword triggered each search.
Why don’t all my search terms show in the report?
Google leaves out search terms that do not have enough query activity, to keep with its privacy standards. So the rows you see may not cover every click or every dollar spent. Judge the report by the themes in the visible terms.
What is the difference between account-level and campaign-level negative keywords?
Account-level negatives cover search and shopping inventory across Search, Performance Max, Shopping, App, Smart and Local campaigns. Campaign-level negatives apply only to the campaign where you add them. I use account-level negatives for searches I never want to pay for anywhere.
How many account-level negative keywords can I add?
Google allows up to 1,000 negative keywords at the account level. If you need more, you can create up to 20 negative keyword lists per account, each with up to 5,000 keywords, and apply them to campaigns. Group terms into themes so each entry blocks more waste.
Can I add negative keywords to Performance Max?
Yes. Performance Max supports account-level and campaign-level negatives, and they apply to Search and Shopping inventory only. For Display and Video placements, use excluded content keywords instead. I set account-level negatives in phrase and exact match before launch, so irrelevant searches are blocked from day one.
Should I use phrase match or exact match negative keywords?
Use phrase match negatives to block a theme, such as job searches, wherever those words appear in order. Use exact match negatives to block one search while keeping longer searches with the same words. Negatives do not match close variants, so add plurals and synonyms yourself.
What should you do next with your search terms report?
Open the report for the last few weeks, sort by cost and read the top rows for intent. Check your tracking first, then move clear waste into an account-level list in phrase and exact match. Add your best converting terms as exact keywords in the ad groups they fit.
If you would rather have it done for you, you can hire a freelance Google Ads specialist. I hold Top Rated Plus status on Upwork, a badge for the top 3% of performers. My fee is $600 to $800 per platform a month, month to month, and you own every account.
For more guides like this one, browse the Google Ads blog.
Send me your account and I will review your search terms and negative keywords as part of a free audit.
How this post was written: drawn from Ishant Sharma’s own account work and the published case studies linked above, researched against current Google Ads documentation, drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources before publishing.
