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Search terms report: the searches your ads already paid for
The search terms report is the page in your search ads account that lists the real searches that triggered your ads, with the clicks, cost and sales each one produced. Older accounts call it the search query report. About 110 people in the US search for "search terms report" every month, and many want to know where their money is going.
What the report shows
Your keywords are what you bid on. Search terms are what people actually typed. The two differ because a keyword can trigger your ad for many nearby searches, and the report is the only place in your account where you see them.
Each row is one search, and the columns include:
- the search itself, as typed;
- the keyword that triggered your ad and its match type;
- impressions, clicks and cost;
- conversions, meaning the sales, calls or forms you count as a win.
Read side by side with your keywords, the report shows how far your ads wander from what you meant to buy.
A finished excerpt
Here is an example for a roofing contractor, with round numbers shown only to illustrate the layout.
| Search term | Match type | Clicks | Cost | Conversions | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| roof repair near me | exact | 40 | $320 | 6 | Keep. Consider a higher bid. |
| emergency roof leak repair | phrase | 25 | $180 | 4 | Keep. Add as its own keyword. |
| roof repair | broad | 30 | $250 | 1 | Watch. Too few sales to judge. |
| roof apprenticeship program | broad | 12 | $90 | 0 | Add as a phrase negative. |
In this example, $90 of the $840 spent went to a search that brought no sale. The broad match row at $250 cost more, but it brought a sale, so it stays under watch instead of being blocked. The report lets you tell the two apart.
How to read the report
Sort by cost first, then look for rows with cost and no conversions. A few habits make the reading reliable:
- Give a search enough clicks before you judge it. One click with no sale tells you nothing. A search with many clicks and no sale tells you a lot.
- Look at the match type column. Waste can come in through broad and phrase match. If one keyword feeds many wasted rows, the keyword is the problem, not each row.
- Read the good rows too. A search that converts and is not yet a keyword in your account should become one. The report works both ways.
- Check the date range. A short range hides slow sales, because a sale can arrive days after the click.
- Look at the whole list, not only the top ten. Many small rows add up to a large leak.
What the report cannot show
It has three limits, and each one matters.
- It shows only searches that already cost you money. You learn about a bad search after you paid for it.
- It leaves out very rare searches, which are grouped together in a line of their own.
- It cannot show a search where your ad never ran. If the market is searching for something you have no ad and no page for, the report is silent.
The last limit is the important one. The report is your account's view of the market. Search demand is the market's own view: what people search for, how often, and which of it you are missing. The two together tell you what to cut and what to add.
What to do with the report
- Add wasted searches as negative keywords. Use the negative keywords guide to pick a match type. A phrase negative removes the search and its close relatives. An exact negative removes only that search.
- Add at the right level. If a wasted search is wrong for every campaign, put it in a shared list that they all use. If it is wrong only for one campaign, add it there.
- Promote winners. Add converting searches as keywords, usually at exact or phrase match.
- Recheck on a schedule. Open the report weekly in the first month of a campaign, then monthly.
- Rank by volume. Block the wasted searches that many people make first. The US search volume of a search tells you which those are.
Mistakes to avoid
- Blocking on one click. One click with no sale is not evidence.
- Reading only the keyword report. It shows what you bid on, not what you paid for.
- Treating the report as the whole market. It is your account's slice. The searches you never paid for are invisible here.
- Fixing the report and ignoring the keywords. If a keyword feeds many wasted rows, change the keyword's match type or pause it.
What to ask a provider
Ask for the exclusion list before you spend, with US monthly searches on each line and a person's check of every row, so you do not learn it from the report.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the search terms report?
Look for it under the keywords section of your ad account, listed as search terms. Account menus change, so search the help pages of your ad account for the current location.
Is the search query report the same thing?
Yes. Search query report is the older name for the search terms report. The columns changed over the years, but the idea is the same: the real searches behind your clicks.
Does the report show every search?
No. Some searches are too rare to be listed, and it never shows searches where your ad did not appear. Treat it as your account's view, not the full market.
What is the difference between this report and a negative keyword list?
The report looks back at searches that already cost money. A negative keyword list looks forward and blocks searches before they cost anything. The report is the evidence; the list is the action.
To see what a finished exclusion list looks like for a real market, open the sample reports.
Checked by a person and delivered within 24 hours, with a link and a search number behind every row.