Every Google Ads account pays for some clicks it never intended to buy. A keyword you bid on is an instruction, but the searches that trigger your ad are decided by matching systems. The Google Ads search terms report is where you see what people actually typed, and it is the most direct way to find negative keywords that stop irrelevant clicks and reduce wasted ad spend.
Generating clicks is not the same as generating qualified leads. A manufacturer of block-making machines can collect clicks from job seekers, students and people hunting for free plans, and the dashboard will still look busy. This guide shows how to run a search terms audit in 2026, choose the right match type, apply exclusions at the right level, and handle Performance Max and AI Max for Search, without accidentally blocking buyers.
What Is the Google Ads Search Terms Report?
The search terms report (also called the search query report) lists the actual searches that triggered your ads, along with metrics such as impressions, clicks, cost and conversions.
Keyword vs search term
A keyword is what you add to your account. A search term is what the user typed. Take the keyword fly ash brick making machine. It may be shown for:
• fly ash brick making machine price (likely a buyer)
• fly ash brick machine manufacturer in Gujarat (very likely a buyer)
• fly ash brick plant project report free download (probably a researcher)
• fly ash brick machine operator jobs (not a buyer)
One keyword, four different intents. The report is how you see the split.
How it differs from keyword reports
Keyword reports show how the terms you chose performed. The search terms report shows what users searched. A keyword can look healthy overall while a handful of unrelated queries quietly drain its budget.
Reporting limitations you should know
The report does not show every query. Google states that some search terms without enough query activity are omitted to meet its data-privacy standards, so visible rows may not add up to total spend. Search terms insights, a separate view, groups those low-volume queries into subthemes or an “other queries” bucket without exposing them.
This is why search term analysis is a recurring PPC optimization task, not a one-time clean-up. New queries keep arriving as keywords, competitors and Google’s matching change.
Why Search Terms Report Analysis Matters for Google Ads Optimization in 2026
Search query relevance shapes click quality, conversion data and cost. Irrelevant clicks cost money directly, and they also pollute your data. If a quarter of your clicks come from the wrong audience, your conversion rate, cost per conversion and automated bidding signals all reflect a blended audience you never wanted.
Find Irrelevant Search Terms in Google Ads Before They Consume Your Budget
Typical sources of unneeded spend are:
• Job and career searches
• Free-resource and DIY searches
• Student or academic research
• Products that share a word with yours but do something different
• Locations you do not serve
The report is the only place you can spot these early. Do not wait for the monthly invoice.
Identify Search Terms That Generate Clicks but No Conversions
In the report, filter for terms with cost and zero conversions, then sort by cost. That list is a starting point, not a verdict. Before excluding a term, check:
• Sample size: a few clicks prove little.
• Conversion lag: a B2B enquiry may convert days or weeks after the click.
• Tracking reliability: a broken tag makes every term look weak.
• Sales cycle: machinery buyers often call, compare and return later.
• Longer history: a term with no recent conversions may have converted earlier.
Zero conversions is a reason to investigate, not an automatic reason to exclude.
Use Search Intent Optimization to Improve Lead Quality
Sort queries by intent:
| Intent type | What the user wants | Machinery example |
| Informational | To learn | how does a paver block machine work |
| Navigational | A specific brand or site | your company name, a competitor’s name |
| Commercial investigation | To compare options | fly ash brick machine vs concrete block machine |
| Transactional | To buy or enquire | block making machine price, manufacturer near me |
Informational queries are not always bad. They are wrong for a campaign built to capture enquiries, but may suit a separate content-led campaign.
How to Find Negative Keywords in Google Ads: A Step-by-Step Search Terms Audit
Menu labels change over time, so confirm the path in your own account if yours differs.
Step 1 — Open the Search Terms Report
In Google Ads, click Campaigns, then Insights and reports, then Search terms. Select the campaign and a date range long enough to include meaningful data for your sales cycle. You can segment by time, conversions, device or network.
Step 2 — Review Search Terms Alongside Cost and Conversion Data
Do not judge a query by clicks alone. Add columns for impressions, clicks, CTR, average CPC, cost, conversions, conversion rate and cost per conversion where available. Use the Keyword column (if hidden, add it from the columns menu) to trace which keyword triggered each query.
Step 3 — Identify Irrelevant, Low-Intent and Poor-Fit Queries
Mark a query as a candidate when it clearly conflicts with:
• Your offer: the product or service does not match.
• Buyer intent: the user wants a job, a free file or a school project.
• Geography: the user is outside your service area.
• Commercial objective: the query suits a different campaign or business model.
Step 4 — Investigate Ambiguous Search Terms Before Excluding Them
Some phrases look off-topic but still come from buyers. “Brick machine second hand” is a mismatch if you sell only new machines, but a lead if you refurbish. Search the term yourself, look at the results page, and check whether your ad and landing page fit that intent. If the query is relevant but poorly served, the fix may be a better ad group or page rather than an exclusion.
Step 5 — Add Negative Keywords at the Appropriate Level
Tick the terms in the report and choose Add as negative keyword, then pick the level. Check the match type before saving, and edit it if needed.
| Level | What it affects | Best used for | Risk |
| Ad group | One ad group | Steering queries between ad groups | Easy to forget when ad groups change |
| Campaign | Every ad group in the campaign | Exclusions specific to one offer | A term fine for another product line gets blocked |
| Shared negative keyword list | Every campaign the list is applied to | Recurring themes such as jobs or education | One edit changes many campaigns |
| Account level | Eligible search and shopping inventory across the account, including Performance Max | Terms you never want anywhere | Widest reach; limited to 1,000 negatives per Google’s help page |
Use the narrowest level that solves the problem.
Step 6 — Recheck Performance After Applying Exclusions
After a reasonable period for your volume and sales cycle, review the report again. Look at whether the same themes keep appearing, where spend moved, whether qualified enquiries held steady, and whether impressions for good queries dropped. If good traffic fell, an exclusion is probably too broad. There is no universal waiting period, so judge by your data volume.
Build a Google Ads Negative Keywords List That Protects Your Budget
A Google Ads negative keywords list works best when it is organised by theme (jobs, education, free resources, unrelated products) rather than as a long random list. Name each shared list clearly and record why each term was added.
Common Negative Keywords for Irrelevant Research and Job Searches
Terms such as jobs, salary, career, tutorial, course, DIY and free download are common candidates. Exclude them only when the intent conflicts with your goals. A training institute should not exclude courses. A software company with a free plan should not exclude free. Always read the full queries first.
Competitor Negative Keywords: When Should You Exclude Them?
Searches naming a competitor, “alternatives” or comparisons are not automatically bad. They can show strong commercial intent. Exclude them when your ad cannot honestly serve the query, when you cannot win those clicks profitably, or when you prefer a dedicated competitor campaign with its own budget and message. Do not block them by default.
Long-Tail Negative Keyword Strategy
A long-tail negative keyword strategy uses specific multiword exclusions instead of single generic words. Blocking free removes free trial, free demo and free site visit too. Blocking the phrase free plan download is far narrower. Long-tail negatives take more work but protect valuable traffic.
Automated Negative Keyword Lists in 2026
What can be streamlined, and by what:
• Native Google Ads features: shared negative keyword lists and account-level negatives reduce repetitive setup. Google Ads does not automatically identify and block every irrelevant query for you.
• Scripts and rules: Google Ads scripts can manage negative lists programmatically if you have the technical skills.
• Third-party tools: several platforms suggest negatives from search-term data. Treat these as suggestions that need human review, and check their claims independently.
• Manual routines: a calendar-based audit remains the most reliable baseline.
Automation can speed up discovery. It cannot know your business model.
Google Ads Match Types Strategy for Negative Keywords
Negative match types work differently from positive ones. Google states that negative keywords do not match close variants or other expansions. That means plurals, synonyms and misspellings are not covered unless you add them. Accented forms such as café and cafe count as different negatives.
Exact Match Negative Keywords
Written as [running shoes]. Per Google, the ad will not show if the search contains exactly those terms, in that order, without extra words. blue running shoes can still trigger your ad.
Phrase Match Negative Keywords
Written as “running shoes”. The ad will not show if the search contains those terms in that order, with other words allowed around them. blue running shoes are blocked; shoes running are not. A careless phrase can block valuable queries: a phrase negative “free” would also block free site visits for machine demos.
Broad Match Negative Keywords
Written as plain text: running shoes. The ad will not show if the search contains all the negative terms, in any order. Running shoes are blocked. Note that this is not the same as positive broad match, which can expand to related meanings.
How to Choose Between Exact, Phrase, and Broad Match Negatives
Using the negative keyword running shoes (the example Google uses):
| Search query | Broad: running shoes | Phrase: “running shoes” | Exact: [running shoes] |
| running shoes | Blocked | Blocked | Blocked |
| blue running shoes | Blocked | Blocked | Still eligible |
| shoes running | Blocked | Still eligible | Still eligible |
| running shoe | Still eligible | Still eligible | Still eligible |
| blue tennis shoes | Still eligible | Still eligible | Still eligible |
| Match type | Typical use | Main overblocking risk |
| Exact | One specific query you never want | Low, but misses variations |
| Phrase | A fixed phrase whose order always signals mismatch | Medium; a short phrase can catch valuable longer queries |
| Broad | Word combinations that signal the wrong intent in any order | Highest, especially with a single common word |
When unsure, start narrower and widen only when the report shows the pattern repeating.
Performance Max Negative Keywords in 2026
Performance Max is not a Search campaign, so controls differ. According to Google’s help page, negative keywords in Performance Max apply to Search and Shopping inventory only. You can add them to a specific Performance Max campaign or at the account level, and account-level negatives apply to eligible search and shopping inventory across Search, Performance Max, App, Shopping, Smart and Local campaigns.
Practical points:
• Campaign-level options are found under Campaigns, then Keywords, then the Negative keywords tab.
• Google’s current page mentions selecting an existing negative keyword list, while older guidance said lists were unavailable in Performance Max. Check what your account offers before building a workflow around it.
• Negatives do not control Display, YouTube or other non-search placements. Other tools, such as brand exclusions and placement exclusions, serve different purposes.
• For visibility, use the search terms views Google provides for Performance Max and any search terms insights available. Do not assume you can see every query.
• Judge performance against your campaign objective and the relevance of assets and landing pages, not only the query list.
Google Ads AI Max for Search Exclusions in 2026
AI Max for Search is a set of optional features inside Search campaigns. It is not Performance Max. Google describes it as combining search term matching with asset optimization (text customization and Final URL expansion), plus controls such as brand settings and URL exclusions. If you want the full setup picture, read our guide to Google Ads AI Max for Search in 2026.
What matters for exclusions:
• Google states that negative keywords are respected when AI Max is on.
• Brand exclusions and URL exclusions are separate controls. Brand exclusions can stop ads showing for specified brands but do not replace a thoughtful negative keyword list.
• Google notes that search term matching in AI Max does not work with manual CPC bidding, because it relies on automated bidding signals.
• AI Max can reach queries your keywords did not list, so reviewing search terms matters more, not less. Check the report and any AI Max-specific views for query relevance and landing-page fit.
Use automated recommendations as input. Your judgment of offer, margin and lead quality should make the final call.
B2B Google Ads Strategy: Negative Keywords for Industrial Machinery Campaigns
Consider a manufacturer of fly ash brick-making, concrete block-making and paver block-making machines. Its keywords attract serious buyers, but also job seekers, students, rental seekers and DIY builders.
Every row below is conditional. Decide based on your actual offer.
| Search Term or Theme | Possible User Intent | Potential Action | Reason |
| brick machine operator jobs, factory vacancy | Job search | Exclude (phrase or broad, after review) | No purchase intent; clearly unrelated to a machinery sale |
| fly ash brick project report pdf free | Research or loan paperwork | Exclude if you do not offer reports; test if you do | Free-document seekers rarely enquire, though some plan to buy |
| second hand paver block machine | Buying used equipment | Exclude if you sell new only; keep if you deal in used | Depends entirely on your catalogue |
| block machine on rent, machine leasing | Renting | Exclude if you do not rent | Intent differs from purchase |
| brick making course, ITI training | Education | Exclude if you do not run training | Learners, not buyers |
| how to make bricks at home | Residential or DIY | Exclude cautiously | Home hobbyists rarely buy industrial machines |
| brick machine spare parts, mould replacement | Parts or repair | Keep if you sell parts; exclude if not | Same query is an opportunity or a waste |
| 10000 bricks per day fly ash machine price | Industrial buyer with capacity need | Keep | Specific output and price signal strong commercial intent |
B2B Industrial Machinery Negative Keywords
Generally unsuitable for most machinery lead-generation campaigns
• Employment: jobs, vacancy, recruitment, salary, hiring
• Academic: thesis, assignment, school project, ppt, seminar
• Unrelated products: toy, miniature, Lego
• Piracy-type terms: crack, torrent
Context-dependent (check intent and your offer first)
• free, blueprint, project report
• used, second hand, refurbished
• rent, lease
• spare parts, repair, service
• training, course
• DIY, home
• competitor names
Context-dependent terms depend on your business model. Reading the actual query tells you whether the user is a prospect or not.
Negative Keyword List for B2B Campaigns Without Losing Qualified Leads
To exclude consumer or informational traffic while preserving real buyers, look for signals of commercial intent: capacity, output per day or hour, pricing, specifications, manufacturer comparisons, bulk orders and delivery location. Compare:
• how to make fly ash bricks at home — likely a hobbyist. Candidate for exclusion.
• fly ash brick machine 15000 bricks per day price — specific, commercial. Keep.
• paver block machine manufacturer comparison — evaluation stage. Keep.
If a broad word like home or price is tempting as a negative, use a longer phrase instead.
How to Reduce Cost per Acquisition Without Blocking Good Traffic
A lower CPC is not the goal. A machinery enquiry that is cheap but never qualifies still wastes sales time. To reduce cost per acquisition sensibly, combine the search terms audit with conversion quality: send CRM feedback back to Google Ads where possible, track sales-qualified leads rather than only form fills, and review which queries lead to real quotations.
Exclusions remove clearly unsuitable queries. For visitors who did qualify but did not enquire, a separate channel applies. Our guide to Google Ads remarketing in 2026 covers re-engaging visitors who did not convert. Remarketing is not a fix for irrelevant search targeting and does not replace negative keyword management.
GA4 Conversion Tracking for Search Terms: Avoid Misleading Conclusions
If your tracking is wrong, your audit will be wrong. A profitable query can look useless because its conversions were never recorded.
Check these before trusting the report:
• Primary and secondary actions: only primary conversion actions feed the main Conversions column and bidding. Make sure your real business actions (lead forms, calls, quote requests) are set correctly.
• Gaps and duplicates: missing tags, broken form events or the same action counted twice distort results. Google advises marking imported GA4 conversions as secondary while overlapping conversions are still active, to avoid double counting.
• Google Ads vs GA4 differences: the two systems use different data models, attribution logic and counting, so numbers rarely match exactly.
• Conversion lag and long B2B cycles: conversions are credited to the click date in Google Ads, and may appear later.
• Offline outcomes: a phone call or a quotation that closes weeks later may not appear without extra setup.
Be realistic about what you can attribute. The search terms report shows conversions credited to a query in Google Ads. GA4 reporting does not offer a guaranteed one-to-one journey from every search query to every conversion, so treat GA4 as supporting evidence rather than a query-level truth source.
How Search Term Audits Can Support Quality Score and PPC Optimization
Google describes Quality Score as a diagnostic tool based on three components: expected click-through rate, ad relevance and landing page experience. It is not an input in the ad auction. Adding negative keywords does not directly or automatically raise Quality Score.
What a search terms audit does is improve budget efficiency and clean up your data, which makes it easier to diagnose relevance problems. Weak components still need their own fixes: tighter ad groups and better ad copy for ad relevance and expected CTR, and a more relevant, faster page for landing page experience. For that side of the work, see our guide to Google Ads Quality Score in 2026, which explains how to improve ad relevance and landing page experience.
Common Negative Keyword Mistakes That Waste More Money
| Mistake | Example | Correction |
| Excluding without checking intent | Blocking price because one query looked cheap-seeking | Read the full queries and test a narrower phrase |
| Using broad negatives where phrase or exact is safer | Broad negative on a single common word | Switch to phrase or exact and add variants deliberately |
| Applying exclusions too widely | Account-level used when one campaign sells refurbished machines | Move it to the specific campaign or ad group |
| Acting on tiny samples | Excluding after two clicks and no enquiry | Wait for enough data or use longer history |
| Ignoring tracking errors | A broken form tag makes good queries look bad | Fix measurement first |
| Messy shared lists | The same term in three lists with different match types | Audit lists and keep one owner |
| Never reviewing old exclusions | Negatives left after a new product launch | Review lists when offers change |
| Over-trusting AI suggestions | Accepting every recommended negative | Review each against your business model |
A Repeatable Google Ads Search Terms Audit Checklist
Use this at each review. How often you run it should depend on spend and volume, not a fixed rule.
1. Choose a date range that suits your data volume and sales cycle.
2. Confirm spend is meaningful and conversion tracking is working.
3. Review newly appearing search terms first.
4. Group irrelevant queries by intent or theme (jobs, free, education, rent, wrong product).
5. Check each proposed exclusion against your offer and past conversions.
6. Choose the match type: exact for single queries, phrase for fixed sequences, broad only with care.
7. Select the narrowest correct level: ad group, campaign, shared list or account.
8. Review campaign-specific and shared lists for duplicates and conflicts.
9. Document what you added, why, and when.
10. Monitor later results for reduced waste and for any loss of qualified traffic.
Final Thoughts: Use Search Term Analysis to Stop Irrelevant Clicks in Google Ads 2026
Ongoing analysis of the Google Ads search terms report, careful negative keyword selection, reliable conversion measurement and intent-based decisions work together. The aim is not to block as much traffic as possible. It is to prevent clearly irrelevant spend while keeping the door open for qualified buyers.
Open your account, pull the last reporting period and run the checklist above on your largest campaign. Even one careful pass often reveals patterns worth fixing.
