The search terms report is where Google Ads money leaks. Your keywords describe what you meant to buy; search terms show what you actually paid for. With broad match, AI Max and Performance Max matching more searches than ever, the gap between the two keeps growing. The fix is a routine: review search terms on a schedule, block wrong-intent searches with the right negative keyword at the right level, and leave alone the relevant searches that simply have not converted yet.
Quick answer: Open the search terms report for the last 30 to 90 days, ending at least 3 days ago. Sort by cost. Flag terms that spent more than your target cost per conversion without converting. Add wrong-intent ones (jobs, free, DIY, courses, unrelated products) as negatives: phrase match for a word or phrase, exact match for one specific search. Put themes that apply everywhere in a shared list or at account level. Repeat weekly.
What the Search Terms Report Shows and Hides
The report lists the searches that triggered your ads, with clicks, cost and conversions, and which keyword or matching source caught them. It does not list every search. Google shows terms searched by a significant number of people and groups the rest. In most accounts the visible terms still carry the majority of spend, so the report is the right place to start, but it is not a complete record.
Timing matters as much as coverage. Conversions often arrive days after the click, especially for leads and considered purchases. If you judge a search term on yesterday's data, it can look like waste when the conversion simply has not been recorded yet. That is why every step below uses a date range that ends at least 3 days ago.
The 30-Minute Search Terms Review
- Set the date range to the last 30 to 90 days, ending 3 days ago. Use 90 days for small accounts so each term has enough clicks to judge.
- Show the Cost, Clicks, Conversions and Cost per conversion columns and sort by cost, highest first.
- Mark every term that spent at least one target CPA with zero conversions. These are your candidates.
- For each candidate, ask one question: does this search show the intent to buy what I sell? If no, it is a negative. If yes, it is an ad, landing page or bid problem, not a negative.
- Look for repeated words across the candidates (jobs, salary, free, DIY, how to, course, used). One phrase-match negative on the word blocks the whole family.
- Add the negatives at the right level (next section), then note the date so next week you only review new terms.
If you would rather not sort spreadsheets, paste the report into the free Google Ads Wasted Spend Finder. It runs in your browser, totals the zero-conversion spend, lists candidates against your target CPA and ranks the words that only ever appear in non-converting searches.
Choosing the Right Negative Match Type
Negative keywords match differently from normal keywords. The most important difference: negatives do not expand to close variants, so a negative for "shoe" does not block "shoes". Add plurals and common misspellings yourself.
| Negative match type | How you enter it | Blocks | Does not block |
|---|---|---|---|
| Negative broad | running shoes | Searches containing both words in any order, such as "shoes for running" | "running shoe" (singular), "trainers for running" |
| Negative phrase | "running shoes" | Searches containing the words in that order, such as "cheap running shoes" | "shoes for running" |
| Negative exact | [running shoes] | Only the search "running shoes" | "red running shoes", "running shoes sale" |
A practical default: use phrase match for wrong-intent words and short phrases ("jobs", "free", "how to"), and exact match when you want to block one specific search but keep its longer relatives.
Where to Add Negatives
| Level | Applies to | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Ad group | One ad group | Routing: stopping a search from going to the wrong ad group inside a campaign |
| Campaign | One campaign, including Performance Max | Themes that are wrong for this campaign only |
| Shared negative keyword list | Every campaign the list is attached to | Themes that are wrong for most campaigns, such as jobs, free or DIY |
| Account level | Eligible campaigns across the account | Brand-safety terms you never want to appear for |
Shared lists are the easiest to maintain. Build one list per theme (careers, free and cheap, DIY and education, competitor support pages) and attach the lists to every relevant campaign. When a new campaign launches, attaching the lists takes a minute.
Negative Keyword Themes Most Businesses Need
| Theme | Example words | Do not exclude if you... |
|---|---|---|
| Jobs and careers | jobs, careers, salary, hiring, internship, apprenticeship | are a staffing agency or recruit through ads |
| Free and cheap | free, cheap, discount code (if you never offer one) | sell a free plan, budget tier or run promotions |
| DIY and how-to | how to, diy, tutorial, yourself | sell tools, kits or courses for doing it yourself |
| Education | course, training, certification, degree, pdf | sell training |
| Used and rental | used, second hand, rent, refurbished | sell or rent used or refurbished items |
| Existing customers | login, sign in, support, cancel, refund | want to win back churned customers with a specific offer |
| Research only | definition, meaning, wiki, statistics | sell information products |
Mistakes That Block Good Traffic
- Blocking a relevant search because it has not converted after a few clicks. Give relevant searches enough clicks to judge, or fix the landing page first.
- Using negative broad match on a single common word that also appears in good searches, such as "repair" for a business that sells repairs.
- Adding a negative at account level when it was only wrong for one campaign.
- Forgetting that negatives do not match plurals and misspellings.
- Judging search terms on the last 7 days, before late conversions arrive.
- Never reviewing old negatives. Products and offers change; a negative added two years ago may now block a service you sell.
How Loraloop Mines Search Terms Every Night
Loraloop's ads agent, Angie, pulls your search terms every night for the last 30 days, leaving out the most recent 3 so conversions can settle. A waste sweep prices the search terms that spent without converting. Angie then groups them by theme and files one negative keyword proposal per account, so you approve a clean list instead of fifty separate cards. The AI only proposes; the change itself is made by a deterministic executor after you approve, and it can be undone.
You can also ask in chat: add negatives to a campaign or ad group, add or remove terms in a shared negative list, remove a campaign negative that is blocking good traffic, or list the search terms behind a campaign's spend. Removing a negative restores serving, so it always waits for your approval.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often should I review Google Ads search terms?
Weekly for most accounts, and daily for the first two weeks after launching a new campaign or turning on broader matching such as broad match, AI Max or Performance Max. Always use a date range that ends at least 3 days ago.
How many negative keywords should a Google Ads account have?
There is no right number. A new account often starts with 50 to 200 negatives from shared themes like jobs, free and DIY, then adds more from its own search terms each week. Quality matters more than count: every negative should block a wrong-intent search.
Do negative keywords work in Performance Max?
Yes. Performance Max now accepts campaign-level negative keywords, and account-level negatives apply to eligible inventory too. Brand exclusions are a separate control for keeping brand searches out of Performance Max.
What is the difference between a negative keyword and pausing a keyword?
Pausing a keyword stops that keyword from triggering ads, but other keywords can still match the same search. A negative keyword blocks the search itself, whichever keyword would have matched it.
Can AI add negative keywords automatically?
Yes, and it is one of the safest jobs to give an AI because negatives reduce spend and are easy to reverse. Loraloop proposes negatives nightly and, by default, waits for your approval before adding them.
Stop paying for searches that never convert: let Angie read your search terms every night and hand you one clean negative keyword list to approve.
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