The search terms report in Google Ads shows the searches your ads actually appeared for. Read it monthly, add the irrelevant ones as negative keywords, and keep them in one shared list across campaigns.

The searches you actually paid for

When you set up a Google Ads campaign, you choose keywords. It is natural to assume your ads appear for those words and nothing else.

They do not. Google shows your ads for searches it judges to be related, and you pay for every click, whether the person wanted what you sell or not.

The record of those searches sits one click from the keywords page, in a report called search terms. Many small business accounts have run for years without anyone opening it.

It is the most direct view you will ever get of where the budget goes.

Why your keywords are not the searches

Every keyword has a match type. The default, broad match, lets Google show the ad for searches that merely relate to the words: synonyms, related topics and rearrangements.

Phrase match and exact match are narrower, but not as narrow as they sound. Since last autumn, exact match also covers searches Google considers to mean the same thing, even when the words differ.

None of this is hidden. It is simply easy to forget that a keyword is an instruction about which searches are close enough, and that Google decides what close means.

What turns up in the report

The fourth costs the most. Those searches look relevant enough to click, so the visitor arrives, reads for a moment, finds you do something slightly different, and leaves with your money spent.

Reading the report

In Google Ads, open the keywords page for a campaign and choose search terms. Set the date range to the last ninety days the first time, and to the last month after that.

Sort by cost, so the most expensive searches come first, and read down the list asking one question of each: would I want to pay for this person's click?

If conversions are tracked, the clearest candidates are searches with several clicks and no calls or forms. If they are not, setting that up is the next job, since without it you are judging by wording alone.

Turning searches into negatives

Any search in the report can be ticked and added as a negative keyword, which stops the ad appearing for that search in future.

Negatives have match types too. A single word such as jobs, added as a broad negative, blocks every search containing it. A phrase negative blocks those words in that order; an exact negative blocks only that search.

One detail catches people out. Negative keywords do not stretch to cover plurals, misspellings or close variants the way ordinary keywords do, so each version has to be added separately.

A worked example

An independent tutoring centre in a suburban plaza ran a small Google Ads campaign for math and English tutoring for school-age children.

Its search terms report had never been opened. The first look showed clicks from searches for tutoring jobs, tutor salaries, free worksheets and university calculus help, which the centre does not offer.

Each had been matched because it related to tutoring, which it did. None of the people searching was a parent looking for help for a child.

The centre added jobs, salary, hiring, worksheets and university as negatives, with their plurals and common misspellings, in one list applied to every campaign.

It nearly added free as well, until somebody pointed out that the centre's own offer was a free first assessment.

Words that look negative but are not

That last point applies to most accounts. Some words that look like warning signs are part of how genuine customers search.

Free often appears beside estimate or consultation. Cheap is sometimes how a real customer describes a budget. Cost and price usually mean a buyer comparing quotes, not a student.

Before adding a single word as a broad negative, search your own offers and service pages for it. If you use the word, your customers probably do too.

One list for the whole account

Negatives can be added to a single ad group, a campaign, or a shared list that applies to as many campaigns as you choose.

The shared list is the one to build. The words that waste money in one campaign usually waste it in all of them, and a new campaign should start protected rather than learn the same lessons again.

Keep a short note of why each word was added. Next year somebody will wonder why the ads never show for a search, and the answer should not depend on memory.

Making it a monthly habit

The report changes as searches change. New phrases appear with the seasons, and adding a keyword or loosening a match type brings a fresh crop of near misses.

Twenty minutes a month is usually enough for a small account: sort by cost, read the top of the list, add what does not belong, and note anything that looks like an opportunity.

Because the report also shows good searches you never thought to target, and those are worth adding as keywords in their own right.

The counter-case

Not every account wastes much here.

A campaign built tightly on exact match for a few specific services sees fewer stray searches, and its monthly read may take five minutes rather than twenty.

A very small budget may also produce so few clicks that patterns take months to show, so reading quarterly is reasonable until they do.

And negatives can be overdone. A list built in a hurry can block searches from real customers, which costs more than the stray clicks ever did.

Read the report regularly, add negatives with care, and keep them in one shared list.

Once a month

  1. Open the search terms report for each campaign.
  2. Sort by cost, highest first.
  3. Ask of each search whether you want that click.
  4. Check each word against your own offers first.
  5. Add the negatives to one shared list.
  6. Include plurals and misspellings separately.
  7. Note why each one was added.

Step four is the one that prevents the expensive mistake. A careless negative stops the waste and the customers together, and nothing in the account will tell you that it happened.

Another report worth reading differently this year is covered in average position is going away.

Frequently asked questions

What is the search terms report?

A report in Google Ads listing the actual searches that triggered your ads, with the clicks and cost for each, including searches that had nothing to do with your business.

Why do my ads show for unrelated searches?

Because keywords match related searches, not just the exact words. Broad match is the loosest, and even exact match now covers searches Google judges to mean the same thing.

What is a negative keyword?

A word or phrase that stops your ad appearing for searches containing it. Negatives have match types too, so a single broad word can block a great many searches.

Do negatives cover plurals and misspellings?

No. Unlike ordinary keywords, negatives do not stretch to close variants, so each plural and common misspelling has to be added separately.

Should I add free as a negative keyword?

Only after checking your own offers. Free often appears beside estimate or consultation, and blocking it can stop the searches of genuine customers.

How often should I read the report?

Monthly for most small accounts, sorted by cost, which takes about twenty minutes. A very small budget may need only a quarterly read until patterns show.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

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