What is Search terms report in advertising?

Search terms report: what it means in advertising

Definition

The search terms report shows the actual queries people typed that triggered your ads, as opposed to the keywords you bid on. It is the difference between what you asked to buy and what you bought. It is where wasted spend, new keyword candidates and the real behaviour of broad match all become visible.

What to know

Not every query appears. Google and Microsoft both withhold terms below a privacy volume threshold, so a share of your spend sits in an unreported bucket. That gap is a reason to lean on negatives and deliberate match type structure rather than assuming the report is complete.

The routine that works is dull and effective: read it on a fixed schedule, exclude irrelevant queries as negatives, and promote converting ones into their own tightly themed ad group where the ad copy can echo the query.

Related terms

Negative keywordsNegative keywords are terms you exclude so your ads do not show for them. They are the main tool for stopping ...Match typeMatch type controls how closely a search query must resemble your keyword before your ad is allowed to show. G...Quality ScoreQuality Score is Google's 1 to 10 diagnostic of how relevant your keyword, ad and landing page are to a user's...Impression shareImpression share is the percentage of impressions you received out of the impressions you were eligible for. A...

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