You set your keywords carefully, so why does your Google Ads budget still leak? The answer starts with your search terms report, which shows what people actually typed before your ad appeared. Those queries rarely match the keywords you picked, and the gap is where wasted Google Ads spend hides.

We’ve reviewed dozens of small business accounts at Slamstop, and the same leaks show up almost every time. This guide breaks down how keywords and search terms differ. You’ll see how to read your report, find the searches draining your budget, and use negative keywords to shut them down.

Keywords and Google Ads Search Terms Are Not the Same Thing

A keyword is the word or phrase you choose to target. A search term, meanwhile, is the actual query someone typed into Google before your ad appeared.

The two are closely related, but they rarely mean the same thing once your campaign goes live. Here is what separates them in practice:

• You Choose Keywords, Google Chooses Matches: You pick a keyword, but Google decides which search terms count as close enough to trigger your ad. Google’s decision depends on your match-type settings.
• Search Terms Reveal Real Intent: A keyword like “running shoes” says nothing about the search intent behind it. The term “running shoes for flat feet” tells you exactly what the person needs.
• One Keyword Can Trigger Many Terms: A single broad match keyword can pull in dozens of related terms, some useful and some completely irrelevant to your business. So “running shoes” on broad match might trigger for “shoe repair” or “free running apps,” neither of which fits your store.  

The mismatch between your chosen keywords and people’s actual search terms is exactly where the wasted spend hides.

Why Your Google Ads Campaign Spends on the Wrong Searches

A keyword-to-search-term mismatch costs real money once your campaign is live. Two things control most of it: how you build your ad groups and which match types you choose for each keyword. Let’s get into them. 

How Ad Group Structure Affects the Searches You Trigger

An ad group works best when it holds tightly related keywords. For example, an ad group for running shoes could hold keywords like “trail running shoes”, “women’s running shoes”, and “cushioned running shoes”. Once you mix unrelated keywords into one group, Google struggles to match your ads to relevant searches. 

And yes, we’ve seen an ad group built around ten loosely related keywords blow through a week’s budget on searches nobody wanted. Tighter ad groups fix the wasted-click problem directly. They give Google less room to guess and more reason to show your ad to the person searching for your keyword.

Match Types and What They Control

Match types decide how closely a search has to resemble your keyword before your ad shows up. A broad match casts the widest net, which shows your ad for searches Google considers related, even loosely.

An exact match sits at the other end, targeting only your keyword or a close variation, such as a misspelling, plural, or reordered version of the same words. Even exact match keywords still trigger for these variations, so no match type fully guarantees a clean search terms report.

Your keyword choices affect more than which searches trigger your ad. They also feed your quality score, the 1-to-10 rating Google gives every keyword. And that rating comes down to three things: 

• What your expected click-through rate is
• How relevant your ad is
• How well your landing page matches what the searcher wants

Poor keyword selection and messy ad groups drag your quality score down. A lower score then raises your cost per click and often reduces your conversion rate across the whole campaign.

Finding Keywords in Your Google Ads Account Beyond Keyword Planner

Your keyword performance data lives inside your Google Ads account, rather than inside Google Keyword Planner. This is a keyword research tool that shows search volume and keyword ideas before you launch a campaign. Once your ads go live, though, you need the Search Terms report to see what people are searching for when your ads appear. 

We have pulled the Search Terms report for plenty of client accounts, and it almost never matches the campaign’s keyword list. At SlamStop, checking it is usually the first thing we do when a client’s budget is draining without explanation.

To see which searches your account is already triggering, open your campaign, click the Keywords tab, then select Search Terms from the drop-down menu. That single click swaps your assumptions for the actual queries triggering your ads.

Once you know where your search terms report lives, you can start identifying which searches are costing you money.

What Your Google Ads Search Terms Report Shows You

Your search terms report lists every search query that triggered your ad. Each query sits next to a performance breakdown showing exactly how it did, so you can spot where your budget works and where it does not.

Two patterns are particularly useful when you review the search terms your ads are triggering. 

Broad Match Searches Far Outside Your Target

Broad keywords and other broad terms often pull in high-volume traffic that has little connection to real search intent. We’ve seen a coffee shop’s “best espresso” keyword pull in clicks for espresso machine repairs, with no purchase in sight.

A new account almost always shows this same mismatch between broad keywords and irrelevant search terms. As a general rule, a keyword with ten or more clicks and no conversions is a strong candidate for a negative keyword.

Exact Match Gaps in Your Keyword Lists

Sometimes the search terms report reveals the opposite problem. A search term brings in real buyers, but the right keyword to capture that search is missing from your account entirely.

When a converting keyword is missing, you’re relying on broad or phrase match alone to keep reaching those buyers. Add the missing term as an exact match keyword instead, and you get direct control over bids for a search you already know converts.

The search terms report often surfaces keyword ideas you never considered, but people search regularly. Negative keywords handle the opposite job, blocking searches you never wanted in the first place.

How to Add Negative Keywords at the Account Level

Negative keywords stop your ads from showing up for searches that will never convert. That’s why you should set up your negative keywords at the account level, and the block covers every campaign at once instead of one at a time.

Here is how to build yours:

• Shared Library Setup: Start with the Negative Keyword Lists section in your Google Ads account. From there, create a shared list of terms you want to exclude. Any list you build here stays separate from individual campaigns and works across all of them at once. You set it up once, and it keeps protecting every campaign you run later.
• Report-Based Term Additions: You can pull negative keyword examples straight from your search terms report, things like “free”, “jobs”, or “repair” if they don’t match what you sell. Keep the list growing as new terms show up each week. Fresh accounts tend to surface new mismatches quickly, so early weeks need the closest attention.
• Campaign-Wide Application: An unattached list protects nothing, no matter how many terms sit inside it, so this step is not optional. You should attach your list to each active campaign so the exclusions take effect.

Leave your list untouched for a month, and those same unwanted searches will trigger your ads repeatedly, quietly eating into your PPC budget.

If you run Performance Max campaigns, keep in mind that it handles negative keywords differently. Performance Max relies on account-level exclusion lists you request through Google support, rather than the campaign-level controls available in standard search campaigns.

You now have a working negative keyword list. The remaining question is how often to update it.

How Often Keyword Research Should Happen on Active Campaigns

New search campaigns need weekly keyword research for the first month, since fresh accounts generate the most new keywords worth adding or blocking. Every account we’ve managed that checked search terms weekly in month one caught waste the monthly checkers missed entirely.

Once your PPC keywords and PPC campaigns settle into a steady pattern, checking every two to four weeks suits most small businesses. You’ll still refine your keyword lists as search behaviour shifts, just less often than at launch.

If it has been a while since you reviewed your full account setup, run a full audit of your Google Ads account. A proper audit covers account structure, match types, and keyword lists side by side.

Bottom Line: A regular check-in routine, paired with exact match targeting and negative keyword maintenance, keeps your budget going toward searches that convert.

Make Your Search Terms Report a Weekly Habit 

Most PPC budgets don’t disappear all at once. It leaks out slowly, one mismatched search at a time, and the search terms report is the one place built to catch it.

Start with your search terms report this week. From there, flag the obvious mismatches, add your first negative keywords, and set a recurring reminder to check again in seven days.

Want a second set of eyes on your account? SlamStop offers a free Google Ads review. Contact our team to book a free Google Ads review.