How to Set Up Google Ads Search Terms Report

To set up the Google Ads Search Terms Report, choose the account, campaign, or ad-group scope, select a date range that allows for conversion lag, add fields that connect searches to keywords and outcomes, and save a repeatable view for the people who will act on the findings. Then confirm the report’s privacy limits and handoff path before treating it as an optimization system.

The Search Terms Report shows searches that triggered your ads on the Search Network, not every search that occurred. Search Terms Insights is a related surface that groups demand into themes and subthemes. Google’s official Search Terms Report guidance should take precedence if the interface or labels differ. For the decision framework behind the view, read the Search Terms Report best practices guide.

Define the report question and scope

Write the question before opening the report. You may want to find irrelevant traffic, discover new product language, compare match behavior, inspect a campaign after a change, review device or network quality, or connect queries to qualified outcomes. A question determines whether you need account, campaign, or ad-group scope.

Use account scope for broad theme discovery and universal policy review. Use campaign scope when the decision belongs to a budget, objective, location, or conversion boundary. Use ad-group scope when the question is whether the keyword, ad, landing page, and customer intent align. Do not combine unrelated campaign jobs just to produce a larger table.

Assign an owner who can approve a keyword, negative keyword, ad, landing-page, tracking, or campaign change. The report is not set up successfully if it produces rows but no one has authority or time to act on them.

Choose the regular report or Search Terms Insights

Use the regular Search Terms Report when you need the exposed search, matching Keyword, Match type, Campaign, Ad group, and row-level outcomes. Use Search Terms Insights when grouped categories or subthemes can answer a broader demand question, including activity not exposed as individual queries.

The surfaces may not reconcile exactly because of privacy aggregation, hidden low-activity searches, conversion processing, and theme history. Choose one as the primary surface for the question and use the other as context rather than forcing identical totals.

Open the current Search Terms Report view

In the current Google Ads interface, go to the Campaigns area and open Search terms under the Insights and reports area. Select the scope you intend to review, then confirm the account, campaign, ad group, date range, and network context before adding columns. Google can update navigation, so use the official help page if the menu labels differ.

Do not use Report Editor as a substitute when the review needs direct account actions. The report-editor version can expose similar dimensions for analysis, but Google notes that actions such as adding keywords or negative keywords may not be available directly from that view. Return to the campaign-level Search Terms Report or the appropriate account workflow to apply a decision.

Verify the table before customizing it

Check that the rows represent the intended scope and that the date range is not today’s partial data. Note promotions, tracking releases, budget shifts, bid changes, website outages, and other events that affect interpretation. Save the current view or record its defaults before changing columns.

Add columns that explain the search

Use the Columns control to add and reorder fields that connect a search with an account decision. A useful starting set includes:

Search term;
Keyword;
Match type;
Campaign and Ad group;
impressions, clicks, click-through rate, and cost;
conversions, conversion rate, conversion value, and the relevant efficiency metric;
qualified lead, revenue, margin, device, location, or network fields when the question needs them.

The Keyword column tells you which account keyword matched the search and may not be shown by default. The Match type column describes the relationship between the search term and keyword; it is not simply a display of the match type selected for the keyword. Check the official documentation if the current labels differ.

Match columns to the decision

For wasted-spend review, cost, conversions, value, location, device, and landing page may matter most. For ad and landing-page research, keep the query, keyword, ad group, page, and conversion quality visible. For match-type review, keep Keyword, Match type, spend, and desired outcomes. Remove decorative fields that make sorting harder.

Do not choose columns solely because they are available. A field is useful when it can change the next action or explain why a query is being retained, expanded, excluded, or investigated.

Set the date range and conversion expectations

Choose a range that contains enough impressions, clicks, and outcomes for the business question. Include the campaign’s normal conversion lag. Avoid treating the current day or a period with unprocessed conversions as final. When a campaign is low volume, use a longer period or mark the result as directional.

Use a consistent time-zone and date-range convention for recurring reviews. Save the start and end dates with an export or decision note. Annotate promotions, seasonal changes, budget changes, bid-strategy learning, landing-page releases, conversion migrations, and tracking incidents.

For lead generation, include qualified stages or revenue when imports are reliable. For ecommerce, verify purchase value and refunds. For awareness or research, define the intended signal. A table with many conversions is not useful if the event is duplicated or unrelated to the business outcome.

Use segments and filters with a purpose

Apply one segment at a time when it answers a specific question:

segment by time to see a trend, season, or post-change pattern;
segment by conversions to separate outcome-producing searches from traffic-only rows;
segment by device when the mobile and desktop journeys differ;
segment by network when Search partner quality or formatting needs a separate review.

Keep an unsegmented baseline. Too many segments fragment data and make a row look conclusive when it is not. Use filters and sorting to prioritize rows, not to hide the rows that challenge a preferred conclusion.

If the pattern appears only on one device, location, or network, check the landing page, form, call path, eligibility, and tracking before changing the keyword. A report can reveal a technical boundary rather than a targeting problem.

Save the view for the next reviewer

After testing the columns, date range, scope, and filters, save a named column set or report view where the current interface supports it. Include the intended question, owner, refresh cadence, conversion-lag convention, and fields that must not be removed. A saved view is a starting point, not a substitute for checking the live scope each time.

Understand privacy and Search Terms Insights

Some low-activity search terms are omitted from the regular report under Google’s privacy standards. There is no setting that exposes every hidden query. Do not interpret an omitted row as zero demand or as proof that a keyword never matched.

Search Terms Insights can group demand into themes and subthemes, including activity not exposed individually. Theme labels and subthemes can be generated from a recent history window and may include terms that are no longer serving or have since been excluded. Use the surface for category understanding, creative ideas, and coverage questions.

Google documents differences between the report and insights because of hidden queries, aggregation, conversion processing, and the way each surface groups data. Use the same scope and date range where possible, note which surface you used, and avoid requiring identical totals.

Protect exported query data

Search queries can reveal sensitive interests. Limit access to exports and shared dashboards, use the minimum date range and scope needed, and follow the account’s privacy and retention rules. Remove or redact query data when the collaboration no longer needs it.

Turn the report into an action handoff

For each important finding, record:

the search term or theme and its matching keyword;
campaign, ad group, device, location, network, and landing page where relevant;
spend, conversions, value, quality, and conversion lag;
classification: valuable, relevant but unproven, irrelevant, or ambiguous;
action: retain, add keyword, add negative, revise ad, improve page, repair tracking, restructure, or wait;
scope, owner, date, rationale, success threshold, and next review.

If you need to add a keyword or negative keyword, use the account workflow that supports that action and confirm the scope after saving. Do not assume an analysis view can apply a change directly. Test a proposed negative against valuable variants before publishing it.

Review the whole customer path

Compare the search with the ad, landing page, device, location, form, call, checkout, consent, and business outcome. A high-click query may expose a page mismatch or accidental-click pattern; a no-conversion query may be valuable but early in a long sales cycle. The correct action may be a page or conversion repair rather than a keyword edit.

Common setup mistakes

Avoid these setup errors:

choosing account scope when the decision belongs to one campaign;
using today’s partial data as a final performance window;
hiding the Keyword or Match type fields needed to explain the match;
adding every available column and making the view unusable;
expecting Search Terms Insights and the regular report to reconcile exactly;
treating privacy-omitted queries as proof that demand did not exist;
filtering out low-performing rows before the classification step;
applying a negative from Report Editor without checking whether the action is available;
exporting sensitive search data without access and retention controls;
saving a view without an owner, question, cadence, or next action.

Search Terms Report setup checklist

Before handing off the report, confirm:

[ ] The question, scope, owner, date range, time zone, and conversion lag are documented.
[ ] Regular Search Terms Report versus Search Terms Insights is an intentional choice.
[ ] Search term, Keyword, Match type, Campaign, Ad group, cost, conversions, value, and quality fields are visible.
[ ] Segments and filters answer a specific question and an unsegmented baseline is available.
[ ] Privacy limits, hidden queries, theme history, and report differences are understood.
[ ] The saved view has a name, owner, cadence, and documented action path.
[ ] Exports are protected and the handoff records a query, decision, scope, owner, and next review.

For ongoing governance, read the Search Terms Report best practices guide. For applying findings, see how to optimize the Search Terms Report. The adz.so product overview describes the current audit entry point and does not imply that adz.so manages Google Ads reports automatically.