Search terms report

The search terms report shows the actual phrases people typed before your ad appeared, as opposed to the keywords you bid on.

Those 2 lists are never the same, and the gap between them is where most wasted spend lives.

It's the source for new negative keywords and for spotting phrasings worth bidding on directly.

It also shows intent you might have missed, like a steady run of searches for a service you offer but never advertised.

Google withholds some terms for privacy reasons, so the report covers most of the spend rather than all of it.

Reading it weekly in the first month and monthly after that keeps an account honest.

What this means for you

If an agency has never sent you this, ask for it. It's the most direct evidence there is of where your money actually went.

I'll look at what you've got and tell you where it stands, in the same plain terms.