What is the Search Terms Analyzer?

Your search terms report shows the real searches that triggered your ads — and it is where most wasted budget hides. Upload the CSV exported from Google Ads (or Microsoft Ads) and the analyzer totals spend, clicks and conversions for every query, highlights terms that cost money without converting and finds converting searches you are not yet bidding on directly.

The n-gram analysis breaks every search into single words, two-word and three-word phrases and adds up their performance, so a pattern like “jobs” or “diy” wasting money across hundreds of different searches becomes obvious. Your data is processed in your browser and never uploaded to a server.

Key features of the Search Terms Analyzer

• Wasted spend finder

  Ranks non-converting searches by cost with your own thresholds.

• N-gram analysis

  1-, 2- and 3-word phrase performance aggregated across every search.

• Negative keyword suggestions

  Matches search terms against a curated negative library and flags costly n-grams.

• Keyword opportunities

  Finds converting searches to add as exact or phrase keywords.

• Works with real exports

  Reads Google Ads and Microsoft Ads CSV exports, including UTF-16 and tab-delimited files.

• Private by design

  Files are parsed locally in your browser; nothing is stored or uploaded.

How to use the Search Terms Analyzer

1. Export the report

   In Google Ads go to Insights and reports → Search terms, choose a date range of at least 30 days and download as CSV.

2. Upload or paste

   Drop the file into the analyzer or paste the rows from a spreadsheet.

3. Set thresholds

   Enter the cost or clicks at which a non-converting search counts as waste, and your target CPA.

4. Review the tabs

   Work through wasted spend, n-grams, negative suggestions and opportunities.

5. Export actions

   Download negatives and new keywords, then add them in Google Ads.

Why n-gram analysis beats scrolling the report

A typical account has thousands of unique search terms, each with only a few clicks. Individually they look harmless; together they can drain a budget. N-gram analysis groups searches by the words they share. If the word “salary” appears in 140 different searches that together spent $380 with no conversions, you have found a negative keyword that a manual scan would miss.

How to decide what is wasted

A good rule is to flag a search when it has spent more than your target cost per acquisition without a conversion, or has received enough clicks that a conversion would normally have happened (for example, two to three times the clicks you usually need per conversion). The analyzer lets you set both thresholds.

Turning converters into keywords

Searches that convert but are only matched through broad or phrase keywords are prime candidates for their own exact match keyword. That gives you control over the bid and lets you write a tailored ad for that search.

Pro tips from our PPC and SEO team

• Analyse at least 30 days of data; 90 days for small accounts.
• Check n-grams with high cost and zero conversions first.
• Add negatives as phrase match to block every variation.
• Review the report weekly for new campaigns and monthly after that.

Search Terms Analyzer: frequently asked questions

Related free tools

• Negative Keyword List Generator Build a negative keyword list from 1,000+ curated terms by category and industry, check conflicts with your keywords and export in any match type.
• Google Ads Account Auditor Upload a keyword report to audit Quality Score, wasted spend, match types, CTR and structure, plus a 25-point settings checklist and action plan.
• Keyword Match Type Converter Convert keyword lists to broad, "phrase", [exact] and negative formats, clean disallowed symbols, remove duplicates and export an Editor-ready CSV.
• Google Ads Keyword Generator Generate hundreds of high-intent keywords from services and locations, pull live Google Autocomplete ideas, score intent and export in any match type.