The Google Ads search terms report shows the real searches that made your ad appear and get a click, next to the keyword that triggered each one and the match type. Reading this report is the most direct way to find budget spent on people who don’t buy. The decision comes from three questions per term: does it carry your customer’s intent, did it spend without converting, and does the keyword that brought it in have the right match type. From there you either cut it with a negative keyword, tighten the match type, or turn the search into a keyword of its own.
In Keyword Planner (October 2026, Brazil), “termos de pesquisa google ads” gets 50 searches a month and a top-of-page bid of up to R$34.09. “Correspondência de frase google ads” and “correspondencia exata google ads” get 50 each, and “tipos de correspondência google ads” gets 30. People searching for this already have a campaign running and are suspicious about where the money goes.
This article is about reading the report and choosing the match type, which comes before the blocklist. Building negative keyword lists is the next step, covered in negative keywords in Google Ads.
Keyword and search term are not the same thing
The keyword is what you set up. The search term is what the person typed. A keyword “labor lawyer” can show for “free labor lawyer”, “labor lawyer job” or “online labor lawyer consultation”, depending on the match type.
Google’s page on the search terms report explains that the report shows how your ads performed on real searches and that every term listed was used by a significant number of people.
Where to find the Google Ads search terms report
According to the same page, the path is Campaigns, then Insights and reports, then Search terms. Report Editor also lets you see terms by account, campaign or ad group.
Two columns make the reading pay off:
- the Keyword column, which is hidden by default and turned on in the columns icon, under Attributes;
- the Match type column, which tells you whether the term came in as exact, phrase or broad, and whether there was a close variant.
Without the Keyword column you see what was spent, but not which keyword drove it. It’s the one that tells you where to make changes.
What the report doesn’t show
Terms with little search activity are left off the list for privacy. Google handles these cases in search terms insights, which group queries into themes and use data from the last 56 days. That’s why the sum of visible terms rarely matches the campaign’s total spend. The missing part doesn’t disappear: it’s in the themes.
Google Ads match types, side by side
The match types page describes three options and says broader types include the searches of the narrower ones.
| Type | How it’s written | When your ad shows | Reach |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exact | [red shoe] | Searches with the same meaning or intent | Smaller, more control |
| Phrase | “athletic shoes” | Searches that include the meaning of the keyword | Intermediate |
| Broad | no signal | Related searches, even without the direct meaning | Highest |
With broad match, Google says it may consider recent search activity, the landing page content and the other keywords in the ad group. It also recommends using Smart Bidding with all match types, especially broad match.
Google Ads phrase match
Phrase match is the middle ground that many small accounts use as a base. It reaches more than exact match and less than broad match. It works well when the service has a clear name and the problem is in the variations around it, like city, price and urgency.
Google Ads exact match
Exact match gives you control, but it doesn’t mean only the identical search. By Google’s definition, it matches searches with the same meaning or intent. If the report shows “dentist implant” triggered by [dental implant], that’s it working.
Broad match
Broad match brings volume and searches for things you wouldn’t think to add. It’s also the one that brings the most odd terms when conversion tracking is poorly set up, because automated bidding chases whatever you tell it is a conversion. Our guide to Smart Bidding in Google Ads explains why measurement comes first.
How to read the report in 7 steps
- Pick a date range that has data, preferably the last 30 to 90 days.
- Turn on the Keyword and Match type columns, plus cost, clicks and conversions.
- Sort by cost, from highest to lowest. The top of the list is where the money went.
- For each term, ask whether it’s someone who would buy from you. Jobs, courses, free, competitors, another city and another service are usually a no.
- Flag the ones that spent and didn’t convert, separating irrelevant terms from relevant ones with little data.
- Look at which keyword brought in each bad term and with what match type.
- Also note the good terms that converted and aren’t keywords yet.
Step 5 prevents hasty cuts. A relevant term with two clicks and no conversions hasn’t told you anything yet. A job-listing term with twenty clicks has told you everything.
An example of how to read it
Picture a physical therapy clinic with the keyword “shoulder physical therapy” on broad match. The report shows “shoulder physical therapy near me”, which converted twice, “at-home shoulder physical therapy exercises”, with 18 clicks and no conversions, and “sports physical therapy course”, with 9 clicks. The first term becomes a phrase match keyword. The second calls for negatives on “exercises” and “at home”, because people searching that want to do it themselves. The third calls for a negative on “course”. The broad keyword can stay, now with a fence around it. The example is illustrative, built to show the reasoning.
Where to cut: the four possible decisions
| What the report shows | Decision |
|---|---|
| Term with no buying intent, spending | Add the term or the word that defines the problem (job, course, free) as a negative |
| Several bad terms coming from the same broad keyword | Switch that keyword to phrase or exact match |
| Good term, converting, not yet added as a keyword | Add it as a keyword in the right ad group |
| Good term landing in the wrong ad group | Add it to the right ad group and add it as a negative in the wrong one |
According to the Help Center, the report doesn’t let you add a negative directly from it. You create the negative through the dedicated path. And negatives work differently from positive keywords. The negative keywords page explains that they don’t match close variants: you have to include singular, plural and synonyms yourself. The same page warns that too many negatives reduce the reach of your ads.
That’s why the right cut is the narrowest one that solves the problem. Adding “free” as a negative solves one problem. Adding “lawyer” as a negative kills the campaign.
How often to review the terms
There’s no official rule on frequency. Our recommendation, for accounts with a small or medium monthly budget, is one review per week in the first month of a new campaign and every two weeks once the negatives list stabilizes. Accounts that use broad match need more frequent reviews.
If the account is spending more than expected, search terms are usually the first place to look. The article on Google Ads overspending covers the other causes.
Frequently asked questions
Where do I see search terms in Google Ads? Under Campaigns, Insights and reports, Search terms. Report Editor also shows terms by account, campaign or ad group.
Why don’t some terms appear in the report? Terms with low search activity are hidden for privacy. They appear grouped into themes in the search terms insights, with data from the last 56 days.
What are the Google Ads match types? Broad, phrase and exact. Exact reaches less and gives more control, broad reaches more. The broader types include the searches of the narrower ones.
Does exact match only show the identical search? No. According to Google, it shows the ad on searches with the same meaning or the same intent as the keyword.
Can I add negatives directly from the search terms report? The official page says you can’t add the negative directly from the report. You create the negative through the negative keywords path.
Do negatives catch plurals and synonyms on their own? No. Negatives don’t match close variants, so plurals, singulars and synonyms have to be added one by one.
The review that comes before any cut
Here at Ciclicko, the search terms report is the first thing we open on a new account, along with conversions. That’s where you see how much of the budget went to people who would never become clients. If you want this review done on your account, with a list of what to cut and what to turn into keywords, the free Google Ads audit starts with it.
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