# PPC Search Terms {% hint style="info" %} **Difficulty:** ๐Ÿ”ด Advanced ยท **Reading time:** \~15 min {% endhint %} {% hint style="success" icon="rocket" %} **Open this page in your dashboard:** [**Go to PPC Search Terms \[BETA\] โ†’**](https://dashboard.sellermagnet.com/ppc/search-terms) {% endhint %} {% hint style="warning" icon="triangle-exclamation" %} **BETA:** The PPC Manager is currently in beta. Some features may behave unexpectedly or change based on user feedback. Please report any issues at . {% endhint %} ## ๐Ÿ“‹ Overview The **Search Terms** page analyzes every search term that triggered your ads and categorizes them into three performance buckets: **Winners**, **Losers**, and **Potentials**. From here you can take immediate action : **harvest** top performers into your campaigns or **negate** terms that waste spend. > **Why Search Term Analysis Matters:** On average, Amazon sellers waste 20-35% of their PPC budget on irrelevant or non-converting search terms. Regular search term hygiene is one of the fastest ways to improve your ACoS (Advertising Cost of Sale) without changing bids or budgets. *** ## Summary KPIs Four summary cards give you an instant performance snapshot: | Card | Description | | ---------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Winners** | Search terms converting below your target ACoS (profitable terms) | | **Losers** | Search terms with high spend but no/low conversions (wasteful terms) | | **Potentials** | Promising search terms that need more data to evaluate | | **Wasted Spend** | Total currency value potentially recoverable by negating losers | ### Reading Your KPIs Effectively > **Quick Win:** The **Wasted Spend** card is your most actionable metric. If it shows more than 15% of your total spend, you should prioritize negating losers immediately. For example, if you spent EUR 2,000 last month and Wasted Spend shows EUR 480, that is 24% of your budget going to non-converting terms, money you can reclaim today. **Example KPI snapshot for a typical seller:** | Card | Value | Interpretation | | ---------------- | ---------- | ---------------------------------------------------- | | **Winners** | 42 terms | These are your money-makers; consider harvesting | | **Losers** | 87 terms | High count signals broad/auto campaigns need cleanup | | **Potentials** | 31 terms | Check back in 7-14 days when more data is available | | **Wasted Spend** | EUR 347.20 | Negate the top losers to recover this spend | *** ## Visual Breakdowns * **Spend Distribution** (Pie Chart): How your ad spend is split across Winners, Losers, and Potentials * **Performance Comparison** (Bar Chart): ACoS, CTR, and CVR compared across the three categories ### How to Interpret the Charts > **Reading the Spend Distribution Chart:** A healthy campaign typically shows 60-75% of spend going to Winners, under 20% to Losers, and the remainder to Potentials. If your Losers slice is larger than your Winners slice, your campaigns need urgent attention. **Benchmark comparison:** | Metric | Healthy Campaign | Needs Attention | Critical | | --------------------- | ---------------- | --------------- | -------- | | Winner Spend Share | > 60% | 40-60% | < 40% | | Loser Spend Share | < 15% | 15-30% | > 30% | | Potential Spend Share | 10-25% | > 30% | > 40% | *** ## Tabbed Interface ![SellerMagnet PPC Search Terms](/files/SNCNq9NKGDM9ZRfLSslU) ### Winners Tab Search terms that are **converting profitably** (below your target ACoS). | Column | Description | | --------------- | ------------------------ | | โ˜ (Checkbox) | Select for bulk actions | | **Search Term** | The actual search query | | **Impressions** | Number of impressions | | **Clicks** | Number of clicks | | **Spend** | Total spend | | **Sales** | Attributed sales | | **Orders** | Number of orders | | **ACoS** | Advertising Cost of Sale | | **ROAS** | Return on Ad Spend | | **CVR** | Conversion Rate | | **Actions** | Harvest button | **Available actions:** * **Harvest** (per row): Add this search term as a keyword to a campaign * **Bulk Harvest Selected:** Harvest multiple winners at once * **Export Selected:** Download selected rows as CSV > **Best Practice : Prioritize Your Winners:** Sort by **Sales** descending and harvest the top 10-20 search terms first. These are your proven converters. Harvesting them as **Exact Match** keywords in a dedicated manual campaign gives you precise bid control over your most profitable queries. #### Scenario: Harvesting a Top-Performing Search Term > **Situation:** You sell a stainless steel garlic press on Amazon.de. Your auto campaign data (last 30 days) shows the search term "knoblauchpresse edelstahl" generated 14 orders, EUR 189.00 in sales, at an ACoS of 11.2%, well below your 25% target. > > **Action:** Click **Harvest** on this term, select your manual Exact Match campaign, set a bid of EUR 0.65 (slightly above the auto campaign CPC of EUR 0.52), and confirm. > > **Result:** You now control the bid for this high-converting term independently, and can allocate more budget to it without raising bids on less profitable terms. ### Losers Tab Search terms that are **wasting spend** with no or poor conversions. | Column | Description | | --------------- | ------------------------------- | | โ˜ (Checkbox) | Select for bulk actions | | **Search Term** | The actual search query | | **Impressions** | Number of impressions | | **Clicks** | Number of clicks | | **Spend** | Total spend (wasted) | | **Sales** | Attributed sales (low/zero) | | **Orders** | Number of orders (low/zero) | | **ACoS** | Advertising Cost of Sale (high) | | **CPC** | Cost Per Click | | **Actions** | Negate button | **Available actions:** * **Negate** (per row): Add as a negative keyword * **Bulk Negate Selected:** Negate multiple losers at once * **Export Selected:** Download selected rows as CSV {% hint style="danger" %} **Warning:** Before negating a search term, check its click count. A term with only 2-3 clicks and zero orders may simply lack data : it could still convert. Focus on negating terms with **10+ clicks and zero orders**, or terms that are clearly irrelevant to your product (e.g., a competitor brand name you do not want to target). {% endhint %} #### Scenario: Identifying and Negating Wasteful Terms > **Situation:** You sell premium yoga mats on Amazon.com. Your Losers tab shows the search term "cheap yoga mat under 10 dollars" with 47 clicks, USD 38.50 spent, and zero orders. Your product is priced at USD 49.99. > > **Action:** This is a classic price-intent mismatch. Click **Negate**, select **Negative Phrase** match at the campaign level, and confirm. This blocks not just this exact query but also variations like "cheap yoga mat under 10 dollars free shipping." > > **Result:** You immediately stop spending on shoppers who are not your target customer. Over 30 days, this single negation could save you USD 38+ in wasted spend. #### When to Use Negative Exact vs. Negative Phrase | Negative Match Type | Use When | Example | | ------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------- | | **Negative Exact** | Only this specific query is irrelevant | "garlic press red" (you only sell silver) | | **Negative Phrase** | The entire phrase pattern is irrelevant regardless of additions | "cheap yoga mat" (all cheap-intent queries) | {% hint style="warning" %} **Be careful with Negative Phrase:** Negating the phrase "mat" would block "yoga mat", "exercise mat", and every query containing "mat." Always use the most specific negative match type possible to avoid accidentally blocking profitable traffic. {% endhint %} ### Potentials Tab Search terms with **promising signals** but insufficient data for a clear verdict. | Column | Description | | ------------------ | ----------------------- | | **Search Term** | The actual search query | | **Impressions** | Number of impressions | | **Clicks** | Number of clicks | | **Spend** | Total spend | | **CTR** | Click-Through Rate | | **CPC** | Cost Per Click | | **Recommendation** | Suggested next step | > Potentials are read-only. Monitor them until enough data accumulates to classify them as winners or losers. > **Pro Tip:** Set a calendar reminder to review your Potentials tab every 7-14 days. Many Potentials will naturally migrate to the Winners or Losers tab as data accumulates. If a Potential has a high CTR (above 0.5%) but has not yet converted, it is worth watching closely, high click-through rate signals strong relevance. ### History Tab A full audit trail of all search term actions you have taken: | Column | Description | | ------------------- | -------------------------------- | | **Date** | When the action was taken | | **Search Term** | The affected search term | | **Action Type** | Harvest or Negate | | **Match Type** | The match type used | | **Source Campaign** | Where the search term originated | | **Target Campaign** | Where the keyword was added | {% hint style="info" %} **Audit Trail Best Practice:** Review your History tab monthly. It helps you avoid duplicating actions (e.g., accidentally harvesting a term you already added) and gives you a clear record to share with team members or account managers. {% endhint %} *** ## Harvest Modal When you click **Harvest** on a winning search term, a modal appears: | Field | Description | | ------------------- | ------------------------------------------------ | | **Search Term** | Pre-filled (read-only) | | **Target Campaign** | Select the campaign to add this keyword to | | **Target Ad Group** | Select the ad group (dynamic, based on campaign) | | **Match Type** | Choose: Exact, Phrase, or Broad | | **Bid** | Set your bid (default: $0.75) | Click **Confirm** to add the search term as a new keyword to the selected campaign and ad group. ### Harvest Match Type Recommendations | Match Type | When to Use | Bid Strategy | | ---------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------- | | **Exact** | High-confidence winner with 10+ orders: you want precise control | Set bid 10-20% above auto campaign CPC | | **Phrase** | Winner shows promise but you want to capture related long-tail queries | Set bid at or slightly above auto CPC | | **Broad** | Exploratory: you want Amazon to find related terms (use with caution) | Set bid 20-30% below auto campaign CPC | > **Recommended Workflow:** Harvest your top winners as **Exact Match** first. After 2-4 weeks of data, consider adding **Phrase Match** for the terms that have shown consistent performance. Avoid Broad Match unless you are actively trying to discover new search term variations. *** ## Negate Modal When you click **Negate** on a losing search term: | Field | Description | | --------------- | --------------------------------- | | **Search Term** | Pre-filled (read-only) | | **Level** | Campaign-level or Ad Group-level | | **Match Type** | Negative Exact or Negative Phrase | Click **Confirm** to add the search term as a negative keyword, preventing your ads from showing for this query. ### Campaign-Level vs. Ad Group-Level Negation | Level | When to Use | | ------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Campaign-level** | The term is irrelevant to ALL products/ad groups in this campaign | | **Ad Group-level** | The term is irrelevant to one ad group but may be relevant to another | {% hint style="info" %} **Example:** You run a campaign with two ad groups: "Running Shoes Men" and "Running Shoes Women." The search term "running shoes women" is a loser in the Men ad group but would be relevant to the Women ad group. Negate at the **Ad Group level** in the Men ad group only. {% endhint %} *** ## ๐Ÿ” Filters | Filter | Options | Default | | --------------- | ------------------------------------ | ------------ | | **Date Range** | Last 7, 14, 30, 60, or 90 days | Last 30 days | | **Target ACoS** | Numeric input (percentage) | 25% | | **Marketplace** | All Marketplaces, or select specific | All | > The **Target ACoS** value is what determines the boundary between Winners and Losers. Adjust this based on your profit margins. ### How to Set Your Target ACoS Your Target ACoS should be based on your **pre-ad profit margin**. Here is a quick reference: | Product Margin (before ads) | Recommended Target ACoS | Reasoning | | --------------------------- | ----------------------- | --------------------------------------------- | | 50%+ | 30-40% | High margin allows aggressive ad spend | | 30-50% | 20-30% | Balanced approach: profitability after ads | | 15-30% | 10-20% | Tight margin: only highly efficient terms win | | Under 15% | 5-10% | Very tight: consider if PPC is viable | {% hint style="danger" %} **Common Mistake:** Setting Target ACoS too low (e.g., 10%) when your margins are healthy (e.g., 40%). This classifies many profitable search terms as "Losers" and causes you to negate terms that are actually making you money. A term with 28% ACoS is still profitable if your margin is 40%. {% endhint %} ### Choosing the Right Date Range | Date Range | Best For | | ---------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Last 7 days** | Catching sudden changes; reacting to new campaigns or bid adjustments | | **Last 14 days** | Balanced view for active optimization cycles | | **Last 30 days** | Standard review period: most reliable data (recommended default) | | **Last 60 days** | Seasonal analysis or low-traffic products | | **Last 90 days** | Long-term trend analysis or very low volume ASINs | {% hint style="warning" %} **Note:** Amazon attributes sales with a 7-day (or 14-day) lookback window. Very recent data (last 3-5 days) may not yet reflect all conversions. For the most accurate analysis, use a date range ending at least 7 days ago, or use the **Last 30 days** default. {% endhint %} *** ## Recommended Search Term Review Workflow Follow this step-by-step process weekly to maintain optimal campaign performance: **Step 1: Set your filters** * Date range: Last 30 days (or Last 14 days for high-traffic products) * Target ACoS: Based on your product margins (see table above) * Marketplace: Select the specific marketplace you are optimizing **Step 2: Review KPIs and charts** * Check the Wasted Spend card: is it growing or shrinking compared to last week? * Review the Spend Distribution pie chart: aim for Winners > 60% of spend **Step 3: Negate top losers (5-10 minutes)** * Go to the Losers tab, sort by **Spend** descending * Negate the top 10-20 highest-spending losers with zero or minimal orders * Use Negative Phrase for broad irrelevant categories, Negative Exact for specific queries **Step 4: Harvest top winners (5-10 minutes)** * Go to the Winners tab, sort by **Sales** descending * Harvest the top 5-10 winners that are not already in your manual campaigns * Use Exact Match and set bids 10-20% above the auto campaign CPC **Step 5: Check Potentials** * Briefly scan the Potentials tab for any terms that look especially promising or especially irrelevant * Flag terms with high CTR for follow-up next week **Step 6: Verify in History** * Confirm your actions were recorded in the History tab * Note the date for your next review > **Time Investment:** This entire workflow takes 15-20 minutes per marketplace per week. Sellers who follow this routine consistently see a 15-30% improvement in ACoS within the first 4-6 weeks. *** ## Before and After: Real Impact Examples ### Example 1: Consumer Electronics Seller (Amazon.de) | Metric | Before (Week 1) | After 4 Weeks of Weekly Reviews | Change | | ------------ | --------------- | ------------------------------- | -------- | | Total Spend | EUR 1,200 | EUR 1,200 | : | | Wasted Spend | EUR 384 (32%) | EUR 132 (11%) | -66% | | ACoS | 34.2% | 22.8% | -11.4 pp | | Total Orders | 67 | 89 | +33% | | Winner Count | 28 | 52 | +86% | **What changed:** Negated 43 losing terms, harvested 18 winners into exact match campaigns. ### Example 2: Home & Kitchen Seller (Amazon.com) | Metric | Before (Month 1) | After 8 Weeks of Weekly Reviews | Change | | ------------ | ---------------- | ------------------------------- | ------- | | Total Spend | USD 3,500 | USD 3,500 | : | | Wasted Spend | USD 1,050 (30%) | USD 385 (11%) | -63% | | ACoS | 28.7% | 19.1% | -9.6 pp | | ROAS | 3.48x | 5.24x | +51% | **What changed:** Systematic weekly negation of 15-20 losers and harvesting of 5-10 winners per cycle. ***
โš ๏ธ Common Mistakes to Avoid {% hint style="danger" %} * **Mistake 1: Never reviewing search terms.** If you run auto or broad match campaigns and never analyze search terms, you are almost certainly wasting 20-40% of your ad budget. Set a weekly reminder. * **Mistake 2: Negating terms too aggressively.** A search term with 3 clicks and 0 orders is not necessarily a loser, it may just need more data. Wait until a term has 15-20 clicks with no conversion before negating, unless the term is obviously irrelevant to your product. * **Mistake 3: Using the wrong Target ACoS.** If your Target ACoS does not reflect your actual margins, the entire Winners/Losers classification is wrong. Take 5 minutes to calculate your true product margin and set the Target ACoS accordingly. * **Mistake 4: Harvesting but not negating in the source campaign.** When you harvest a winning search term into a manual Exact Match campaign, consider adding that term as a **Negative Exact** in the auto/broad campaign it came from. This prevents both campaigns from competing against each other for the same query (known as "keyword cannibalization"). * **Mistake 5: Negating at the wrong level.** Negating at the campaign level when the term is only irrelevant to one ad group can block profitable traffic in other ad groups. Always check if the term could be relevant elsewhere before choosing campaign-level negation. {% endhint %}
\## ๐Ÿ”ง Troubleshooting ### "I have no search terms showing up" * **Check your date range:** Expand to Last 60 or Last 90 days. New campaigns may not have enough data in a 7-day window. * **Check your campaign type:** Search term data is only available for Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands campaigns. Sponsored Display does not generate search term reports. * **Check your marketplace selection:** Make sure you have selected a marketplace where you have active campaigns. * **Data delay:** Amazon typically provides search term data with a 24-72 hour delay. Very recent campaign launches may not have data yet. ### "Everything shows as a Loser" * **Your Target ACoS may be too low.** If you set a 10% Target ACoS but your category average is 25-30%, nearly all terms will be classified as Losers. Raise your Target ACoS to match your actual profit margins. * **Date range too short.** With a 7-day window, Amazon's attribution delay can make terms look like losers when the sales have not yet been counted. Expand to Last 30 days. ### "I harvested a term but my ACoS did not improve" * **Give it time.** Harvested keywords need 2-4 weeks to accumulate meaningful data in their new campaign. * **Check your bid.** If your bid is too low, the harvested keyword may not win enough auctions to generate impressions. * **Did you negate in the source?** If the auto campaign is still bidding on the same term, you are now paying for the query in two places. ### "I negated a term and my sales dropped" * **Check the History tab** to identify which term was negated. * **Verify the match type.** If you used Negative Phrase when you intended Negative Exact, you may have blocked more traffic than expected. * **Undo the negation** by going to your Amazon campaign manager, finding the negative keyword, and removing it. Then reassess whether the term truly deserved to be negated. *** ## โ“ FAQ
How often should I review my search terms? Weekly is the gold standard for active campaigns. For low-spend or low-volume campaigns, bi-weekly is sufficient. Never go longer than 30 days without a review.
Can I undo a harvest or negation action? SellerMagnet sends harvest and negation actions to the Amazon Advertising API. To undo, you need to go into your Amazon Campaign Manager and manually remove the keyword or negative keyword. Use the History tab to identify what was changed and when.
What is the difference between the Search Terms page and the Amazon Search Term Report? SellerMagnet automatically categorizes your search terms into Winners, Losers, and Potentials based on your Target ACoS, saving you hours of manual spreadsheet analysis. The raw data comes from the same Amazon API, but SellerMagnet adds classification, bulk actions, and a full audit trail.
Should I harvest search terms as Exact, Phrase, or Broad match? Start with **Exact Match** for your proven winners (10+ orders). This gives you the most control over bids. Only use Phrase or Broad if you want to expand reach and are prepared to monitor the new search terms those match types generate.
How does the Potentials classification work? A search term is classified as a Potential when it has some clicks and spend but not enough conversion data to reliably categorize it as a winner or loser. The exact thresholds depend on your Target ACoS and the statistical confidence needed to make a determination.
Can I use this tool for Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Display campaigns? Search term data is available for **Sponsored Products** and **Sponsored Brands** campaigns. Sponsored Display campaigns do not generate search term reports in the Amazon Advertising API.
My competitor brand names are showing as Winners. Should I harvest them? Proceed with caution. While bidding on competitor brand names can be profitable, Amazon has policies around trademark usage. Harvest the term if it is converting well, but be aware that the competitor may file a complaint, and your ads could be disapproved.
*** ## ๐Ÿ’ก Tips > **Best practice:** Review your search terms weekly. Harvest your top 5-10 winners as **Exact Match** keywords and negate your worst losers to continuously improve campaign efficiency. > **Pro tip:** After negating losers, check the **History Tab** to confirm the changes were applied. Then monitor your ACoS trend in **Analytics** to measure the impact over the following 2-4 weeks. > **Advanced tip:** Export your Winners and Losers lists as CSV files and maintain a master spreadsheet. Over time, you will build a keyword library of proven converters and a complete negative keyword list that you can apply to new campaigns from day one. {% hint style="info" icon="circle-info" %} **Marketplace-Specific Note:** If you sell across multiple Amazon marketplaces (e.g., US, DE, UK, FR), review search terms for each marketplace separately. A winning term in one language or market may not exist or may perform differently in another. {% endhint %} *** ## โžก๏ธ What's Next? {% content-ref url="/pages/5gaYA3QhcKl8Rx0EmNCL" %} [PPC Keyword Research](/ppc-management-beta/ppc-manager-overview/ppc-keyword-research.md) {% endcontent-ref %} {% content-ref url="/pages/AgCa0wMskRJ5quPLWZtg" %} [PPC Bid Rules](/ppc-management-beta/ppc-manager-overview/ppc-bid-rules.md) {% endcontent-ref %} --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.sellermagnet.com/ppc-management-beta/ppc-manager-overview/ppc-search-terms.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.