A keyword is what you bid on. A search term is what a shopper typed, which Amazon matched to your keyword. One broad or phrase keyword collects many search terms, so its ACOS is an average that can hide a search that never sells. Set bids on keywords; decide what to block on search terms.
The keyword bought the traffic. The search term is what the shopper asked for.
How one keyword collects many searches
Match type decides how far a keyword reaches. Amazon's definitions: broad match shows your ad for searches related to your keyword in any order; phrase match when the words appear in order, with other words before or after; exact match for the keyword or extremely close variants, and Amazon's own example of a close variant for white running shoes is running shoes white. Even an exact keyword can show more than one search term.
A keyword's figures add up every search it reached. The search term report breaks them out into the searches shoppers typed: Amazon describes it as showing search terms entered by shoppers that resulted in at least one click. That second report is where the money is.
One keyword, four searches
A seller of 20 oz insulated water bottles at $25 runs the broad keyword insulated water bottle. The product's break-even ACOS is 35%, and over 30 days the keyword reports 30%: comfortably inside it. Underneath, at an average $0.50 a click:
| Search term | Clicks | Spend | Orders | Ad sales | ACOS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| insulated water bottle | 240 | $120 | 20 | $500 | 24% |
| insulated water bottle with straw | 120 | $60 | 16 | $400 | 15% |
| insulated water bottle 64 oz | 132 | $66 | 4 | $100 | 66% |
| insulated lunch bag | 108 | $54 | 0 | $0 | none |
| Keyword total | 600 | $300 | 40 | $1,000 | 30% |
What the 30% was hiding
The last two searches took $120 of the $300, 40% of the keyword's spend, and brought back $100 of its $1,000 in ad sales. One is shoppers who want a bigger bottle than the one sold. The other is shoppers who want a different product altogether. The first two searches, on their own, spent $180 for $900: a 20% ACOS.
Nothing at the keyword level shows this. The keyword sits under break-even, so a bid rule leaves it alone, and a seller scanning keywords sees nothing to fix. The lunch-bag search will spend $54 a month for as long as nobody opens the search term report.
Why changing the bid cannot fix it
A bid belongs to the keyword, and the keyword's bid applies to every search it matches. Raise it because 30% has room under 35%, and the lunch-bag and 64 oz searches get more clicks along with the good ones. Cut it to bring ACOS down, and the straw search at 15% loses position along with the lunch-bag search. Any bid is a compromise between searches that need opposite treatment.
The fix is one decision per search:
- insulated lunch bag: a different product, so a negative, whatever its click count. Negative exact or negative phrase is its own choice: negative exact vs negative phrase.
- insulated water bottle 64 oz: a 66% ACOS against a 35% break-even. Each of its four orders cost $16.50 in ads, and a $25 sale at 35% can carry $8.75. Block it: a negative exact on the search, or a negative phrase
64 ozif no search containing it sells. - insulated water bottle with straw: the best search in the keyword. Amazon suggests using the report to find high-performing customer searches that can be added as new keywords. As its own exact keyword it gets its own bid, instead of sharing one with the lunch bag.
- insulated water bottle: the core of the keyword, at 24%. Leave it.
Promoting a search to its own keyword is called harvesting. When the search keeps arriving through the broad keyword as well, harvest it first and then add it as a negative exact where it came from, so the search is bought through the keyword you priced for it.
Where this still needs a person
Each search has far fewer clicks than its keyword, so its numbers are noisier. A search with 20 clicks and no order may be unlucky; how many clicks before negating a search term works out how many it takes for a zero to mean something.
Broad match is also how a keyword finds searches you would never have thought to bid on. Cutting every search that is not obviously yours narrows that, and next month's best search may be one that looks odd today. Deciding which searches are part of the product's market and which are noise takes knowledge of the product and its shoppers. The report can only show the money.
What to do with this
- Pick your three highest-spend keywords on broad or phrase match and pull the search term report for the same 30 days.
- For each keyword, list its searches with spend, orders, ad sales and ACOS, and check that they add up to the keyword's own figures.
- Mark each search against the product's break-even ACOS, which the break-even ACOS calculator gives you from price, cost and fees: keep, harvest, block or watch.
- Change bids only after the searches are sorted. A keyword's ACOS often moves once its worst searches are blocked.
- Make it a weekly read. In Vendlen, the Search terms workspace in Ads Manager lets you save a filter for each of those decisions, with the condition in its name, and the manual actions are in Harvest, negate and unnegate.
Questions sellers ask
Are search terms and keywords the same thing in Amazon PPC?
No. A keyword is the word or phrase you bid on in a campaign. A search term is what a shopper typed when Amazon showed your ad through that keyword. A broad or phrase keyword can reach many different search terms, and each one can perform very differently.
Where do I see the search terms behind a keyword?
In the search term report for your Sponsored Products campaigns. Amazon describes it as listing the searches that resulted in at least one click, so a search that showed your ad and was never clicked is not in it. Read it keyword by keyword and check the searches add up to the keyword's totals.
Should I add a converting search term as its own keyword?
Amazon suggests using the search term report to find high-performing searches to add as new keywords. As its own exact keyword, the search gets its own bid instead of sharing one with weaker searches. If it keeps arriving through the original broad keyword too, add it there as a negative exact.
Why does an exact match keyword show more than one search term?
Exact match covers close variants as well as the keyword itself. Amazon's own example is the exact keyword "white running shoes" showing for "running shoes white". The search term report lists the searches shoppers typed, so one exact keyword can show more than one search there.