Recently, an advertiser approached Ginny Marvin, the Google Ads Liaison, regarding the problem of a substantial share of their ad spend and conversions falling under “Other” search terms. The advertiser operates exclusively on exact-match keywords for this campaign.
The advertiser added that 80% of Ad spend and 90% of conversions were attributed to the “Other” search terms, and their client expressed significant concerns about the quality of the conversions, deeming those to be subpar in nature.
To this, Marvin explained that Google Ads groups the search queries that can’t meet its privacy thresholds into the “Other” search terms category. She then advised using Search Terms Insights on the Insights page, which was a tool designed to analyze query categories driving activity and provide deeper insights into performance.
“Queries that do not meet our privacy thresholds are aggregated in within the “other” search terms line. Search Terms Insights (on the Insights page) can be helpful to better understand the query themes/categories driving activity though. The category groupings take all search terms into account, including those not included in the search terms report for privacy reasons.”
As Marvin pointed out, Search Terms Insights takes into account all search terms, even those excluded from the standard search terms report due to privacy considerations. This tool categorizes terms based on intent and attributes, offering metrics for each category and subcategory.
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What is Google Ads Search Terms
As Marvin pointed out, Search Terms Insights considers all search terms, including those that are not included in the standard search terms report due to privacy reasons. This tool categorizes terms based on intent and attributes, as it offers metrics for each category and subcategory.
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What are Google Ads Search Terms
Google Ads search terms represent the particular words or phrases you enter through Google’s search engine to see the ad of an advertiser. The moment a user inputs something into the search query, it is matched with keywords on which an advertiser has bid by Google. If it matched, it could show the advertisement.
The search terms report in Google Ads gives insights into the very search queries your ads actually triggered for. It shows what the user typed into Google beforehand, prior to clicking your ad. This report is key for understanding how users are finding your ads and which keywords drive traffic and conversions for you.
Advertisers can refine their keyword targeting with this insight, optimize ad copy for better performance, and, by extension, enhance their campaign performance.
Enhanced Campaign Optimization through Insights
As detailed in a Google support page Marvin referenced, Search Terms Insights assists advertisers in comprehending how customers search for and interact with their business on Google. The automated groupings furnish crucial metrics without needing advertisers to sift through individual terms, some of which are kept confidential.
Advertisers can access and download search terms insights at any time post-March 2023 by adjusting to custom date ranges. These downloads contain aggregated metrics for categories and more detailed data on subcategories.
Accessing and Leveraging Search Terms Insights
The Search Terms Insights can be accessed both at the account and campaign levels. This new feature in the Google Ads API supports Search, Performance Max, Shopping, and other campaign types.
These new insights provide advertisers with complete data on all search terms, including those that are kept private. It provides a detailed breakdown of the search topics and subtopics and all the key metrics.
With new data on a regular basis, advertisers can continually refine campaign targeting and creativity to better align with evolving interests.
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Final Thought
Marvin’s guidance aims to assist advertisers in using Search Terms Insights effectively to gain deeper insights into the enigmatic “Other” search terms they may encounter in their campaign data.
Advertisers grappling with conversions attributed to “Other” terms can use the tool’s category groupings to gain a better understanding of campaign performance.
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