Insights
How to read your Google Ads search terms report
9 min read
The Google Ads search terms report lists the real searches people typed before they saw and clicked your ad, along with what each one cost and whether it produced a lead. You read it by sorting for the highest spend, marking searches that could never become a client, and adding those words as negative keywords so your ads stop appearing for them. Most owners who open it for the first time find clicks they never meant to buy.
What the Google Ads search terms report shows
Google's own help center describes the report as a view of how your ads performed when triggered by actual searches within the Search Network. It is the only place in your account where you see what people actually typed, not what you hoped they would type.
Keywords vs search terms
A keyword is what you tell Google you want to show up for, such as "emergency plumber." A search term is the exact phrase a person typed, such as "plumber jobs near me" or "how to fix a leaking pipe at home." One keyword can trigger hundreds of different search terms.
The report connects the two. According to Google's help center, the "Keyword" column shows which of your keywords matched the search and triggered your ad. The "Match type" column shows how closely the search term relates to that keyword.
Why broad match can show ads for loosely related searches
Match types control how tightly a search must resemble your keyword. Exact match stays close to the keyword's meaning. Phrase match requires the meaning of the keyword to be in the search. Broad match is the loosest: Google uses its read of the searcher's intent, not just the words, so your ad can appear for searches that share only a topic with your keyword.
That flexibility can find real clients you would never have thought to target. It also means a keyword like "personal injury lawyer" can match a search about law school or a lawyer's salary. Broad match is not wrong, but it only works when you check the report often and exclude what does not fit.
How to read the report step by step
- Open the report. In Google Ads, go to Campaigns, then Insights and reports, then Search terms. (Google moves menus around, so search the help center if yours looks different.) You can view the whole account or filter by campaign or ad group.
- Set a date range. Use the last 30 days to start. If your account spends little, use 90 days so there is enough data to judge.
- Add the right columns. You want search term, match type, keyword, clicks, cost, conversions and cost per conversion. A conversion is the action you count as a lead, such as a call, a form or a booked consult.
- Sort by cost, highest first. Start with the searches that cost the most. A search with one click and no lead tells you little. A search with ten clicks, real money spent and no lead tells you a lot.
- Mark each term. Ask one question: would a person typing this ever become a paying client? Sort terms into three groups: good, clearly wrong, and unsure.
- Act on the clearly wrong group. Select the terms and use the option to add them as negative keywords. Leave the unsure group for next time.
One caution: Google does not list every search. Some low-volume searches are grouped together as "other" for privacy, so the report is a sample of what happened, not a complete record.
Patterns that waste money
After a few reviews, the same shapes appear again and again.
Job seekers
Searches with "jobs," "hiring," "salary," "careers," "internship," "apprenticeship" or "how to become" come from people who want a paycheck, not a service. They often appear because your ad copy or keywords mention a profession (a "nurse injector," a "licensed electrician," a "tax accountant"). These are almost always safe to exclude.
DIY and research searches
"How to," "tutorial," "diy," "at home," "kit," "template" and "free" signal someone who wants to do it themselves or only wants information. A homeowner asking how to reset a furnace is not calling a technician. Exclude these unless you run content ads on purpose.
Wrong services
This is the quietest leak. A family law firm may pay for "criminal defense" clicks. A med spa that does not offer surgery can pay for "breast augmentation cost." A plumbing company that does not do septic work can pay for "septic tank pumping." Compare the search terms to your actual service list, not to your keyword list.
Wrong cities
If you serve one metro area, searches that name other cities waste money. Add those city names as negatives. Also check your location setting: Google's default is "Presence or interest," which can show your ads to people who only searched about your area. Switching to "Presence" limits ads to people actually in your service area. If you do local search work, the same service area logic should match your Google Business Profile.
Competitor names
Competitor names are a judgment call. Searches for a rival's name rarely convert well, because the person wanted that company. Check cost per lead before deciding: if a competitor term produced bookings at a fair price, keep it. If it has spent money for months with no lead, exclude it. Searches for your own business name are usually your cheapest leads, so never block those.
How to build a negative keyword list
A negative keyword tells Google never to show your ad for searches containing that word or phrase. Build them as themed lists you can reuse: one for jobs and careers, one for DIY and free, one for wrong services, one for wrong places.
Pick the right match type
Negative keywords work differently from regular ones. They do not automatically cover plurals, misspellings or synonyms, so you often need several versions.
| Negative match type | How you write it | What it blocks |
|---|---|---|
| Broad | jobs | Any search containing "jobs," in any order, with other words allowed |
| Phrase | "how to" | Searches containing that phrase in that order |
| Exact | [free consultation] | Only that exact search, nothing more |
Start with broad for single words that are never useful, such as "jobs" or "salary." Use phrase for short phrases like "how to." Use exact when the word is fine in some searches but bad in one (for example, "free" may be fine if you offer a free consult).
Where to add them
You can add negatives to a single campaign or ad group, or build a shared list and attach it to several campaigns. According to PEMAVOR, an agency that writes about Google Ads limits, an account can hold up to 20 shared lists with 5,000 keywords each. A small business will never come close to that. Three or four lists is plenty.
Example negative keywords by business type
These are starting points to adapt, not lists to paste in blind.
| Business | Example negatives | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Personal injury law firm | jobs, salary, paralegal, internship, law school, bar exam, pro bono, "legal aid," forms, template, divorce, criminal, "how to file" | Removes job seekers, students, DIY filers, and other practice areas |
| Med spa | jobs, hiring, salary, training, certification, course, school, "how to become," diy, "at home," kit, wholesale, supplies, "for sale" | Removes job seekers, students, home-treatment shoppers and equipment buyers |
| HVAC company | jobs, hiring, salary, apprenticeship, school, certification, "how to," diy, manual, parts, wholesale, used, car, automotive, "window unit" | Removes job seekers, students, DIY repair, parts shoppers and car AC searches |
Add the names of cities and counties outside your service area to each list as well.
Do not block your own customers
Read each negative twice before adding it. A med spa that sells a "free consultation" would hurt itself by blocking "free." An HVAC company that sells replacement parts would not want "parts" blocked. A broad negative can also quietly cancel one of your own keywords, so check that none of your active keywords contain the word you are about to exclude.
How often to review your search terms
Frequency depends on spend and on how new the account is.
| Situation | Review rhythm | Time needed |
|---|---|---|
| First month of a new campaign, or after big changes | Weekly | 20 to 30 minutes |
| Stable account | Every two weeks | 15 to 20 minutes |
| Low spend with tight keywords | Monthly | 15 minutes |
| Shared lists | Quarterly cleanup | 30 minutes |
Review sooner if you switch to broader keywords, add a service, change your location settings, or launch a new campaign. Each of those changes which searches can reach you. At every review, also scan for good terms. A search that produced a booked consult at a fair cost is worth adding as its own exact or phrase keyword so you control the bid and the ad copy.
What the report cannot tell you
The search terms report shows cost and conversions, but it can only report the conversions your account counts. If your tracking counts page views or button clicks as leads, a worthless search can look like a winner. Before you trust the "conversions" column, check what is counted. Our guide on conversion tracking explains how.
Negative keywords are also only one source of wasted spend. Bids, ad schedules, location settings and campaign types can leak money in ways this report does not show. If you want a second set of eyes, SEOS runs a Google Ads wasted-spend audit that is read-only (nothing in your account is changed) and puts a dollar figure on spend that never turns into bookings.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a keyword and a search term?
A keyword is what you bid on. A search term is what a person actually typed into Google. One keyword can match many search terms, which is why you need the report to see what you are really paying for.
Will adding negative keywords hurt my campaigns?
It can if you block words your best clients use. Negatives do not expire, so a wrong one keeps costing you leads without any warning. Check each negative against your active keywords and your service list before adding it, and keep your lists in a document you can review.
How many clicks should a search term get before I exclude it?
There is no fixed number. Exclude it immediately if it is clearly wrong, such as a job search. If it is plausible, wait until it has spent several times what one lead is worth to you without producing one. For a service where a client is worth thousands of dollars, that threshold is higher than for a low-cost service.
Can I use the search terms report for Performance Max campaigns?
Performance Max campaigns report search categories and search term insights, but with less detail than standard Search campaigns. If you run both, keep your negatives in an account-level list so they apply across campaigns, and check Google's current help pages because these controls have been changing.