The ad budget is spent every month. The clicks come in. The phone does not ring as often as the click count suggests it should. If that sounds familiar, part of your budget may be paying for people who searched for something you do not sell.
The keywords in your account are not the same as the searches people type. The search terms report shows the difference. Reading it once a month is one of the simplest checks an owner can ask for, whether you run a dental practice, a roofing company or an online store.
A quick first check you can run yourself
- In Google Ads, open Campaigns, then Insights and reports, then Search terms, and set the date range to the last 30 days.
- Sort the table by Cost from highest to lowest so the searches taking the most budget sit at the top.
- Read the top 20 search terms and mark any search for jobs, DIY help or services you do not sell.
What is the Google Ads search terms report?
It lists the actual searches that triggered your ads, with the clicks, cost and conversions for each. Google separates two ideas:
- A keyword is what the advertiser adds to the account to target an audience.
- A search term is what a person actually types into Google.
Google’s own example: you sell flowers and add the keyword “roses”. Someone searches for “red roses”. That search term can trigger your ad, even though you never added “red roses” as a keyword.
Why can your ads show for searches you never chose?
Because every match setting can connect your keyword to searches you did not enter word for word. Even the strictest one (exact match) can show your ad for misspellings, plurals and searches Google treats as meaning the same thing; phrase and broad match reach wider, according to Google’s guide to keyword matching options. The report’s Match type column shows how each search related to your keyword, and the Keyword column (off by default) shows which keyword triggered it.
Google gives a tulip seller’s example: the broad match keyword “flowers” triggered ads for “red roses” and “purple orchids”, flowers the business did not sell. The fix was to make the keyword list more specific. If Google has switched on wider matching in your account, our article on when Google AI Max works and when it wastes budget explains what changes.
How do you read the report?
Open the report as in the quick check above, turn on the Keyword column, sort by cost and read the most expensive terms first.
For each search term, ask three questions:
| Question | If the answer is yes | If the answer is no |
|---|---|---|
| Would someone searching this buy what we sell? | Keep it, and consider adding it as a keyword | Candidate for a negative keyword |
| Has it produced a lead, call or sale? | Do not exclude it. Make sure your ads can keep showing for searches like it | Look at the cost and volume before deciding |
| Is the cost meaningful? | Deal with it this month: exclude it if it is irrelevant, or check whether it brought a lead or sale if it is relevant but expensive | Note it and review it next month |
One limit to know: Google leaves out some low-volume search terms for privacy reasons. The report shows searches used by a significant number of people. It will not show every single search you paid for.
The Google AI Max Settings Kit gives you ready-made negative keyword lists and checklists for keeping Google's wider matching from spending on the wrong searches.
Get the Google AI Max Settings KitWhat do you do with a bad search term?
Add it as a negative keyword, which tells Google not to show your ad for that search. Negative keywords have three match settings, and the one you pick decides how much gets blocked, according to Google’s help page on negative keywords:
- Exact blocks only that exact search, with no extra words.
- Phrase blocks any search that contains those words in that order.
- Broad, the default, blocks any search that contains all those words in any order.
So a single word added on broad or phrase blocks every search containing that word. Do that only when every such search is irrelevant to your business. To block one bad search and nothing else, add it on exact. Google’s example is an optometrist who sells eyeglasses adding negatives for “wine glasses” and “drinking glasses”.
The same page lists other ways negative keywords work differently from normal keywords:
- They do not match close variants. Excluding “flowers” does not block “flower”. Add the singular or plural yourself if you need it.
- Google says to choose them carefully, because too many negative keywords can stop ads from reaching customers you want.
- For searches longer than 16 words, a negative keyword that comes after the 16th word may not block the ad.
A dental practice is a good example. “Dental implants cost” fits. “Dental assistant jobs” probably does not, so if job seekers are not potential patients, excluding the word “jobs” on broad or phrase stops paying for those clicks. “Free” is trickier. “Free dental clinic” may not fit, but “free dental consultation” could be exactly what you offer, so read every search containing “free” before you exclude the word.
How often should you check?
Once a month is a practical starting point. Check more often after a new campaign launches or after a big change to keywords or how they match. Keep a simple log of what you excluded and why, so a future change does not undo it by accident.
To check whether the clicks you keep turn into customers, see our guide to what a good cost per lead looks like. For the wider set of levers, read ways to cut costs and boost leads in Google Ads, or see how our paid ads service manages accounts.
Key takeaways
- Every match setting, even exact match, can show your ad for searches you did not add word for word.
- Pick the negative match setting on purpose. A single word on broad or phrase blocks every search containing it, so use it only when every such search is irrelevant.
- Do not over-exclude. Too many negative keywords can shrink your reach.
Questions to ask about your own account
- When did someone last read the search terms behind your most expensive clicks?
- Which of your top 20 search terms by cost has never produced a call, form or sale?
- Do you have a written list of what has been excluded, and why?
- If someone searched for a free version of what you sell, would you want that call?
Sources
- Google Ads Help: About the search terms report
- Google Ads Help: About keyword matching options
- Google Ads Help: About negative keywords
If you are not sure how much of your ad budget goes to searches that will never become customers, an Opportunity Review is a call where we look at the evidence available on your paid ads with you, before any proposal.
See What’s Holding Your Marketing Back