Google Ads

Irwin Litvak|April 30, 2026|10 min readGOOGLE ADS Table of Contents 1. What Is the Search Terms Report? 2. Search Terms vs. Keywords: The Key Difference 3. How to Access the Search Terms Report 4. How to Analyze Search Terms Like a Pro 5. Cutting Wasted Spend With Negative Keywords 6. NYC Small Business Use Cases 7. Building a Weekly Search Terms Routine 8. Advanced Search Terms Tactics 9. Common Mistakes With the Search Terms Report 10. Key Takeaways If you are running Google Ads for your NYC small business, the Google Ads Search Terms Report is the single most valuable tool in your account — and it is the most underused. While you carefully pick the keywords you bid on, Google match types let your ads trigger on hundreds of related queries you never explicitly chose. Some of those queries are gold. Many of them are pure waste. The Google Ads Search Terms Report shows you exactly what users typed before clicking your ad, which lets you cut the bad spend and double down on the queries that actually convert. For a Manhattan or Brooklyn business spending even a modest budget, mastering the Google Ads Search Terms Report can lower your cost per acquisition by 20 to 50 percent within a few weeks. This guide walks through what the Google Ads Search Terms Report is, how to read it, and how to turn it into a habit that keeps your campaign profitable. 1. What Is the Google Ads Search Terms Report? The Search Terms Report is a built-in Google Ads report that lists every search query that triggered your ad, along with performance data — impressions, clicks, cost, conversions, and more. According to Google Ads Help, the report shows you the actual user-typed queries, not just the keywords you bid on. This distinction is the foundation of every smart Google Ads optimization. Why this report exists When Google introduced broader match types and AI-driven matching, advertisers lost some control over which queries trigger their ads. The Search Terms Report is the transparency layer that gives you back visibility into where your money is going. Without it, you are flying blind on a major chunk of your spend. 2. Search Terms vs. Keywords: The Key Difference This is the concept that trips up most new Google Ads managers. A keyword is what you bid on inside your account. A search term is what a user actually typed into Google. The two are not always the same. An example from a Manhattan plumber Say you bid on the broad match keyword “Manhattan plumber.” Your ad might show up for searches like “Manhattan plumber emergency,” “best plumber in Manhattan,” or “Manhattan apartment plumbing repair.” All of those are highly relevant. But it might also show for “plumber salary Manhattan,” “Manhattan plumbing union,” or “DIY plumbing Manhattan” — none of which represent paying customers. The Search Terms Report shows all of these, so you can keep what works and block what doesn’t. How match types affect search terms The broader the match type, the more variation you’ll see in search terms. Exact match limits queries closely; phrase match allows wider variations; broad match allows the widest range. If you want to dive deeper into how this works, our guide on Google Ads match types covers the full mechanics. 3. How to Access the Search Terms Report Finding the report inside Google Ads is straightforward, but Google has rearranged the menus several times over the years. Here is the current path as of 2026. From the campaign level Open the campaign you want to audit. In the left navigation, click “Search keywords” under the Insights and Reports section. At the top of the keywords table, click the “Search terms” tab. You will see every query that triggered an ad in your campaign over the date range you selected. From the ad group level Drill into a specific ad group to see search terms scoped to that group only. This is helpful for diagnosing which ad group is attracting irrelevant traffic. Customize the columns Click the columns icon and add the metrics that matter for your business — typically Conversions, Conv. rate, Cost / conv., CTR, and Avg. CPC. Save this column layout so you don’t have to reconfigure it every time. 4. How to Analyze Search Terms Like a Pro Looking at a long list of entries in the Google Ads Search Terms Report is overwhelming if you don’t have a system. Here’s a four-step framework that works for any NYC small business account. Step 1: sort by cost descending The biggest leverage points in the Google Ads Search Terms Report are the queries that cost the most. Sort by Cost from highest to lowest, then walk through the top 20 to 30 entries. For each one, ask: did this query convert? If yes, keep it. If not, decide whether to negative it or whether the query just hasn’t had enough volume yet. Step 2: identify the converting queries Filter for terms with at least one conversion. These are your gold. Add any unique phrasing patterns you see to your list of exact-match keywords so you can bid on them more aggressively. Pair this with a smart bid strategy to scale what’s working. Step 3: spot the irrelevant terms Look for queries that obviously don’t fit your business — wrong service, wrong city, free or DIY intent, job seekers, students, competitors. These get added to your negative keyword list. Our deep-dive on using negative keywords to reduce wasted ad spend walks through the exact process. Step 4: look for query patterns Sometimes a single bad word — like “free,” “DIY,” or “salary” — appears across many wasted clicks. Add these as account-level or campaign-level negatives to block all variants in one move. 5. Cutting Wasted Spend With Negative Keywords Once you’ve identified the irrelevant terms, blocking them is fast — but the choice of match type for your negative matters. Use exact-match negatives for

Learn how landing page experience for Google Ads affects Quality Score, CPC, and conversions — and how NYC small businesses can build pages that win.

Stop wasting Google Ads budget on hours that do not convert. This NYC small business guide to dayparting covers reports, bid adjustments, and industry-specific schedules.

Irwin Litvak | April 27, 2026 | 9 min read GOOGLE ADS Table of Contents What Is Google Ads Audience Targeting? Why Audience Targeting Matters for NYC Small Businesses The Main Types of Google Ads Audiences Setting Up Audiences in Google Ads Observation Mode vs Targeting Mode Optimizing Audience Performance Over Time Key Takeaways For NYC small businesses spending on Google Ads, audience targeting is the difference between paying for clicks from people who will never buy and reaching customers who are actively looking for your service. Keyword targeting tells Google what someone is searching for, but audience targeting tells Google who that person is. The combination of the two is where modern Google Ads campaigns earn their best return on investment. Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens businesses that ignore audience targeting end up subsidizing competitors who use it strategically. This guide explains what Google Ads audience targeting is, the different audience types you can use, how to set them up properly, and how to optimize them for the highest possible return on your ad spend. What Is Google Ads Audience Targeting? Google Ads audience targeting is a feature that lets you show your ads to people based on who they are, what they have done online, or what topics interest them. Instead of (or in addition to) targeting only the keywords someone types into the search bar, you can layer audience signals on top of those keywords to refine which users see your ad. The result is more efficient spending: your budget reaches the right people more often. According to Google Ads Help, audiences are sets of users grouped by interests, intent, demographics, or past interactions with your business. Google compiles these audiences using data from Search history, YouTube viewing, Google Maps, and other Google products. Advertisers cannot see which individual users are in any audience, but they can target ads to those audiences as a group. Audience Targeting vs Keyword Targeting Keyword targeting answers the question “what is the user searching for?” Audience targeting answers “who is the user?” A NYC accountant might use keyword targeting to bid on “small business tax preparation Manhattan” but layer on an audience like “in-market for tax services” to make sure the ad reaches people actively researching that purchase. The combination of the two filters out tire-kickers and surfaces real prospects. Why Audience Targeting Matters for NYC Small Businesses Small business advertisers in New York City compete in some of the most expensive ad markets in the country. The cost per click for legal, financial, medical, and home services in Manhattan can run into the tens of dollars. Without audience targeting, every irrelevant click becomes wasted spend. Audience targeting concentrates that budget on the people most likely to convert. Better Conversion Rates When ads reach people who are already in market for what you sell, conversion rates rise. A Brooklyn dental practice that targets the in-market dental services audience converts at a higher rate than one that does not, because Google has already identified those users as actively considering dental services. Higher conversion rates mean lower customer acquisition costs and better return on ad spend. More Efficient Spending Audience targeting does not just improve conversion rates; it also reduces spend on unqualified clicks. By layering audience signals onto keyword campaigns, NYC small businesses can drop bids on users who do not match the desired audience and raise bids on users who do. This approach often pairs well with the principles in our guide to lowering your Google Ads cost per click. The Main Types of Google Ads Audiences Google Ads offers several different audience categories, each suited to a different goal. Understanding the differences helps NYC small businesses pick the right audience for each campaign. Affinity Audiences Affinity audiences group users by long-term interests and lifestyle, similar to TV-style demographic targeting. Categories include things like “Foodies,” “Home Decor Enthusiasts,” and “Sports Fans.” Affinity audiences work well for awareness campaigns, especially on the Display Network and YouTube, where you want to reach people interested in a broad topic over time. They are less useful for high-intent search campaigns. In-Market Audiences In-market audiences contain users who are actively researching a product or service in a particular category. Examples include “In-Market for Real Estate,” “In-Market for Legal Services,” and “In-Market for Home Improvement.” These audiences are extraordinarily powerful for NYC service businesses because they identify users who are at or near a buying decision. Combine in-market audiences with high-intent search keywords for the best results. Custom Audiences Custom audiences let you build your own segments based on keywords, URLs, or apps that users have engaged with. A NYC web design firm might build a custom audience of users who have searched for terms like “Manhattan freelance web designer” or visited competitor websites. Custom audiences are an advanced tactic that requires testing but can dramatically outperform standard categories when configured well. Detailed Demographics Detailed demographics let you target by parental status, marital status, education level, homeownership, and other life-stage factors. A real estate agent in Queens might target “Recently Moved” or “First-Time Home Buyers” to find clients at the perfect moment in their buying journey. Remarketing Audiences Remarketing audiences contain users who have already interacted with your website, app, or YouTube channel. These are some of your warmest prospects and typically convert at much higher rates than cold audiences. Read our companion guide to remarketing with Google Ads for an in-depth look at how to set this up properly. Customer Match Audiences Customer Match lets you upload your own first-party customer data (email addresses or phone numbers) to Google Ads. Google matches that data against signed-in Google accounts and lets you target those users (or similar users) with ads. This is one of the most powerful audience types for NYC small businesses with an existing customer list. Setting Up Audiences in Google Ads Setting up audience targeting in Google Ads is straightforward, but the order in which you configure things matters. Follow these steps to layer

If you have ever opened your Google Ads account and wondered why your campaigns are not driving more clicks despite a healthy budget, the answer is often hiding in a metric most NYC small business owners overlook: Google Ads impression share. Google Ads impression share tells you how often your ads are actually showing compared to how often they could be showing. Low Google Ads impression share means you are leaving searches — and customers — on the table. Manhattan dental offices, Brooklyn restaurants, and Queens contractors all compete for the same Google Ads inventory, and the businesses winning the most impressions are usually the ones who understand and actively manage Google Ads impression share. This guide explains what Google Ads impression share is, why it matters, what causes it to drop, and the specific levers NYC business owners can pull to improve their Google Ads impression share quickly. What Is Google Ads Impression Share? Google Ads impression share is the percentage of impressions your ads received compared to the total number of impressions they were eligible to receive. The formula is simple: impressions divided by eligible impressions. So if your ad was eligible to show 1,000 times in a week and actually showed 600 times, your impression share is 60%. The remaining 40% represents searches where your ad could have appeared but did not. According to Google Ads Help, impression share is the most reliable indicator of how much of your potential market you are actually capturing. There are three main impression share metrics: Search Impression Share (Search IS), Search Top Impression Share, and Search Absolute Top Impression Share. Search IS is the broad version — what percentage of all eligible impressions you captured. Top IS measures the percentage where your ad appeared above the organic results, and Absolute Top IS measures the percentage where your ad was the very first ad shown. For NYC businesses competing in expensive verticals like personal injury law or HVAC, the difference between Top and Absolute Top can mean the difference between a 2% and 8% click-through rate. Why Impression Share Matters for NYC Small Businesses Impression share is one of the only Google Ads metrics that gives you a clear picture of unrealized opportunity. CTR, CPC, and conversion rate all measure performance on impressions you already received — but impression share quantifies what you are missing. For a small business in a competitive NYC vertical, missing 40% of eligible impressions could mean missing dozens of leads each week. The Think with Google research consistently shows that businesses with higher impression share also see higher overall conversion volume, even when conversion rates are similar. For local NYC businesses, impression share also serves as a competitive intelligence tool. If your impression share suddenly drops while your bids and budgets remain stable, a new competitor has likely entered the auction or an existing competitor has increased their bids. Tracking impression share weekly lets you spot competitive shifts before they hit your bottom line. Pair impression share monitoring with smart bid strategy choices and you have the foundation of a defensible, scalable Google Ads program. How Impression Share Connects to ROI Many NYC business owners chase ROAS or cost per conversion without considering impression share, and that is a mistake. A 5x ROAS at 30% impression share means you are leaving 70% of profitable searches on the table. Improving impression share to 60% — even at a slightly lower ROAS — typically generates more total profit. Look at impression share through the lens of total contribution margin, not per-click efficiency. NYC service businesses with high lifetime customer values especially benefit from this perspective. The Three Types of Lost Impression Share Google reports impression share losses in three categories: lost to budget, lost to rank, and lost to ad relevance/quality. Understanding which type is hurting you is essential because each requires a different fix. Lost IS to Budget means your daily budget ran out before all eligible impressions could be served. This is common for NYC businesses with limited budgets in expensive verticals — by 2 PM your ads stop showing, and afternoon and evening searchers see your competitors instead. Lost IS to Rank means your ad rank was too low to qualify for the auction. Ad rank is determined by your bid, your Quality Score, and ad extensions. The third category, Lost IS to Ad Relevance or Quality, surfaces in newer reports and indicates that your ad copy or landing page is not aligned closely enough with the user’s search intent. This is the trickiest type to fix because it requires copywriting and landing page optimization rather than just bid adjustments. Use Google’s ad relevance documentation to understand how Google evaluates relevance and what changes are likely to improve it. Brooklyn-based service businesses, in particular, often lose impression share to relevance because they target broad keywords with generic ad copy — adding location-specific phrases like “Park Slope” or “Williamsburg” to ad headlines can make a measurable difference. How to Improve Your Impression Share Improving impression share is a multi-step process that depends on which type of loss is dominant. If you are losing IS to budget, you have two choices: increase your daily budget, or narrow your targeting. Adding location restrictions to specific NYC neighborhoods, dayparting your ads to peak conversion hours, or pausing low-performing keywords can stretch a limited budget further. If you are losing IS to rank, focus on improving Quality Score, increasing your max bids, and adding ad extensions. Each ad extension you add can lift your ad rank without raising your bid. Read our guide on lowering your Google Ads CPC for tactics that improve rank without ballooning costs. Negative keywords are an underrated impression share lever. Every irrelevant search you exclude with a negative keyword reclaims budget for searches that actually convert. NYC businesses can also use geo-bidding to bid more aggressively in high-value boroughs (Manhattan, parts of Brooklyn) and less in low-value zones, freeing budget for the impressions that

Master A/B testing in Google Ads with proven 2026 strategies. Complete guide for NYC small businesses to lower CPC, improve Quality Score, and boost ROI.