Google Ads
Search terms report
The list of actual searches that triggered an advertiser's ads, as opposed to the keywords they bid on.
What it is
Keywords are what the advertiser chose; search terms are what people typed. The gap between them shows where matching went wider than planned.
Why it matters
For lead generation and e-commerceIt is the most direct view of where search money goes, and the source of new keywords and negatives.
In practice
Review it on a schedule, sort by spend and conversions, and act: add good terms as keywords and bad ones as negatives.
A common mistake
Never opening it. Some searches are hidden for privacy, but the visible part is still the strongest evidence an account has.
All terms