# How to read your Google Ads search terms report (in 15 minutes a week)

By Banish Angural · Published September 19, 2026 · Updated November 9, 2026

> The search terms report lists the actual searches that triggered your ads. Once a week, sort it by cost, block searches that can never become customers as negative keywords, add searches that produced calls as keywords with their own ads, and check that clicks match the service and area on the landing page.

## Where to find it

In Google Ads, open **Insights and reports › Search terms** (or the Keywords section). Set the date range to the last 7 or 30 days.

## The 15-minute routine

1. **Sort by cost.** Start with what cost the most.
2. **Block the obvious waste.** Jobs, DIY, parts, wrong services, wrong towns. Add them as negatives.
3. **Find winners.** Searches with conversions that aren’t keywords yet: add them, ideally with their own ad group.
4. **Check intent.** Are research searches ("what is", "how much") eating budget? Decide whether you want them.
5. **Note surprises.** New services people ask for can become new pages or services.

## What good looks like

After a month of weekly pruning, most spend should be on searches that clearly mean "I need this service near me".

## Want a second pair of eyes?

In a [free audit](https://banishmedia.com/free-audit) we total how much went to searches that could never book a job. Our [Google Ads management](https://banishmedia.com/services/google-ads-management) does this every week.

## Sources

- [About negative keywords](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/2453972), Google
- [Google Ads Help Center](https://support.google.com/google-ads/), Google

## Questions readers ask

### What is the difference between keywords and search terms?

Keywords are what you bid on. Search terms are what people actually typed. Broad and phrase match let one keyword trigger many different search terms.