Your keywords are instructions; search terms are what really happened. Because broad and phrase match — and AI features like AI Max — can match your ads to many different queries, the search terms report is the only way to see exactly what you're paying for. It shows impressions, clicks, cost, and conversions for each query, along with the keyword that triggered it.
The report drives two of the most important optimization loops in paid search: adding irrelevant or unprofitable terms as negative keywords, and promoting high-converting terms into their own keywords with tailored ads. Google hides some low-volume terms for privacy, so it never shows the complete picture, but it remains essential.
Example
A review reveals a fencing company spending on 'fence painting jobs' and 'free fence plans,' which become negatives, and 'cedar privacy fence installation cost,' which becomes a new exact-match keyword.
How Sloss Digital uses it
Search-term reviews are a standing weekly task on our accounts — the clearest window into what Google is actually doing with your budget.