How to analyse the Google Ads search terms report

Updated 28 October 2026

The search terms report shows the real searches your ads appeared for. It is where wasted spend hides, and where every good negative keyword comes from. This guide shows how to read it in 20 minutes instead of two hours.

1. Download the right report

In Google Ads go to Insights & reports → Search terms, choose the last 90 days, and download as CSV or Excel. Keep the “Total: Other search terms” row: it tells you how much spend Google didn't show, which no tool can review. Add the Keyword, Campaign, Ad group, Cost, Clicks and Conversions columns.

2. Sort by cost, not by impressions

Money is what matters. Sort by cost and look at the searches with spend and zero conversions first.

3. Look for patterns, not single searches

One search like “seo course in delhi” is a symptom. The cause is the word course, which also appears in fifty cheaper searches. Group searches by the words they share (n-grams) and add the root word as the negative.

4. Check each negative before adding it

Before adding free, check what it would block: “free consultation” may be your best converting search. Replay every negative against the last 90 days and drop or narrow any that touch a conversion.

5. Pick the level and match type

Universal junk goes in a shared list on every campaign. Product-specific words go on that campaign. Use broad negatives for single words, phrase for two-word patterns, and remember plurals and misspellings.

6. Keep the winners

Converting searches that aren't keywords yet are new keywords. Add them as phrase match, and protect them from future negatives.

Do it automatically

NexOper does all six steps: it learns the business from the website, groups searches by root word, tests each word statistically against the account's conversion rate, replays every negative against 90 days of data, and exports Google Ads Editor files, including a negative list and a positive keyword list.