How to Analyze Amazon Search Term Report for PPC Optimization

By Rafirit Station Editorial Team · Updated 2026 · ⏱ 15 min read

Mastering Amazon search term report analysis is the single most effective way to reduce wasted ad spend and scale profitable campaigns. According to a 2025 study by Sellics, sellers who analyzed search term reports at least weekly reduced their ACOS by an average of 22% within 60 days (source).

In 2026, Amazon’s algorithm rewards relevance more than ever. With new AI-driven bidding strategies, failing to filter out non-converting terms means ৳50,000 or more in monthly ad waste for a mid-tier seller in Dhaka.

For a Dhaka-based seller spending ৳1,50,000/month on Amazon Sponsored Products, ignoring negative keywords can burn ৳40,000 of that budget on irrelevant clicks. That’s 26% of your budget—money that could be reinvested into high-converting terms.

By the end of this guide, you’ll know exactly how to extract, interpret, and act on your Amazon search term report to lower ACOS, increase click-through rates, and achieve a positive return on ad spend—step by step.

📚 External Resources (Bookmark These)

• Amazon Advertising Console
• Seller Central
• Amazon Advertising Official
• Sellics
• SellerApp
• HubSpot
• Moz
• Semrush
• Ahrefs
• Backlinko

🔗 Rafirit Station Services

• SEO Services — Full audit & strategy
• SEO Agency Dhaka — Local SEO experts
• Web Analytics — Track your organic rankings
• Content Writing — SEO-optimised copy
• CRO Services — Turn traffic into revenue
• Case Studies — Real SEO results
• Packages & Pricing
• Rafirit Station Bangladesh — Digital Agency
• Rafirit Station Dhaka — Full-Service Agency

Phase 1: Download & Structure Your Report

Before any analysis, you need accurate data. Download your search term report from Amazon Campaign Manager. Here’s how to do it properly.

Tactic 1.1: Set the Right Date Range

Why this works: A short window captures fresh trends; a long window smooths out spikes. For weekly optimization, use the last 7 days. For strategic insights, compare month-over-month.

Exactly how to do it:

1. Log in to Seller Central → Advertising → Campaign Manager.
2. Select the campaign you want to analyze.
3. Click ‘Reports’ → ‘Create Report’ → ‘Search term report’.
4. Choose ‘Daily’ granularity and set date range to last 7 days (repeat for last 30 days).
5. Select columns: Impressions, Clicks, CTR, Spend, Sales, ACOS, CPC, and all match types.
6. Click ‘Generate’ and download the .csv file.
7. Open in Excel or Google Sheets and format as a table.

Pro script / template: Use this Excel formula to flag high-spend terms: =IF(D2>1000,”High”,”Normal”) where D is spend column.

📊 Expected results: You’ll have a clean dataset ready for analysis in 15 minutes.

Tactic 1.2: Segment by Match Type

Why this works: Different match types perform differently. Broad match often has high impression but low conversion; exact match can have high conversion but low volume. Segmenting helps you decide where to adjust bids.

Exactly how to do it:

1. Add a column ‘Match Type’ from source report.
2. Filter by ‘Exact’, ‘Phrase’, ‘Broad’, and ‘Auto’.
3. Create separate sheets for each match type.
4. Sort each sheet by ACOS ascending (best performance first).
5. Identify top 10 and bottom 10 keywords per match type.
6. Mark bottom 10 as potential negatives.
7. Repeat weekly for trend analysis.

Pro script / template: In Excel, use pivot table to quickly sum spend and sales by match type.

📊 Expected results: 20% more accurate bid adjustments after first week.

Tactic 1.3: Remove Brand Terms (If You’re Brand Registered)

Why this works: Brand terms usually convert well but have low ACOS. Including them inflates your overall performance. Isolate them to see true keyword performance.

Exactly how to do it:

1. In your search term report, filter for terms that include your brand name.
2. Create a separate ‘Brand Terms’ sheet.
3. Calculate ACOS for brand terms vs generic terms.
4. If brand ACOS is below 15%, consider adding them as negatives to auto-campaigns to avoid cannibalization.
5. For manual campaigns, bid down brand terms if budget is an issue.
6. Monitor weekly for new brand misspellings.

Pro script / template: Use =SEARCH(“BrandName”,A2) to flag brand terms.

📊 Expected results: Cleaner data for non-brand PPC analysis, leading to 15% reduction in wasted spend.

Phase 2: Identify High-Value Keywords to Scale

Now that your data is structured, let’s find the keywords that deserve higher bids.

Tactic 2.1: Use the Pareto Principle (80/20 Rule)

Why this works: Typically 20% of keywords drive 80% of sales. Focus on those.

Exactly how to do it:

1. Sort all search terms by Sales descending.
2. Calculate cumulative sales percentage.
3. Identify the top 20% of terms that contribute to 80% of sales.
4. For each of these terms, check ACOS. If ACOS is below your target (e.g., 25%), increase bid by 10-20%.
5. Move these terms to an ‘Exact Match’ campaign with higher bids.
6. Monitor for a week; if ACOS remains low, increase again.
7. Repeat monthly.

Pro script / template: Use =LARGE(SalesRange,1) to find top values; then use =INDEX(MATCH()).

📊 Expected results: Sales from top terms increase by 25% within two weeks.

Tactic 2.2: Look for High Impressions, High CTR, Low ACOS Terms

Why this works: These terms have strong relevance and are under-bid. Increasing bids can capture more share of voice.

Exactly how to do it:

1. Filter for terms with Impressions > 1000, CTR > 0.5%, ACOS < 20%.
2. List these terms in a new sheet.
3. Check if they are currently in a manual campaign. If not, add them to an Exact Match campaign.
4. Set initial bid 20% higher than current max bid.
5. Monitor for 3 days; if ACOS remains low, increase bid another 15%.
6. If ACOS spikes, reduce bid to original.
7. Repeat every week.

Pro script / template: Use a conditional formatting rule to highlight cells where ACOS1000.

📊 Expected results: 30% increase in conversions from those terms within 10 days.

Tactic 2.3: Bid Up Long-Tail Keywords with Low Competition

Why this works: Long-tail keywords often have lower CPC and higher conversion rates because they capture buyer intent.

Exactly how to do it:

1. Filter search terms with 3+ words, Impressions less than 500, and ACOS < 30%.
2. Keep terms that are highly relevant to your product.
3. Add them to a Phrase Match campaign.
4. Start with a bid 50% of your average CPC to test.
5. Increase bid by 10% each day if ACOS remains low.
6. If Impressions exceed 100 within a week, keep bidding up.
7. Once ACOS stabilizes, move to Exact Match.

Pro script / template: Example long-tail: “wireless bluetooth sports earbuds waterproof” — perfect for electronics.

📊 Expected results: Lower overall ACOS by 10-15% as long-tail terms convert better.

Phase 3: Add Negative Keywords Aggressively

The fastest way to improve ACOS is to stop spending on terms that don’t convert. Let’s find and add them.

Tactic 3.1: High Spend, Zero Sales Terms

Why this works: These are the biggest drain on your budget.

Exactly how to do it:

1. Filter for terms with Spend > ৳500 (or 25% of your daily budget) and Sales = 0.
2. Review each term for relevance. If irrelevant, add as negative exact match.
3. If somewhat relevant but no sales, consider lowering bid or pausing.
4. For clear mismatches (e.g., selling men’s shoes, term is “women’s shoes”), add negative exact.
5. After 7 days, re-check. If still no conversions, add negative phrase.
6. Repeat weekly.

Pro script / template: Use =IF(AND(Spend>500,Sales=0),”Add Negative”,””) to flag.

📊 Expected results: Immediate savings of 10-15% of ad spend.

Tactic 3.2: Low ROI Terms (High ACOS)

Why this works: Terms with ACOS over 50% are likely losing money if your margin is low.

Exactly how to do it:

1. Filter for ACOS > 50% and at least 10 clicks.
2. Check if the term has any sales. If sales are few, consider a reduced bid.
3. If ACOS > 100%, add as negative exact immediately.
4. For borderline terms (ACOS 50-80%), reduce bid by 30% and monitor.
5. After a week, if ACOS doesn’t improve, add as negative.
6. Keep a log of added negatives to avoid re-adding.

Pro script / template: Highlight cells with ACOS>0.5 in red using conditional formatting.

📊 Expected results: Overall ACOS drops by 15-20% within two weeks.

Tactic 3.3: Competitor Brand Names

Why this works: Running ads on competitor brand terms can work for some, but often leads to high impressions, low conversion, and wasted spend.

Exactly how to do it:

1. Identify search terms that contain competitor brand names (e.g., “Nike”, “Adidas”).
2. Analyze their performance: if ACOS > 30% and conversion rate < 2%, add as negative exact.
3. If you decide to keep them, ensure they are in a separate campaign with a low bid.
4. Monitor weekly; remove if they consistently underperform.
5. Consider redirecting that budget to your own brand terms.

Pro script / template: Create a list of known competitors and search for them in report using =SEARCH.

📊 Expected results: Up to 30% reduction in wasted spend on competitive terms.

Phase 4: Optimize Campaign Structure Based on Report

Now use the insights to restructure your campaigns for better control.

Tactic 4.1: Move Top Performers to Exact Match Campaigns

Why this works: Exact match gives you precise control over bids and reduces irrelevant traffic.

Exactly how to do it:

1. From your report, select the top 20 performing keywords (by sales with low ACOS).
2. Create a new manual campaign named “[Product] – Exact Top Performers”.
3. Add these keywords as exact match.
4. Set bids 20% higher than the current average CPC.
5. Add all other high-volume, irrelevant terms as negatives to this campaign.
6. Pause the same keywords in other campaigns to avoid duplication.
7. Monitor daily for a week, adjust bids based on ACOS.

Pro script / template: Example campaign name: “Phone Case – Exact Top Performers”.

📊 Expected results: Sales from top keywords increase by 30% and ACOS drops by 10%.

Tactic 4.2: Build a Negative Keyword Master List

Why this works: A central list ensures negatives are applied across campaigns.

Exactly how to do it:

1. Create a spreadsheet with all negative keywords identified so far.
2. Categorize them: irrelevant, competitor brands, low ROI.
3. Apply these negatives at the campaign level for automatic campaigns.
4. For manual campaigns, apply only if they appear frequently.
5. Update this list weekly.
6. Share with team members managing the account.
7. Review quarterly for terms that might have become relevant.

Pro script / template: Use a Google Sheet shared with your team; add a column for date added.

📊 Expected results: Consistent ACOS improvement across all campaigns.

Tactic 4.3: Use the Report to Optimize Product Listings

Why this works: High-search-volume terms that have low CTR or high ACOS may indicate a mismatch between the keyword and your product page. Optimize your listing to improve relevance.

Exactly how to do it:

1. Identify search terms with high Impressions but low CTR (below 0.3%).
2. Review these terms: are they frontend or backend keywords? Add the best ones to your listing’s search terms field.
3. If CTR is low, test different main images or titles that include high-volume terms.
4. If ACOS is high, check your pricing and bullet points against competitors.
5. Make one change at a time and measure impact over 7 days.
6. Use the report to prioritize which keywords to target in your listing copy.

Pro script / template: For low CTR terms, add the term to your product title if it naturally fits.

📊 Expected results: Organic ranking improves for those keywords, leading to a 15% increase in organic sales.

🏆 Real Case Study: How a Dhaka-Based Electronics Seller Saved ৳40,000/Month

In early 2026, a Dhaka-based seller of wireless headphones approached Rafirit Station. They were spending ৳1,20,000/month on Amazon PPC but had an ACOS of 45%. They had never analyzed their search term report.

BEFORE:

• Monthly ad spend: ৳1,20,000
• ACOS: 45%
• Conversion rate: 8%
• Negative keywords: None

Our strategy:

1. Downloaded and structured the search term report.
2. Added 65 negative keywords (competitor brands, irrelevant terms, high-spend no-sales).
3. Bid up 20 top-performing exact match keywords.
4. Restructured campaigns into separate exact, phrase, and broad groups.
5. Optimized product listings with high-volume search terms.
6. Set up a weekly review routine.

AFTER (60 days):

• Monthly ad spend: ৳85,000 (saved ৳35,000)
• ACOS: 22%
• Conversion rate: 14%
• Sales increased by 18% due to better budget allocation.

“We had no idea we were wasting so much money on irrelevant clicks. Rafirit Station’s analysis gave us clarity and control. Our ACOS is now the lowest it’s ever been.” — Tanvir H., Dhaka, Bangladesh

See more Rafirit Station case studies →

✅ Amazon Search Term Report Analysis Checklist

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

🎯 The Bottom Line

Mastering your Amazon search term report is not a one-time task—it’s an ongoing discipline. The counterintuitive truth is that adding negative keywords often improves performance more than increasing bids on positive ones. Most sellers spend too much time on optimization without cutting waste first. By following the phases outlined above, you can systematically lower your ACOS and increase profitability.

Remember, Amazon’s algorithm rewards relevance. Every irrelevant click you eliminate signals to Amazon that your product belongs to a specific set of keywords, improving your organic ranking over time. Start with a clean report, act decisively on negatives, and scale what works.

⚡ Your Next Step (Do This Today)

1. Log into Seller Central and download your last 7-day search term report.
2. Sort by spend descending and identify the top 10 terms with zero sales.
3. Add those 10 terms as negative exact keywords in your campaigns.
4. Find 5 terms with ACOS below 20% and high impressions; increase their bids by 15%.
5. Set a recurring calendar reminder to repeat this process every Monday.

💬 Drop “Amazon search term report analysis” in the comments and we’ll send you our free Amazon PPC optimization checklist — no email required.