Keywords are intended traffic; search terms are the traffic you actually bought
Search control comes from the search terms report. It shows which queries spent money, which intent should keep buying, which should be blocked, and which deserves promotion.
Output: search term waste-control sheet
Put search term, matched keyword, match type, spend, intent class, observe / negate / split action, negative level, promotion path, false-block risk, release condition, and reason into one sheet.
Do not treat negatives as a trash bin
Negative keywords are not cleanup work for every wasted click. They protect budget while avoiding false blocks on possible buyers. Before editing the account, split terms into three actions: observe, add a negative, or create a separate ad group / page need, then write a recovery condition for every negative.
Match expansion gate
1/4
Before broadening match, make sure tracking, negatives, pages, and stop lines can handle more queries.
Google Ads Basics 06 → 07
Carry the previous article's first-cycle rule forward: read the real query before choosing negative scope
The previous article required one review window with tracking, sample, page-path evidence, one primary variable, frozen items, and a rollback line. Continue with the 20oz leak-proof travel mug Search case, but do not reduce “change one variable” to “add more negatives.” Read the search term, matched keyword, and match-type trigger chain first. Then decide whether to observe, add a negative, split or fix the page, or promote the demand into its own structure. A negative controls what the current campaign should not buy; it does not permanently reject that demand for the whole business.
Bring from the previous article
The same review window, search-term and page evidence, selected primary variable, frozen items, Change history, review date, and rollback trigger.
Output from this step
Record matched keyword, match type, intent, spend, action, negative level, false-block risk, and release condition for each query, separating observe / negate / split / promote.
Next route
Move to Google Ads Scaling: Checks Before You Raise Budget only after query waste and negative scope are controlled. Do not widen match, raise budget, change the page, and rewrite bidding together just to clean the report.
Read the trigger chain before cleaning traffic
Negatives are not a broom; they are boundary controls for this campaign
Keep the 20oz leak-proof travel mug Search campaign. In the last seven days, the report contains “leak proof travel mug 20oz,” “free tumbler,” “used insulated bottle,” “how to clean travel mug,” and “travel mug near me.” One broad or phrase keyword may trigger all of them, but they are different commercial problems: the first is close to purchase, the second expects a free offer, the third wants used inventory, the fourth is educational, and the fifth has location and inventory implications. If you sort only by “no order” and negate everything, you delete both true waste and purchase demand that the page failed to support.
Keep the objects separate: the search term is the user’s actual query, the matched keyword is the system’s attribution, the match type explains the trigger path, and the negative keyword controls scope. Page and business decisions determine how any remaining demand should be served. A negative answers “Should this campaign keep paying for this query class now?” It does not mean the business will never serve that person. For each query, record at least the raw term, matched keyword, match type, intent, spend, clicks or conversions, landing-page URL, negative level, false-block risk, and release condition. The action is reviewable only when both its target and scope are clear.
The auction trigger also has a mechanism boundary. In the linked arXiv v3 preprint, Truthful Auctions for Automated Bidding in Online Advertising, Xing and colleagues model public display values with private budget/ROI constraints and characterize truthful mechanisms under specific incentive-compatibility, threshold-ROI, and rank-score conditions. This result is a reason to read an auction trigger with its assumptions; a search terms report still does not prove business value by itself. The paper has no real Google Ads platform dataset. Keep using the report, page, order-quality, and business-scope checks, and do not use the paper as a substitute for current platform rules.
Process the tumbler sheet in order: confirm the 7-day campaign, region, currency, and Search terms report scope; then classify terms as purchase, comparison, education, support, irrelevant, or weak page fit. Clearly mismatched “free” and “used” demand may become negatives at the appropriate level in the purchase campaign, but record whether the rule could block a different phrase such as “free shipping.” For “how to clean,” ask whether content or remarketing deserves a separate task. For “leak proof travel mug 20oz” with no order, check price, shipping, above-the-fold promise, and checkout errors before negating it.
Read positive keywords and negatives separately. Broad, Phrase, and Exact rules for positive keywords do not carry over unchanged to negatives. Negatives do not match close variants, so review a singular, plural, synonym, or market-language variant separately if it needs exclusion. A shared list spreads later changes to every attached campaign, and account-level scope is broader still. PMax needs its own Search terms and landing pages report. Low-volume queries can be withheld or aggregated for privacy, so missing detail is not proof that demand is absent. Do not toss brand traffic into a generic negative list. First write down whether it is your brand, a competitor, or a routing question for a separate brand campaign.
A negative is ready only when it states which query class it controls, why it is controlled now, where it applies, what evidence would release it, and who will review it next week. A stable negative list does not automatically justify broader match; tracking, page fit, budget, and stop lines must also be able to absorb new queries. Do not add negatives, change match type, raise budget, and switch bidding at the same time. Even if the report looks cleaner, you will not know whether waste was controlled or useful demand was blocked. Send stable waste patterns to Google Ads Scaling: Checks Before You Raise Budget, and send high-intent terms with weak page support to page repair.
Record search term → matched keyword → match type → intent → scope before choosing observe, negate, split, or promote; every negative needs false-block risk and a release condition.
Answer this before editing negatives
Match the trigger chain before changing the account.
Start with the query in front of you. Check the keyword and match type that triggered it, then read intent, page fit, spend, and business scope before choosing observe, negate, split, or promote.
- What do the search term, matched keyword, and match type each explain?
- What evidence is enough to negate, promote, split, or keep observing a query?
- Why does adding a negative from the report default to exact, and when should the scope change?
- Why do negatives miss plurals, synonyms, and language variants, and how should each be checked?
- Is one bad query enough to block a category, shared list, or account-level scope?
- How do PMax Search terms and landing pages, Search terms insights, and the regular report differ?
- Should brand and competitor queries use negatives or brand exclusions, and how do I keep a reversible Change history?
Plain terms first
First separate intended traffic from actual traffic
Search term, keyword, negative keyword, match type, and waste term determine whether you cut waste, expand, fix the page, or accidentally block good traffic.
search term
A search term is the actual query a user typed that triggered your ad. It is not necessarily the same as the keyword you added.
- Where you see it
- You see it in the Google Ads search terms report, along with the keyword and match type that triggered it.
- What breaks
- If you do not review search terms, you may think you bought high-intent keywords while budget spends on free, tutorial, job, support, or wrong-location queries.
- Ecommerce example
- You added "leak proof travel mug," but the actual query may be "free travel mug replacement lid."
keyword
A keyword is the word or phrase you add to an ad group so the system can match searches. It represents the traffic you intend to buy.
- Where you see it
- You add and edit it in the ad group keyword list inside a Search campaign.
- What breaks
- The wider the gap between keyword and search term, the more match type, negatives, or page fit need review.
- Ecommerce example
- The keyword is "waterproof dog seat cover"; the search term is the full phrase the user actually searched.
negative keyword
A negative keyword is a word or phrase you explicitly do not want to buy, used to prevent ads from showing on poor-fit searches.
- Where you see it
- You can save negative keywords at account, campaign, or ad group level.
- What breaks
- Too few negatives waste budget; overly broad negatives can block valuable searches.
- Ecommerce example
- When selling new tumblers, free, used, repair, and jobs may be first negatives to evaluate.
match type
Match type determines how close a keyword needs to be to a user query for the ad to be eligible.
- Where you see it
- Broad, Phrase, and Exact appear in keyword settings and in the match type column of the search terms report.
- What breaks
- Looking at match type without actual search terms can misdiagnose whether the keyword, page, or negative discipline is the issue.
- Ecommerce example
- If Phrase already brings many free/jobs queries, moving to Broad usually scales waste first.
waste term
A waste term has impressions, clicks, or spend, but the intent, page fit, or business value is clearly wrong.
- Where you see it
- You usually see it first by sorting the search terms report by spend.
- What breaks
- Without recording why it is waste, the team cannot later decide whether to keep the negative, fix the page, or retest.
- Ecommerce example
- "travel mug repair parts" may be waste for a new-product store but not for a parts store.
Relationship map
Read search term, keyword, match type, and negative keyword in one chain
The beginner mistake is reading one field in isolation. The safer order is: what the user searched, which keyword and match type triggered it, whether a negative should control it, and how to recover if you overblock.
leak proof travel mug for backpack
Actual user query
"leak proof travel mug"
The trigger you added
Phrase match brings in a use-case variant
Why it was eligible
Do not add a negative yet; check whether the page clearly explains backpack carry and leak-resistant use
Controls only the bad scope
How to read it
The search term is more specific than the keyword, but the intent is still close to purchase. The issue is usually page content, not a bad term.
Common wrong move
Negating backpack or leak proof just because the last 7 days had no purchase.
Overblocking recovery
Recovery: if it was blocked, remove the negative or move it down to ad group scope; add PDP content and a clear use-case demonstration; review add_to_cart, CVR, and page path next week.
Write into the waste sheet: Record this as page-fit work, not search-term waste.
Overblock review
One bad search term does not mean the whole category should be blocked
Choose a scenario, then compare the tempting block with a narrower negative scope and release condition. A negative is not a trash bin; it is a boundary for the current business stage.
Current search term
free travel mug replacement lid
Tempting overblock
Tempting mistake: add travel mug or free as account-level negatives so the report looks clean.
Narrower scope
Safer action: use "free travel mug" and "replacement lid" as phrase-negative candidates for the current Search campaign only.
Why not block the whole category
Travel mug is still the core category you want to buy; free shipping may be a pre-purchase question. Blocking the whole category removes useful demand.
Release condition
Release condition: if parts, support, or free-shipping pages launch later, split those phrases out and test them separately.
Main artifact
Search term waste-control sheet
Search term optimization is not adding negatives on sight. Run the false-block review first, then decide keep, observe, negate, split, promote, fix page, or pause.
Sheet order: ask false-block risk before the account action
For each row, write whether the term should be observed, negated, split, or promoted before explaining why. A negative enters the account only when business meaning, page fit, historical conversion, false-block risk, and release condition are clear.
Strong purchase intent
Product, spec, buying location, brand, or use case is clear.
Keep it under review, or promote it to a keyword or separate ad group once the evidence is strong enough.
Check profit, sample, and page fit, not one order only.
Comparison intent
Signals such as best, vs, review, alternative.
Observe or test separately if the page can support comparison.
Do not expand until the page has the comparison content and trust information the query expects.
Learning / informational intent
how to, definition, tutorial, free, template.
Usually negate, hold, or move into content strategy.
Do not mix with purchase terms and judge with one CPA.
Clearly irrelevant
Jobs, used, repair, support, wrong location, unrelated product.
Add a negative and record level and reason.
Prioritize terms that keep spending; do not let cost accumulate.
High intent but weak page fit
The term looks right but does not convert.
Check page, price, trust, shipping, payment, and tracking first.
Do not immediately negate potential demand.
Intent classification
Do not negate just because a term has not converted
A high-intent non-converter may be a page, price, trust, shipping, payment, or tracking issue. Clearly irrelevant terms get negated first.
Keep / promote
buy leak proof travel mug
waterproof dog seat cover for suv
Add it as a keyword, split it into its own ad group, and send it to a more specific landing page.
Confirm conversion quality, margin, and sample first.
Observe / improve page
best travel mug for commuting
dog seat cover reviews
Check comparison content, FAQs, reviews, and page fit.
Do not scale when the page cannot support the intent.
Negate / hold
free travel mug
dog seat cover jobs
used cup lid repair
Add a negative at the appropriate scope, or hold the test.
Do not use overly broad negatives that block core purchase intent.
Negative levels
The broader the negative, the higher the false-block risk
Use account, campaign, and ad group levels differently. Do not put every negative at account level for convenience.
Account level
Intent the business does not serve anywhere, such as jobs, free-product requests, used goods, repair-only queries, or unsupported locations.
The term may be valuable in some campaigns.
Campaign level
Controls a campaign boundary, such as brand vs non-brand separation.
The issue is only intent overlap inside one campaign.
Ad group level
Prevents intent overlap inside a campaign, such as product lines or use cases.
Do not duplicate obvious account-wide exclusions in every group.
Negative scope simulator
Simulate false blocks before choosing the negative scope
A negative action is not deleting a word you dislike. It decides where that word should stop buying traffic. Check whether the same root has useful intent before choosing account, campaign, or ad-group scope.
Free ambiguity
Tempting but risky move: Add free as an account-level negative.
Safer scope
Separate free shipping from free product. Only put clear free-product queries into campaign or ad-group negative candidates.
Negative candidate
free travel mug
Phrase negative candidate
False-block risk
A broad free negative can block real pre-purchase questions such as "free shipping".
Release condition
If the page clearly offers free shipping, keep free-shipping terms under review.
Do not do this: Do not block a single root word account-wide for convenience.
Official control boundaries
Reports show what you bought, not what you should block
Search terms reports, match types, and negative lists all have official boundaries. Make those boundaries explicit before turning a term into an account change.
Google Ads Help: search terms report
Search terms report visibility
Official fact
The search terms report shows actual queries that triggered ads, but low-volume or privacy-limited queries may not appear as individual rows.
How here we use it
Start with the visible high-spend terms, and treat unseen long-tail queries as a sampling limit rather than assuming the report contains every query.
What it cannot prove
A missing query does not prove that waste does not exist, and the report cannot replace GA4, Shopify, page-path, or order-quality checks.
Google Ads Help: search terms report
Keyword / Match type columns
Official fact
The Keyword and Match type columns can show which keyword triggered the term and how close the match was; the Keyword column may not show by default.
How here we use it
The waste-control sheet must record search term / matched keyword / match type; otherwise you see the outcome but not the trigger.
What it cannot prove
The match type column alone does not determine whether to negate, promote, or fix the page; it is only a diagnostic clue.
Google Ads Help: keyword match types
Broad / Phrase / Exact eligibility
Official fact
Broad, Phrase, and Exact define how close a query must be to the keyword; Google explicitly recommends Smart Bidding with Broad match.
How here we use it
Before widening match, pass the gates: trusted tracking, starter negatives, page fit, and a written stop line.
What it cannot prove
Broader coverage is not automatically smarter, and Exact is not automatically more profitable.
Google Ads Help: negative keywords
Negative keyword matching
Official fact
Negative keywords can use broad, phrase, and exact, but they behave differently from positive match types and do not match close variants.
How here we use it
The negative log must record negative keyword match types, false-block risk, and release condition, not just a root word.
What it cannot prove
One negative does not block every similar waste term; plurals, synonyms, and long-tail variations still need review.
Google Ads Help: negative keyword lists
Negative keyword lists and account-level negative keywords
Official fact
Negative keyword lists manage repeated exclusions across campaigns; account-level negative keywords apply across relevant Search and Shopping inventory.
How here we use it
Use shared lists or account-level negatives only for intent the business never wants, such as jobs, used, clearly free products, or wrong regions.
What it cannot prove
Shared or account-level scope is not a shortcut; it may block future wholesale, parts, free-shipping, or new-line demand.
Where to verify it
Search-term actions are not report cleanup; they need reviewable account records
Every negative, shared list, account-level exclusion, or match-type change needs an admin path, fields, proof use, forbidden move, and next route. Field records and Change history are the deliverable because they make next-week review possible.
Reviewable path
Search terms report / query sample record
Where to look
Google Ads > Campaigns > Insights and reports or Keywords > Search terms; sort by cost / clicks first, then add search term, matched keyword, match type, cost, clicks, conversions, conversion value, and landing page.
Fields to keep
What it shows
Shows which visible queries consumed spend and which keyword and match type triggered them.
Do not do
Do not treat hidden low-volume terms as proof that waste does not exist, and do not negate from one zero-conversion row alone.
Next route
If query intent drifts, move to negative candidates; if intent is strong but the page is weak, route to CRO page evidence.
Reviewable path
Negative keywords / negative candidate record
Where to look
Google Ads > Keywords > Negative keywords; record candidate, negative match type, account / campaign / ad group level, source search term, false-block risk, release condition, and reason.
Fields to keep
What it shows
Shows that the negative is a scoped control with a source query and release condition, not a casual root-word block.
Do not do
Do not block roots such as free, bulk, parts, or wholesale account-wide just because it is convenient.
Next route
If false-block risk is high, lower the scope to campaign or ad group; use shared or account-level only when the whole business rejects the intent.
Reviewable path
Negative keyword lists / account-level negatives
Where to look
Google Ads > Shared library > Negative keyword lists, plus account-level negative keywords in Account settings; record list name, applied campaigns, inventory scope, term, match type, business boundary, and responsible lead.
Fields to keep
What it shows
Shows that shared or account-level scope reflects a business boundary rather than an account-cleanup shortcut.
Do not do
Do not put wholesale, free shipping, parts, installation tutorials, or future demand into global exclusions.
Next route
If the business may serve this demand later, write the release condition first, then build a separate campaign or page path.
Reviewable path
Match type change / match-type change record
Where to look
Google Ads > Keywords > Match type, then review the change in Change history; record keyword, old match type, new match type, bid strategy, conversion action, starter negatives, stop line, and review date.
Fields to keep
What it shows
Shows that wider matching is a controlled test after tracking, negatives, page fit, and stop lines pass, rather than a blind response to a recommendation.
Do not do
Do not move from Phrase / Exact to Broad while conversion tracking, starter negatives, and page fit are weak.
Next route
If waste rises after widening, roll back by the stop line; if high-intent terms appear, promote them to keywords or separate ad groups.
Reviewable path
Change history / next-week review record
Where to look
Google Ads > Campaigns > Change history; review by date, changed by, negative added, keyword promoted, match type changed, campaign / ad group, rollback condition, and next review.
Fields to keep
What it shows
Makes account actions reviewable, releasable, or reversible next week instead of leaving forgotten edits in the account.
Do not do
Do not make silent account changes without date, responsible lead, reason, and rollback line.
Next route
Next week, use the search terms report, GA4, Shopify orders, and page path to continue, tighten, release, or route to CRO.
Negative governance record
Put matching, scope, visibility, and rollback into one savable practice record
This record does not connect to Google Ads or read real search terms. It keeps one negative candidate in this browser and requires matching, scope, market and language, report visibility, and brand-boundary checks before a preview can move to human review.
Read the semantics before the scope. Nothing selected here uploads, creates, or changes a Google Ads negative.
Negative broad
free travel mugThe default syntax. It blocks only when the query contains every term, even in another order. It does not automatically cover singular, plural, or other close variants.
Negative phrase
"free travel mug"The query must contain the complete phrase in the same order, though it may have extra words before or after. Word-form changes still need review.
Negative exact
[free travel mug]It blocks only the complete query in the same order with no extra words. It is not a mirror of positive Exact.
Current candidate reading
"free travel mug"
Start as a narrow candidate in the current new-product campaign and check pre-purchase questions such as free shipping.
Current scope risk
Controls the current purchase task without rejecting the demand for the whole business.
Conflict scanner
It scans only the scope, language, visibility, brand, and rollback gaps in this practice record. It does not read an account or judge real traffic.
1.Language conflict: singular, plural, synonym, or market-language variants are not fully reviewed. A negative does not cover close variants for you.
2.Visibility conflict: the report surface is not written yet. Separate a Search report, an insights aggregate, and the dedicated PMax report first.
3.Rollback conflict: Change history, review date, and release condition are not yet a reviewable rollback line.
Complete the governance review
Choose a wrong shortcut
Why this is unsafe
Unsafe. Negatives do not match close variants, so review each singular, plural, synonym, or market-language variant separately.
Safer next step
Write a narrow candidate by syntax first, then inspect real queries and locale variants.
Current practice conclusion
Keep this as a practice preview until governance checks and the rollback line are complete.
0/6 checks are complete. The current candidate is "free travel mug" at Campaign scope.
Match expansion gate
Before broadening match, confirm waste is controlled
Broad is not automatically more advanced; it is wider. Without signals, negatives, pages, and stop lines, wider coverage wastes faster.
7-day waste-control workshop
20oz tumbler drill: no conversion does not mean the same action
Review the search term together with spend, clicks, cart adds, and the business boundary. Each action should explain why it is needed, where it applies, and what would release it; a longer negative list is not the objective.
Step 1: choose a search term
Step 2: choose an action and read feedback
leak proof travel mug for backpack
Intent read
Purchase intent is still strong. The user still needs clear information about backpack carry and leak resistance.
False-block risk
If you negate it immediately, you block real buyer demand before the page answers the leak-resistance concern.
What would you do?
Instant feedback
Correct. Keep the term, add backpack-carry proof, leak-proof video, and FAQ, then review cart-to-purchase next week.
Write into the waste-control sheet
Page-fit issue, not keyword issue; freeze negative action and assign PDP hero/FAQ check.
Recommended action: Do not negate. Improve the page and observe next week; if CVR improves, promote to phrase keyword.
Three-query control case
One Search campaign: which query should be negated, observed, or promoted?
This is a synthetic seven-day query ledger. All three search terms actually triggered ads, but spend or zero conversions alone is not an automatic negative-keyword rule. Read business intent, landing page, spend, and Purchase first, then choose the control action and release condition.
| Search term | Clicks / Cost | Validated Purchase | CPA | Current read | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 oz insulated tumbler | 100 / $300 | 6 | $50 | Direct product/purchase fit with reconciled order identity. | Observe; if volume and order quality persist, consider promotion into a clearer keyword / ad group. |
| free tumbler giveaway | 80 / $240 | 0 | No valid CPA | The current campaign sells a $38 product, has no free-giveaway offer, and the landing page does not serve giveaway intent. | Negative candidate, but first protect different meanings such as free shipping and choose a scope/match type that avoids false blocks. |
| dishwasher safe travel cup | 50 / $150 | 1 | $150 | Intent is relevant, but dishwasher-safe proof is weak on the current page and the one-week sample is thin. | Repair page proof and observe before negating the whole intent merely because CPA is high. |
Recalculate the numbers first
High-intent term: $300÷6=$50 CPA. Giveaway: $240 with zero validated Purchase has no valid CPA. Dishwasher-safe: $150÷1=$150 CPA.
A search term is not the keyword
The search term is the actual user query that triggered an ad; the matched keyword and match type describe the account path into that auction. A negative controls future eligibility; it does not erase the historical query from reporting.
Every negative needs a release condition
For example, giveaway is a non-fit only while this paid-purchase campaign has no giveaway job. If the brand later launches a giveaway campaign, the intent is no longer “never serve this business-wide.” Record campaign/ad-group scope, match type, add date, reason, and review date.
Google Ads currently describes the Search terms report as a view of actual searches that triggered ads and a source of negative-keyword candidates. Adding from the report defaults to negative exact, but business meaning still determines the right negative scope and match type. Search terms report · negative keyword ideas
The auction research cited above is limited to the mechanism layer: triggers occur inside constrained auction systems. It does not replace search-term, page, order, or business-meaning review, and no second paper claim is added here.
30-minute review script
Run the search-term review as a decision meeting, not a complaint meeting
Small-budget accounts suffer when edits happen casually in the account. Use 30 minutes: inspect evidence, separate actions, and leave one primary action plus one rollback line.
Confirm data scope
Are we reviewing only the Search campaign, last 7 days, search terms report sorted by cost?
Write date, campaign, review window, and responsible lead.
Handle high-spend waste terms
Which terms are clearly free, support, used, jobs, tutorial, or wrong-region intent?
Record negative candidate, level, false-block risk, and release condition.
Protect high-intent no-conversion terms
Which terms look like buyer demand, but the page, price, trust, or shipping does not support them?
Write page fixes instead of negating them immediately.
Choose next-week actions
Which one primary action changes next week: negatives, page, keyword promotion, or match type?
Leave the waste sheet, change log, review date, and rollback line.
Promotion rules
Good search terms should not stay buried in a broad keyword pack
Promotion is not about making the account complex. It gives high-value intent clearer budget, copy, and page support.
Consistently brings quality clicks and conversions
Promote to keyword or separate ad group
Pair it with a more specific RSA, a separate budget watch, and a matching landing page.
The term reveals a standalone demand
Promote to page, FAQ, or comparison content need
Improve the page before buying more traffic.
Relevant but repeatedly non-converting
Move into page-fit investigation
Check price, trust, shipping, payment, tracking before negating.
Advanced guardrail
AI / N-gram can organize candidates, not auto-upload negatives
As search-term volume grows, scripts, N-gram grouping, or AI classification can find repeated roots, group terms, and prepare CSV review sheets. They should create candidates only. Before anything enters the account, review business meaning, page fit, historical conversion quality, false-block risk, and release condition.
Basic and Pro boundary
The basic workflow covers how to classify one search term, choose negative scope, and recover from a false block. Full N-gram mining, shared lists, account-level / PMax / brand control, and system governance belong in Google Ads Pro negative keyword systems.
Useful tool work
- Group high-spend queries by root term or N-gram.
- Flag candidates such as free, repair, jobs, used, or bulk for human review.
- Generate a review sheet with search term, matched keyword, match type, spend, conversions, and suggested action.
Do not automate this
- Do not bulk-upload the candidate sheet directly into negative keywords.
- Do not push an ambiguous root into account-level scope or a shared list.
- Do not replace responsible-lead review, Change history, release condition, and next review date with an AI judgment.
Migration boundary
Migrate useful DSA, PMax, or Broad discovery terms before treating them as noise
Some useful search terms come from DSA, Performance Max, or Broad discovery rather than a manually added Search keyword. Do not trust or discard them only because the source is automated. Record query, landing page, product, conversion quality, and business boundary first, then decide whether to migrate into a Search keyword, page/feed asset, or later advanced governance.
Migrate
High-intent queries with conversions or quality cart adds can become Search keywords or separate ad groups.
Build asset first
If the query is valuable but page, feed, or product information is weak, fix Final URL, FAQ, product attributes, or feed fields first.
Route to advanced work
Bulk query governance from PMax, DSA, or Broad, shared lists, and account-level negatives belong in the later advanced negative-keyword system.
Fill the waste-control sheet
Turn search-term actions into a reviewable account record
A negative without a reason is hard to maintain. Each action needs term, metrics, action, level, and reason.
Search-term examples
The same no-conversion result can require different actions
Negatives are not "delete anything that did not buy." Read intent, modifiers, and scenario before excluding, observing, promoting, or fixing the page.
free travel mug replacement lid
"Free" and "replacement lid" suggest the user may not be buying a new mug, so purchase intent is weak.
Wrong move: Negate the whole travel mug direction just because this query did not convert.
Better move: Add free, replacement, and lid as negative candidates at the right level while keeping high-intent purchase terms.
leak proof travel mug for backpack
Intent is still close to purchase, but the user cares about backpack carry, so the page may need clearer supporting content.
Wrong move: Negate it immediately because it has not produced the first order.
Better move: Observe spend and click path first; if sample stays strong, promote it into phrase or exact match.
coffee cup cleaning tutorial
This is content-learning intent, not current product purchase intent.
Wrong move: Keep buying it with more attractive ad copy.
Better move: Negate it or move it to content/remarketing work so Search purchase validation is not diluted.
Stop / Go
Stop and go rules for search-term control
Search-term optimization is not about making the account narrower. It is about spending less on intent you should not buy and keeping valuable queries.
Search terms report is never reviewed
Review search terms weekly sorted by spend
Waste sheet has date, responsible lead, and action.
All non-converting terms are negated
Classify first: high intent, comparison, learning, irrelevant, weak page fit
Every negative has reason and false-block check.
Overly broad negatives block core intent
Save by account, campaign, and ad group level
Negative level and scope are documented.
Broadening match before negative discipline exists
Control waste terms before expanding match type
Gates, review window, and stop line are passed.
Handoff notes
Turn the current search-term choices into a next-week record
Click the negative scope simulator, 7-day waste-control workshop, and match-type gates first, then copy this record. It carries the current scenario, action, false-block risk, gates, and next route.
Current copyable note
The note follows your current negative scope, search-term action, and preparation gates. Copy it, then add the account numbers that are still missing.
Current pressure: the Search campaign needs waste control before wider high-intent coverage. Primary evidence: relationship scenario is Good variant: do not block it; search term is leak proof travel mug for backpack; matched keyword is "leak proof travel mug"; negative-scope scenario is Free ambiguity; current 7-day workshop term is leak proof travel mug for backpack. This week's action: selected action is Fix page; recommended action is Do not negate. Improve the page and observe next week; if CVR improves, promote to phrase keyword.. Guardrail: do not negate every no-conversion term just to clean the report, and do not widen match type when only 1/4 gates pass. False-block risk: Recovery: if it was blocked, remove the negative or move it down to ad group scope; add PDP content and a clear use-case demonstration; review add_to_cart, CVR, and page path next week. A broad free negative can block real pre-purchase questions such as "free shipping". If you negate it immediately, you block real buyer demand before the page answers the leak-resistance concern. Admin evidence: keep field records, business boundaries, and release conditions for Search terms report, Negative keywords, negative keyword lists / account-level negatives, match-type changes, and change history. Review window: write date, campaign, search-term quality, CPA, CVR, add_to_cart, and page-path signal, then decide continue / tighten / release next week. Next route: if waste comes from query intent, keep building negatives; if it comes from page fit, go to CRO page evidence; if gates are weak, return to conversion tracking, budget, and bidding basics.
Action routes after search terms
Decide whether to observe, negate, or split a query before first-cycle optimization or scaling.
Search-term governance does not turn one expensive query into a global negative, and a report is not permission to scale.
After the query is routed to observe, negate, or split, hand one explainable primary variable to the first-cycle review.
Scale readiness comes after high-intent traffic, order quality, profit, inventory, and fulfillment are explainable.
Closeout
Each week, review search terms by spend before deciding negatives, promotion, page fixes, or match tightening. Control waste before expanding coverage.