Google Ads recently added a notification to accounts that may be concerning to some marketers.The notification read:

Changes to the Search Terms Report
We are updating the search terms report to only include terms that were searched by a significant number of users. As a result you may see fewer terms in your report going forward.

So what does this mean? Unless you frequently work in Google Ads, some of these terms might not be familiar to you. Let’s break this down and see if this change will affect your Google campaigns!

What is the Search Terms Report?

TheSearch Term Reportprovides reporting on the actual search terms used by Google searchers that trigger your ads to display. Remember, you add keywords to your campaign, then depending on your match type, your ad is displayed after a Google searcher types in a matching search term.

In simpler terms, the Search Term Report is what people actually type into Google.  Keywords are what you bid on, search terms are what are actually typed into the search bar.

The Search Term Report is most commonly used to monitor if negative keywords are needed based on irrelevant searches. Example: A builder is bidding on “New Homes Tampa” and then their ad is shown for “Home Depot Tampa” – not good.

The screenshot below shows where to find the Search Terms Report: 

What is Changing?

To quote Google,“We are updating the search terms report toonly include terms that were searched by a significant number of users. As a result you may see fewer terms in your report going forward.” 

Emphasis on “searched by a significant number of users.” What Google leaves out is what the threshold is for “significant”… Is it three clicks or 50 clicks?

Ultimately, this change will result in the Search Term Report only showing search terms that meet the threshold number of clicks.

How does this Impact Home Builders?

The truthful answer is… it really depends. Below is a list of factors that would determine if this could have a negative impact on your Google Ad results.

1) Are you using broad match keywords?

2) Do you monitor the Search Term Report and frequently add negative keywords? If you are using broad match keywords – then you ideally are performing this process frequently. 

3) How much of your spend isnoton keywords related directly to “New Homes” and the city you build in?

Builders who will experience the most impact are those who use only broad match keywords.

What Changes Do I Need to Make?

The absolute best change is to only use keyword match types that provide the most control over which search terms trigger your ads. Below is a list of actions I would recommend to see what changes need to be made: 

1) Review your keywords – what match type are they? Broad Match Modified are my favorite – but phrase or exact match could also work.

2) Review your Search Term Report – are the search terms here what you would expect? If the report is full of search terms you expect – awesome. If the report is full of search terms that are not relevant, add those as negative keywords. However – the source of the problem is in the keyword match type. Eventually when the search term report is updated, terms that do not meet the threshold by Google will not be shown. 

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