How to Set Up Google Ads Search Terms Report for Ecommerce

To set up a Google Ads search terms workflow for ecommerce, choose a comparable date range, pull the report by campaign and product structure, classify the actual searches, and decide whether each cluster should become a keyword, negative, page or feed fix, or monitored test. Check stock, price, margin, returns, and conversion quality before acting. Google’s search terms report definition explains why the searches can differ from the keywords in the account.

Choose the review scope

Pick a date range that matches the store’s buying cycle and avoid comparing a promotion week with an ordinary week without an annotation. Decide whether the first review is by campaign, search term, keyword, product group, category, brand, device, or landing page. Keep the scope narrow enough that an owner can act on the results.

Add columns that support the decision: impressions, clicks, cost, conversions, conversion value, search term, keyword, match type, campaign, ad group, and landing page where available. For ecommerce, add product, stock, order value, margin, return, and new-customer context in the analysis even when those are kept in a separate store report.

Classify each query before changing it

Group searches as exact product, category, attribute, use case, comparison, brand, competitor, gift, replacement, support, free, job, or unrelated. Then check whether the catalog has the right product, page, price, availability, shipping, and return promise. A search can be semantically relevant and still be wrong for the campaign’s offer.

Keep a decision column: promote, exclude, investigate, or monitor. Add a short reason. “No conversion” is not enough to exclude a high-consideration product; “out of stock,” “support intent,” or “wrong service” is a stronger explanation.

Add valuable searches as controlled tests

Choose terms that show product or category intent and have a page and product selection that answer them. Check conversion quality, order value, margin, returns, and stock before adding them as keywords or using them to improve an ad group, product title, category page, or asset.

Do not promote a query only because it has many clicks. A brand term or promotion may look efficient for reasons that do not transfer to a generic category. Separate brand, category, product, and competitor tests when they need different budgets or landing pages.

Add negatives with the right scope

Find searches for support, free, manual, used, job, wholesale, incompatible, irrelevant location, and unavailable products when they do not belong. Add a negative at campaign level if it should apply across the store. Use an ad-group or narrower level when another product family should remain eligible.

Before saving, search the existing account for legitimate uses of the word. Avoid broad negatives that block an important product, material, or category. Consider the buying cycle and data volume; a term with no order this week is not automatically waste.

Investigate feed and page gaps

If a search clearly describes a product but the ad lands on a generic page, fix the destination or product structure. If a discontinued model attracts demand, decide whether a replacement page or a negative is appropriate. If product titles invite the wrong searches, inspect feed attributes, structured data, availability, price, and page copy.

Check query, keyword, product group, page, and conversion data together. A weak query may be attached to the wrong product group; a strong query may be driven by a temporary promotion. Keep a change log for feed, inventory, price, landing-page, and negative-keyword updates.

Create a repeatable review schedule

Run a weekly review for active search campaigns and a deeper monthly analysis for product and margin trends, adjusting for volume and buying cycle. Keep three queues: positive tests, exclusions, and page or feed investigations. Assign owner, action, scope, reason, date, and follow-up measurement.

Use Google’s measurement guidance for broader reporting. The ecommerce search-terms framework describes quality questions; adz.so can inspect supported settings but does not choose catalog, margin, inventory, or keyword policy.

Ecommerce workflow checklist

Before applying a change, confirm that:

1. the range is comparable and promotion, stock, and price changes are noted;
2. the query is classified by product, stage, category, and business fit;
3. positive terms have a relevant page, product, stock, price, and margin;
4. negative terms have the correct campaign or ad-group scope;
5. feed, product title, landing page, and query intent agree;
6. conversions, order value, returns, and new-customer status are considered;
7. the change has an owner and a review date; and
8. the team has not changed every related setting at once.

The report becomes useful when each search receives a reasoned next action. Work from actual shopper language to product, page, and commercial outcome, then keep the decision history so the store learns rather than repeatedly reclassifies the same queries.