Amazon Search Term Report: How to Read and Use It (2026)

What Is the Search Term Report?

The Search Term Report (STR) is one of the most important reports in Amazon Advertising. It shows you the actual search terms that customers typed into Amazon's search bar before clicking on your ad. This is a crucial distinction from your keywords — because your keyword is what you bid on in the campaign, while the search term is what the customer actually searches for.

Imagine you have the keyword "yoga mat" in a Broad Match campaign. The Search Term Report then shows you all actual search queries that Amazon matched with this keyword — for example "non-slip yoga mat 72 inch", "yoga mat for beginners thick", or "exercise mat cheap". Some of these are relevant and convert well. Others are irrelevant and just cost you money.

Where Do You Find the Search Term Report?

You can access the Search Term Report through two paths:

1. Seller Central: Go to Reports > Advertising > Select "Search Term Report" as the report type. Set your desired time period (at least 14 days recommended) and download the report as a CSV.
2. Advertising Console: Go to Reports > Search Terms. Here you can additionally filter by campaigns and ad groups, which makes the analysis more manageable.

What Data Does the Report Contain?

The Search Term Report contains, for each search term that generated at least one click on your ad:

• The actual customer search term
• The keyword from your campaign that triggered the match
• The match type (Broad, Phrase, Exact)
• Impressions, clicks, Click-Through Rate (CTR)
• Cost (Spend), Cost-per-Click (CPC)
• Orders and revenue from those clicks
• ACoS (Advertising Cost of Sales)

This data is gold — if you know how to read it and derive actions from it. That's exactly what we'll show you in the following sections.

Understanding the Key Columns

Before you start your analysis, you should truly understand the columns in the Search Term Report. Each column tells part of the story — and the combination reveals whether a search term is a winner, a loser, or an opportunity.

Customer Search Term

This is the exact search term that a customer entered on Amazon. Not your keyword, but the real search query. This is the most important column in the entire report because it shows you what your potential customers are actually searching for — in their own words.

Keyword

The keyword from your campaign that triggered the match with the search term. If your keyword is "yoga mat" (Broad Match) and the customer searches for "non-slip yoga mat blue", "yoga mat" is shown as the keyword. The connection between keyword and search term shows you how broadly Amazon interprets your targeting.

Match Type

The match type of your keyword — Broad, Phrase, or Exact. This is critical for interpretation:

• Broad Match — Amazon matches very generously. Here you'll find the most irrelevant search terms, but also the most new keyword ideas.
• Phrase Match — Amazon matches queries that contain your keyword in the correct order. More precise than Broad, but less traffic.
• Exact Match — only exact matches (plus close variants). Highest relevance, but lowest volume.

Impressions, Clicks, and CTR

Impressions show how often your ad was displayed for this search term. Clicks show how often customers clicked on it. The CTR (Click-Through Rate) is the ratio of clicks to impressions. A low CTR with high impressions indicates that your product doesn't appear relevant enough for this search term — or that your main image and price aren't compelling enough.

Spend, CPC, and ACoS

Spend is your total cost for this search term. CPC (Cost-per-Click) shows the average price per click. ACoS (Advertising Cost of Sales) is the ratio of ad spend to ad revenue — the core metric for PPC profitability.

Orders and Sales

Orders is the number of orders that occurred within the attribution window (7 or 14 days) after the click. Sales is the corresponding revenue. The combination of orders and clicks gives you your conversion rate — the most important metric for assessing keyword quality.

Step-by-Step Analysis

Now it gets practical. Here is the systematic process for turning your Search Term Report into concrete optimization actions.

Step 1: Download and Prepare the Report

Download the Search Term Report as a CSV for the last 14 to 30 days. Open it in Excel or Google Sheets. Sort by Spend descending — because the search terms you spend the most on deserve the most attention.

Step 2: Calculate Your Break-Even ACoS

Before you can evaluate a search term as good or bad, you need to know your break-even ACoS. The formula:

Step 3: Categorize Search Terms

Go through the list and assign each search term a category:

Step 4: Filter by Relevance

Not every search term in the report deserves your attention. Focus on:

• Top 20% by spend — this is where most of your budget flows. Small improvements here have the biggest impact.
• Search terms with >10 clicks and 0 orders — clear loser candidates
• Search terms with >2 orders and ACoS below 15% — clear winners that you should scale

The 80/20 rule applies here too: 20% of your search terms account for 80% of your ad budget. Optimize there first.

Identifying and Scaling Winners

Winners are search terms that convert at a profitable ACoS. They are your gold — and most sellers don't use them optimally. Here's what you should do with winners:

Move to an Exact Match Campaign

If a search term from a Broad or Phrase Match campaign consistently converts (at least 3-5 orders over 2+ weeks), it deserves its own Exact Match placement. Why? Because with Exact Match you have full control over the bid and prevent Amazon from distributing your budget to less profitable variants.

Increase the Bid

For winners with ACoS significantly below your break-even, you have room to increase the bid. A higher bid means a better placement, more impressions, and more sales. Increase gradually — 10-15% per week — and monitor whether the ACoS stays stable.

Optimize the Listing

Winner search terms show you what customers are searching for when they buy your product. Make sure these terms appear prominently in your listing — in the title, bullet points, and backend keywords. This not only strengthens relevance for PPC but also improves your organic ranking for these terms.

Eliminating Losers

Losers are search terms that eat up your budget without converting. Eliminating them is the fastest way to improve your ACoS and TACoS — because you don't need additional budget, you simply stop the waste.

When Is a Search Term a Loser?

Use these criteria as a guideline:

• Rule 1: More than 15-20 clicks without a single order — add as a negative keyword
• Rule 2: Spend exceeds the value of one order without a conversion — add as a negative immediately
• Rule 3: ACoS permanently above double your break-even — lower the bid or add as a negative
• Rule 4: Search term is obviously irrelevant (different product, different category) — add as a negative immediately, regardless of data volume

Using Negative Keywords Correctly

When you add a loser as a negative keyword, pay attention to the match type:

• Negative Exact: Blocks only the exact search term. Use this when the search term is specifically irrelevant but variations of it could be relevant.
• Negative Phrase: Blocks all queries that contain the term in that order. Use this when an entire topic is irrelevant.

Discovering New Keywords

The Search Term Report is not just an optimization tool — it's also your most important tool for keyword discovery. In Broad and Phrase Match campaigns, Amazon matches your keywords with search terms you never thought of. Some are irrelevant (losers), but others are real gold nuggets.

Where to Find New Discoveries

Look specifically for search terms that meet these criteria:

• Convert (at least 1-2 orders), even though you never actively targeted them
• Contain terms not in your keywords — e.g., synonyms, colloquial expressions, or use-case-related terms
• Reveal a customer need that you don't address in your listing

What to Do with New Discoveries

1. Check the relevance. Does the search term truly match your product? Just because someone converted doesn't mean the term will work long-term.
2. Research the volume. Use Amazon's Keyword Planner or Brand Analytics (if available) to see how much search volume the term has.
3. Create a test campaign. Move the term into a separate Exact Match campaign with a moderate bid and let it run for 2-4 weeks.
4. Integrate into the listing. If the term converts, it belongs in your bullet points or backend keywords.

Don't Ignore Long-Tail Keywords

Search terms with 4-6 words have less volume but often a significantly higher conversion rate. A customer searching for "non-slip yoga mat natural rubber 72 inch black" knows exactly what they want. If your product meets those criteria, the conversion probability is extremely high — and the CPC is often 40-60% cheaper than for generic terms.

The best keywords aren't found in keyword tools — you find them in your own Search Term Report. Because real customers typed them in to buy products like yours.

The Weekly STR Workflow

To keep your PPC campaigns profitable long-term, you need a regular analysis rhythm. Here is the workflow we recommend:

This rhythm costs you 1-2 hours per week — but saves you thousands of euros in wasted ad budget and uncovers new revenue opportunities that you would otherwise miss.