Search terms report (Google Ads): definition and use

The search terms report is the Google Ads screen that shows the actual queries users typed when they saw your ad. not the keywords you bid on, but the queries the matcher routed to those keywords. The gap between the two is where most wasted ad spend lives.

Where to find it

In Google Ads: Insights and reports → Search terms. The page opens at the campaign level. Default date range is last seven days; for most cleanup work, change to last 30 days.

What it shows

For each search query that triggered an impression of your ad, the report shows:

• Search term: the actual query the user typed
• Match type: how the matcher classified the match (exact, phrase, broad)
• Added/excluded: whether the term is already a keyword, a negative, or neither
• Impressions, clicks, cost, conversions: standard performance metrics

Why it matters

The keywords screen tells you what you bid on. The campaigns screen tells you the rolled-up totals. Only the search terms report tells you what queries were actually matched. On accounts using broad-match keywords, the matcher can serve your ad against queries you never explicitly chose. and those queries can drain budget without converting.

How often to review

By account spend:

• Under $500/month: monthly is enough
• $500-5,000/month: every two weeks
• Above $5,000/month: weekly
• New campaign in the first 30 days: weekly regardless of spend

What changed in 2020

Starting September 2020, Google reduced the visibility of low-volume queries. Queries that fall below a privacy threshold are aggregated into "(other search terms)" rather than shown individually. On small accounts, this can hide 20-40% of total query volume.

There is no fix for this. Plan for the visibility gap and use the queries you can see.

Related

• The full pillar piece: the search terms report, used well
• Reading column-by-column: how to read the search terms report
• When the report looks empty: search terms report not showing data