Search query report guide for PPC managers

Search query report and search terms report mean the same task

PPC managers still say search query report, SQR or query review when discussing the search terms report. The practical task is unchanged: compare what someone searched with what the advertiser can sell. A keyword is the targeting input. A search term is the wording reported for an actual search.

That distinction matters when a broad keyword reaches unexpected intent. The keyword office furniture may be relevant to a retailer, while office furniture warehouse jobs is a recruitment query. The query can justify a negative without establishing that the positive keyword itself needs to be paused.

Use the current search terms report guide when locating and exporting the report. Navigation varies by account and campaign type, so look for the report rather than relying on an old screenshot. Preserve account, campaign and ad group context when exporting to avoid reviewing detached query text.

A query review is also a source of positive decisions. Relevant searches can expose a landing page mismatch, a useful product category or an attribution problem. If every row receives only keep or block, the process misses account improvements that exclusions cannot deliver.

Keep query text connected to performance and targeting

For Search campaigns, the report can include search term, campaign, ad group, matched keyword, match type, impressions, clicks, cost and conversion metrics. Available columns depend on the campaign and reporting surface. Shopping has no positive keyword targeting, so do not expect an equivalent triggering keyword for every query.

Keep the date range and filters with the export. A filtered view that excludes low cost rows answers a different question from the complete exposed report. When reviewing several accounts, retain the account identifier with every row so a valid decision cannot be applied to the wrong advertiser.

Add conversion value or relevant business outcomes where measurement supports them. A conversion can mean a sale, a form submission or another configured action. Read which actions populate the selected columns before treating all conversions as equally valuable. Lead quality feedback may change the interpretation of apparently successful queries.

The visible search terms are not a complete ledger of every search. Privacy thresholds and reporting rules withhold some queries. Row totals can differ from campaign totals, and Performance Max includes inventory beyond search. Record the visibility boundary instead of assigning unreported spending to assumed irrelevant intent.

Read the reported match type separately from the keyword setting

The search terms report's match type describes the relationship between the search term and the keyword that triggered the ad. It is not always the match type configured on that keyword. A broad keyword can produce a row labeled exact when the query matches the keyword text closely enough for that classification.

Inspect both the keyword and the match type column when diagnosing reach. Positive phrase and exact matching can include close variants and intent based matching. A row associated with exact matching is therefore not proof that the advertiser typed that precise query as its only eligible target.

Negative matching follows different rules. Google negative broad requires all negative terms in any order. Negative phrase requires the same word sequence, and negative exact blocks the complete query without added words. Negatives do not automatically cover close variants, including plural forms and alternate wording.

Suppose the report shows office furniture warehouse jobs. Exact [office furniture warehouse jobs] blocks that query alone. Phrase "warehouse jobs" can block longer searches containing that sequence. The negative keyword match types guide helps translate a reporting observation into the right exclusion, rather than copying a column label.

Set agency review cadence around risk and account context

Use a weekly review as a recurring decision meeting with the account, not as a reason to leave obvious expensive junk untouched until then. New launches, new product ranges, geographic expansion and changes in query reach justify closer attention. Stable campaigns still need monitoring for new intent patterns.

At an agency, assign an owner and a backup for each account's review. Keep business rules available to both. A manager cannot classify affordable dental training correctly without knowing whether the advertiser sells patient treatment, professional education or both. Industry familiarity does not replace the actual offer.

Keep a recent reporting window for new problems and a longer comparison window for conversion context. Exclude immature conversion evidence from definitive efficiency judgments. An obviously irrelevant employment query can be rejected for its intent, while a relevant expensive query may need time and a different optimization decision.

Make cadence respond to risk rather than a universal spend threshold. Use account economics, click costs, conversion delay and the tolerance for irrelevant exposure. Do not invent a fixed cost cutoff that supposedly works for every service business, retailer and software account an agency manages.

Start with cost and then aggregate repeated intent

Sort query rows by cost to surface expensive decisions. Separate clear offer mismatches from relevant searches with weak observed outcomes. Cost determines review priority; it does not determine relevance. An expensive query for the exact product can be a bid or conversion problem rather than a negative keyword opportunity.

Then group repeated words and phrases across the exposed rows. Employment intent can be spread across careers, salary, hiring and job queries, each individually easy to overlook. Aggregate within a meaningful campaign context before considering broader distribution. Similar wording across campaigns does not establish identical intent.

Keep conversions and product context beside the grouped phrase. A free group can mix free shipping with requests for a free product. Excluding free would affect both. A phrase summary is a navigation aid for the reviewer, not evidence that every query in the group deserves the same action.

Distinguish historical flagged cost from future savings. The report shows what eligible clicks cost during the selected period. Blocking a query changes future eligibility, but it does not establish that the same demand, bids and clicks recur. Avoid presenting all flagged historical cost as a guaranteed reduction in future spending.

Turn illustrative queries into different kinds of action

Consider a retailer selling new office desks, including standing desks, without recruitment advertising or used inventory. Review the queries below against that offer. The point is to make the decision type visible before choosing negative wording or changing another account setting.

The employment query suggests a clear intent family. The manual query needs more context. The relevant purchase queries should not become negatives merely because the selected period contains no conversion. A practitioner separates semantic mismatch from an efficiency problem and chooses the intervention accordingly.

If the query belongs to another campaign, label it as a routing review. An exclusion does not guarantee the desired destination serves. Check the receiving campaign's products, targeting, budget and negative layers first. This avoids treating an account structure problem as a universal junk query.

Build a weekly review that another manager can repeat

Begin by confirming the review scope, reporting dates and conversion definitions. Note material changes since the previous review, such as a new offer or landing page. Check the existing negative policy before proposing additions so the session does not recreate old rules or contradict documented exceptions.

Review expensive rows, then repeated intent groups. Assign an action and reason to each candidate: exclude, route, investigate or retain. For exclusions, write the proposed text, match type and supported level. For investigations, name the question, such as whether delivery terms match the landing page, and assign ownership.

Check proposals against active keywords, advertised products and converting queries. Widen scope only when the business rule applies throughout the destination. A local query mismatch can fit an ad group negative; a recurring business exclusion can fit a selected shared list. Account scope requires a wider catalog review.

Publish the approved change set and verify accepted entries and list associations. Keep rejected or unsupported changes visible for follow up. The guide to adding negatives in Google Ads covers direct entry, the report workflow, shared lists, account settings and Google Ads Editor bulk additions.

Finish by recording what changed, what needs investigation and what evidence the next review should examine. This record is more useful than a count of negatives added. A long list can include duplicate or overly broad rules, while a short review can resolve the most consequential mismatch.

Keep reusable lists separate from local exceptions

Use the negative keywords list guide to organize recurrent intent families. Keep each rule's rationale and exceptions with its wording. Employment intent can be reusable for acquisition campaigns, while course may conflict with an advertiser that also sells education. Never distribute a library solely because accounts share an industry.

Shared list contents and attachments both need ownership. A reviewer changing a list can affect campaigns outside the current export. Another reviewer attaching that list imports its entire policy. Check both surfaces and retain account specific exceptions when synchronizing approved exclusions across accounts.

For agency reporting, distinguish actions taken from outcomes observed. Report reviewed intent, accepted changes and historical flagged spending with their context. If performance improves, acknowledge other changes and conversion delay before attributing the result to exclusions. Use an audit trail to make the account decisions reviewable.

Hand recurring detection to a daily sweep

A weekly review defines and refines policy. A daily sweep applies that context to newly exposed queries so expensive mismatches can reach a reviewer sooner. The handoff needs the current offer, approved intent categories, scope exceptions and the conditions requiring human review. It should not become a blanket zero conversion exclusion rule.

NegativeKeywords sweeps available search term reports daily, every six hours on Agency and hourly on Enterprise. It flags irrelevant intent with a reason, recommends match type and supported level, and checks conflicts against active keywords, products and converting queries. The platform's reporting visibility still limits what can be inspected.

Use approval mode for ambiguous decisions and catalog changes. On eligible plans, autopilot rules handle authorized exclusions within the policy you define. Email and Slack alerts surface expensive new junk queries, while the audit log and one-click undo make additions traceable and reversible.

Retain the weekly review to inspect exceptions, repeated patterns and useful demand. Automation carries forward known business rules; the account manager still resolves new products, changed offers and measurement questions. For Performance Max, apply only the search exclusions and list controls the platform supports rather than promising full visibility or universal inventory coverage.