Keywords are what **you** bid on. Search terms are what **customers actually typed**. The gap between the two is where most wasted spend and most missed opportunity live.

This screen holds two views of that, switched by one button.

[Watch the walkthrough](https://kb.trackiq.com/kb-assets/kbvideo-search-terms-explainer-af7215c7.mp4)

*Prefer to watch? Seventy-four seconds on the two views, and how they differ from SQP.*

## **The screen**

![The Search Terms screen, with the Aggregated Search Terms toggle](/kb-assets/shot-adv-terms-view-2cadd4.png)

Standard Amazon Ads layout, plus one extra control in the header: **Aggregated Search Terms**.

The default table shows one row per search term **in its context**:

| Column | |
|---|---|
| **Campaign** | where it ran |
| **Ad group** | which ad group |
| **Keyword** | the keyword it matched |
| **Match type** | how loosely it matched |
| **Bid** | what you were paying |
| **Search term** | what the customer typed |
| **Type** | the ad type |

That **Keyword → Match type → Search term** chain is the whole point of the default view. It shows you not just that a term performed badly, but **which keyword let it in and how loosely**.

## **The two views**

| View | One row per | Answers |
|---|---|---|
| **Search Terms** (default) | term **per keyword, per ad group** | *where did this come from, and what do I change?* |
| **Aggregated Search Terms** | term, **totalled across the account** | *how much is this term worth to me overall?* |

The same search can appear many times in the default view — matched by several keywords, in several campaigns. That is accurate but makes a term look smaller than it is.

**Aggregated adds it up.** Use it when you want the real size of a term before deciding whether to build a campaign around it. Use the default view when you are about to act, because that is the one that tells you *which* keyword to change.

**A practical order:** find the term in Aggregated, then switch to the default view to see where it is coming from.

## **The three things to look for**

**Wasted spend.** Terms with real clicks and no orders. These become **negative keywords** — and note the keyword and match type that let them in, because that is what you attach the negative to.

**Winners you are not bidding on directly.** A search term converting well through a broad keyword is a candidate for its own **exact** keyword, where you can set the bid deliberately instead of inheriting one.

**Irrelevant matches.** Terms that have nothing to do with your product. These point at a **match type that is too loose** rather than at a bad keyword — the fix is upstream.

That third one is worth separating. A broad keyword producing junk is not a bad keyword; it is a keyword doing what broad does. See [**Keywords and Match Types**](https://kb.trackiq.com/hc/knowledge-base/articles/keywords-and-match-types).

## **Sort by spend**

A term at 400% ACoS on $3 is noise. One at 70% on $2,000 is the afternoon's work.

And check the click count before trusting any rate — conversion on four clicks tells you nothing.

## **Search terms versus Search Query Performance**

These are different reports, and the difference is the useful part.

| | **Search Terms** | **Search Query Performance** |
|---|---|---|
| Covers | searches **your ads ran on** | **all** search activity for your products |
| Shows | your spend and results | the **whole market**, and your share of it |
| Answers | what did I buy? | what was there to be won? |

If you were not bidding, it is not in Search Terms at all. SQP is where you find demand you are missing entirely.

Use both: Search Terms to fix what you are running, SQP to find what you are not. See [**Understanding Search Query Performance**](https://kb.trackiq.com/hc/knowledge-base/articles/understanding-search-query-performance) and [**SQP & Keywords: Finding Queries You Convert On But Don't Bid On**](https://kb.trackiq.com/hc/knowledge-base/articles/sqp-and-keywords-finding-unbid-queries).

## **Automating the loop**

The harvest-and-negate cycle is exactly what the rule engine is for. The **Harvest Keywords**, **Harvest Product Targetings** and **Negative Targeting** rule types are listed in the rule chooser but **not yet available** — so for now this is a manual pass, supported by **Cut wasted ad spend** and **Pause dead keywords** on the targeting side.

See [**Targeting Rules: Adjusting Bids and Pausing Targets**](https://kb.trackiq.com/hc/knowledge-base/articles/targeting-rules-bids-and-pausing).

## **Related**

- [**SQP & Search Terms: Matching Demand to What You Actually Ran**](https://kb.trackiq.com/hc/knowledge-base/articles/sqp-and-search-terms) — the same searches, against market demand.
- [**Harvest Winning Search Terms into Exact-Match Campaigns**](https://kb.trackiq.com/hc/knowledge-base/articles/harvest-winning-search-terms) — turning a term into a keyword.
- [**Create a Sponsored Products Campaign**](https://kb.trackiq.com/hc/knowledge-base/articles/create-a-sponsored-products-campaign) — the campaign structure that makes harvesting possible.
- [**The Bleeder Reports**](https://kb.trackiq.com/hc/knowledge-base/articles/the-bleeder-reports) — finding the terms that spend and never convert.
- [**Search Term Harvesting: Criteria and Bids**](https://kb.trackiq.com/hc/knowledge-base/articles/search-term-harvesting-criteria-and-bids) — promoting what this screen surfaces.