Amazon Search Term Report Analyzer
Upload your Sponsored Products search term report to find wasted spend, keywords to harvest and negative keyword candidates.
Keep it below your profit margin before ad costs, which is your break-even ACoS.
Roughly the clicks you usually need for one sale.
How each search term is sorted
| Group | Rule (default settings) | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Negative candidate | No orders and at least 10 clicks | Add it as a negative exact keyword in that ad group, or a negative product target for ASINs |
| Over target ACoS | Has orders, but ACoS is above 30% | Lower the bid on the keyword or target behind it, or negate it if it isn't relevant |
| Harvest | At least 2 orders, ACoS at or under 30%, and not yet an exact keyword | Add it as an exact keyword in a manual campaign, then as a negative exact where it came from |
| Already exact | Meets the harvest rule and is already an exact keyword | Keep it |
| Converting, Not enough data | Below the order or click thresholds | Leave it and check the next report |
Two terms from the sample report
- plastic cutting board dishwasher safe
- 14 clicks, $16.10 spend, 0 orders
- bamboo cutting board set
- 38 clicks, $41.80 spend, $179.88 sales, 6 orders
The first is a negative candidate. The second has an ACoS of 41.80 ÷ 179.88 = 23.2%, so it's one to harvest. Across the sample, 4 negative candidates wasted $69.30, or 17.9% of the $387.27 spent.
Getting the report
- 01
Open reports
In Amazon Ads (Campaign Manager), go to the downloadable reports section and create a new report.
- 02
Pick the report
Choose Sponsored Products and the Search term report type. Summary or daily time units both work.
- 03
Choose the dates
Pick a range within the 65-day lookback. Leave out the last few days, because sales can be credited up to 7 days after a click.
- 04
Upload it here
Run the report, download it and drop it above. If you get an Excel file, open it and save it as CSV first.
The tool accepts both the older column names (7 Day Total Sales, 7 Day Total Orders (#)) and the newer ones (Sales, Purchases).
Setting your target ACoS
Your break-even ACoS is your profit margin before ad costs. At that ACoS, the ad takes all the profit from the sale. Amazon's own guidance is that ACoS has to stay below your profit margin for ads to make money.
Example
- Price
- $29.98
- Profit before ads
- $11.99 (40% margin)
- Break-even ACoS
- 40%
- Target ACoS
- 30%
At a 30% target, each ad sale costs about $8.99 and leaves about $3.00 of profit. Work out your own numbers with the break-even ROAS calculator.
Reading the results with care
- Only clicked terms appear. Amazon's search term report only includes terms with at least one click, so impressions won't match Campaign Manager.
- Recent sales lag. Seller reports credit sales up to 7 days after the click (14 days for vendor reports), so the last week always looks worse than it is.
- Small numbers mislead. Raise the click threshold for products that take many clicks to sell, so you don't negate terms too early.
- ASINs are products, not keywords. Terms like
b0c7kq4lmzare product pages your ad showed on. Negate or target them as products. - Negate exact before phrase. A negative phrase blocks every search that contains the words, which can cut off good traffic.
Questions people ask
How many clicks before I add a negative keyword?
Amazon doesn't set a number. A sensible rule is to wait until a term has had about as many clicks as you usually need for one sale. At a 10% conversion rate that's about 10 clicks, the default here.
What does harvesting a search term mean?
Taking a term that converts well in an automatic, broad or phrase campaign and adding it as an exact keyword in a manual campaign, so you control its bid. Then add it as a negative exact in the original ad group so the two don't compete.
Why do some search terms look like B0 codes?
They're ASINs: product pages where your ad appeared, from automatic campaigns and product targeting. Target or negate them as products, not keywords.
Which columns does it need?
Customer Search Term, Clicks, Spend, and a sales and orders column (7 Day Total Sales and 7 Day Total Orders, or Sales and Purchases). It also uses Campaign Name, Ad Group Name, Targeting and Match Type when they're there.
Is my report uploaded anywhere?
No. It's read in your browser and never leaves your computer.
Related tools
Want this builtinto your store?
I'm Emmanuel, a Shopify and WooCommerce developer. If this tool pointed at something you'd rather have fixed for you (a faster store, cleaner product data, a migration, a custom feature), send me a note.
Emmanuel Asika
Shopify & WooCommerce developer, Dublin
I build and fix online stores: new builds, migrations, speed, SEO and the custom bits apps can't do.
Last reviewed 30 September 2026.
Sources: Amazon Ads: Search term report for Sponsored Products · Amazon Ads: Downloadable reports in sponsored ads · Amazon Ads: What is ACOS?