Top performing campaigns have become incredibly popular among PPC advertisers due to their automation and simplicity. However, one consistent issue has been the lack of visibility of search queries that trigger ads. Without this data, optimization of top performing campaigns has been limited.
Relief seemed at hand when, in February 2023, Google introduced the campaign_search_term_insight report, which includes a field with the search term. Script developers, myself included, immediately created scripts and automations using this new search term data for top performing campaigns.
However, despite what many published scripts claimed, none included search term data; instead, they were limited to category labels. This was due to a persistent bug with Google reports refusing to include search term data.
Thanks to Mike Rhodes for monitoring the Google reports and letting me know that the bug has recently been resolved. Now that search term data is finally available in scripts, I’ll explain how to access search query data, analyze it for optimization opportunities, and take action based on the findings.
What data is now available?
In February 2023, Google introduced a new insight report exclusively to display data for Performance Max search terms. This report provides visibility into:
The actual search queries for which your ads appeared. Search categories into which queries are grouped. Clicks, impressions and other performance metrics.
It does not provide visibility into costs. However, having the search terms and clicks is a big step forward.
Access to data
There are a few ways to access the new Top Performance Search Statistics report:
Directly in the Google Ads interface under Statistics on the campaign page. Using the Google Ads API. Using a Google Ads script that leverages the API report.
Search terms for maximum performance can be found in the Google Ads user interface. Screenshot by the author, March 2024.
The advantage of using a script is that it can automatically extract the data into a spreadsheet for easy manipulation and analysis.
I’ve created a script that puts the search terms into a spreadsheet. Just go for it Main URL and copy the code.
Then paste it into the Google Ads Scripts interface. It will then automatically collect search term data from all top performing campaigns into one Google Sheet.
When you run the script, it adds the data to a spreadsheet like this:
Data availability is similar to regular search query reports, with some limitations:
The data only goes back to March 2023, when it was first published. Search term data may be sampled if volume is high.
However, this still provides significantly greater visibility than was previously available in top performing campaigns.
Analyzing the data
Now that you have your top performing search query data in a spreadsheet, what insights can you glean? Here are some analyzes you can do:
Identify the irrelevant search terms that trigger your ads.
Find high-performing search terms that drive conversions. Look for opportunities to optimize these terms for more volume. Review the search categories for additional keyword ideas that are already working. Sort by impressions to find terms with high impressions and low clicks that may indicate low relevance and could benefit from better ad creative assets such as headlines and descriptions.
Basically, you’re looking for search term patterns in your data that inform you how to best optimize your campaign.
Because you can’t target specific keywords in Performance Max, it’s not about identifying strong new keywords to add. Still, you can find signs of new negatives and get ideas on how to improve your ad copy or landing pages.
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Using GPT-4 to analyze the data
In the year it took Google to fix the bug and make data work, GPT has come a long way. So I downloaded the report generated by my script, uploaded the CSV to GPT-4, and asked if you could help me find optimization ideas.
I used the prompt:
“I have a file that contains search terms for my Google Ads in top performing campaigns. Can you analyze the search terms and share some interesting findings?”
It automatically used the openAI Code Interpreter capability to scan the file and suggested four segments of data for further investigation:
High converting terms: Search terms that generate the most conversions.
High value terms: Search terms with the highest conversion value.
Efficiency metrics: Search terms with the best click-to-impression (CTR) and click-to-conversion (conversion rate) ratios.
Information about categories and subcategories: Performance trends in different categories and subcategories.
It immediately proceeded to analyze the full dataset I uploaded. Because I was using Advanced Data Analysis (formerly Code Interpreter), I was able to see the Python code I was using.
From this, I discovered that Google was showing a lot of ads for searches related to “free advertising”, since I can’t help with that, it gave me a great idea for a new negative keyword at the account level.
Taking action
Now that you’ve analyzed your top performing search term data, here are three actions I recommend you take:
Add irrelevant terms as negative keywords at the account level. You cannot add campaign-level negative keywords to Maximum Performance. However, adding irrelevant terms as account negatives will prevent ads from showing in those queries across your entire account. Optimize your ads and landing pages for high-performing queries. Look for topics in search terms with high clicks and conversion rates. Then improve your ad copy, offers, and landing pages to better target these users. Perfect your audience targeting with what you learn. Search queries provide insight into your ideal audiences. Look for demographic or interest patterns that you can add to your campaigns as target audiences.
the script
Using Performance Max search terms to increase your PPC results
The release of Performance Max search term visibility has been a long time coming. This data ultimately gives PPC advertisers more control and ability to optimize for automated campaigns.
As a PPC expert, be sure to take advantage of this new capability right away. Follow our instructions to access and analyze the data, then act on the insights learned. Over time, you’ll get a much clearer picture of who your top-performing ads are reaching and how to improve your messaging to resonate with your audience.
The result will be more relevant ads, lower costs, and most importantly, more conversions from your top-performing campaigns.
The views expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.
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