The 15-minute weekly search terms check I run on every Google Ads account
The search terms report shows what people really typed before they clicked. Fifteen minutes a week in it stops most of the waste I find in the accounts I audit.
The short answer
Once a week, open the search terms report for the last 7 days, sort by cost and read the top terms. Flag searches with the wrong intent: jobs, free, used, DIY, competitor names, cities you don't serve and information queries. Add them as negatives at the right level, keep common ones in a shared list, and add proven winners as keywords.
Every week, 15 minutes
- Open last 7 days
- Sort by cost
- Flag wrong intent
- Add negatives at right level
- Promote proven winners
In this post
Keywords are what you tell Google you want. Search terms are what people actually typed before they clicked your ad. Those two lists are rarely the same, and the gap between them is where most Google Ads budgets leak.
I check the search terms report on every account I manage, every week. It takes about 15 minutes once you have a routine. Here is the routine, step by step, with the things I look for.
Where is the search terms report in Google Ads?
The search terms report sits under Insights and reports in the left menu of Google Ads, then Search terms. Google moves menus around, so if you can't find it there, use the search bar at the top of the account and type "search terms".
Set the date range to the last 7 days. Add the columns for cost, conversions and cost per conversion if they aren't already showing. Then sort by cost, highest first. That way the expensive mistakes are at the top, and you can stop reading when the costs get small.
You will also see a row for search terms that Google doesn't show for privacy reasons. You can't act on those, so don't worry about them. Work on what you can see.
What should I look for in my search terms?
Look for searches where the person was never going to buy from you. For each term near the top, ask one question: would someone typing this want to buy what I sell, from a store like mine? These are the patterns I see most often:
| Pattern | Example searches | Why it wastes money |
|---|---|---|
| Jobs and careers | jobs, salary, vacancy, hiring | They want to work for a company like yours, not buy from it. |
| Free and cheap hunting | free, free download, sample | They don't plan to pay at your price. |
| Used and repair | used, second hand, olx, repair | Wrong product, unless you sell these. |
| DIY and information | how to, kaise, banane ka tarika, diy | They want to learn, not order. |
| Competitor names | another brand's name plus your product | Most of them want that brand. |
| Location noise | a city or country you don't deliver to | You can't serve them, even if they want to buy. |
Searches in your buyers' own language deserve a careful read. In Roman Urdu, "kaise" and "tarika" usually mean someone wants to learn. But "price in Pakistan" or "online order" can be your best buyers. The same goes for Arabic, Hindi or any language your customers type in. Don't block a whole language. Block the intent.
At what level should I add negative keywords?
Add a negative at the level where the search is wrong, and no higher. If a term is wrong for your whole store, add it to a shared list. If it is only wrong for one campaign or one ad group, add it there.
- Ad group level. Useful when one ad group is catching searches meant for another. A "men's watches" ad group catching "ladies watch" searches should get "ladies" as a negative, so those searches go to the right ad group.
- Campaign level. For terms that are wrong for everything in that campaign, like a city you don't deliver to.
- Shared negative list. For terms that are wrong across the whole account: jobs, free, used, and so on.
Match type matters for negatives too. A broad negative blocks any search that contains all its words, in any order. Phrase and exact negatives are narrower. Negatives also don't cover close variants the way normal keywords do, so you may need to add plurals and common misspellings yourself.
How do shared negative keyword lists work?
A shared negative keyword list is one list you build once and apply to many campaigns. You find it in the Shared library, under negative keyword lists. Change the list once and every campaign using it updates.
I keep a starter list on every account, then add to it each week from the report. I covered the day one version of this in the five settings I change on every new account. Here is a starting point you can copy:
Account-wide negative list
jobs job salary vacancy hiring free used second hand olx repair how to kaise tarika diy
Remove any word that describes what you actually sell before you paste it into Google Ads.
When should I add a search term as a keyword?
Add a search term as its own keyword when it has brought real conversions at a cost you are happy with, not just clicks. A term that got a lot of clicks and no orders is a warning, not a winner.
When a term earns it, add it as an exact or phrase match keyword in the ad group it fits best. That gives you control over the bid and the ad text for that search. On cash on delivery, judge it on orders that were actually delivered if you can, because a placed order is not yet a sale.
Negatives stop the waste. Winners tell you what to build more of. You need both from the same report.
My 15-minute weekly routine
- Open the search terms report for the last 7 days, sorted by cost.
- Read the top terms until the costs get small.
- Flag wrong intent: jobs, free, used, DIY, competitors and locations you don't serve.
- Add negatives at the right level, and put account-wide terms in the shared list.
- Check your negatives aren't too broad by searching the report for words you just blocked.
- Promote winners that brought real orders as exact or phrase keywords.
Do it on the same day every week. Fifteen minutes is enough once it becomes a habit, and the report gets shorter as your negative lists grow.
If you want to learn Google Ads properly, the course covers it step by step. If you'd rather go through your own report with me, book a strategy call.
Questions people ask me about the search terms report
How often should I check the Google Ads search terms report?
Once a week is enough for most accounts. In the first month of a new campaign I check every few days, because that is when the most waste shows up. After that, a fixed 15 minutes on the same day each week keeps it under control without turning it into a full time job.
Why do some search terms show as 'other search terms'?
Google hides search terms that only a small number of people searched, for privacy reasons. You can see the cost of that hidden group but not the words in it. You can't fix what you can't see, so focus on the visible terms, which usually cover the expensive mistakes.
Should I add a negative keyword for my competitors' names?
Usually yes, unless you are running a competitor campaign on purpose. People searching for another brand by name mostly want that brand. If you do want to test competitor terms, put them in their own campaign with their own budget so they don't hide inside your main numbers.
Can I see search terms for Performance Max?
Yes. Performance Max now has its own search terms report showing the searches that triggered your ads, and you can add negative keywords at campaign or account level to block the waste you find. Check it weekly, the same as Search.
Got a question this didn't answer? Message me on WhatsApp.
Where this comes from
Everything in this post comes from setting up and fixing ad accounts myself. Platform menus and names change often, so if a screen looks different from what I describe, check the platform's own help pages for the current wording, or message me and I'll point you to the right one.
Written by Moiz Khan
Meta and Google Ads consultant, 13+ years in ad accounts
I'm Moiz Khan. I've spent 13+ years inside Meta and Google ad accounts and managed $12M+ in ad spend, for e-commerce and service businesses in Pakistan and abroad. Here I write down what I check, what I change and why, so you can fix your own account or know what to ask for.
