Google wants you to stop managing search terms. Don't.
With AI Max, Performance Max, and broad match expansion, Google's pushing toward "trust the algorithm" targeting. But the data tells a different story: advertisers who actively manage search terms still outperform those who don't.
The New Search Term Reality
Performance Max
Now shows search term reports (finally) and accepts up to 10,000 negative keywords per campaign. But negatives only apply to Search and Shopping — not Display, YouTube, Gmail, or Discovery, where 40-70% of PMax spend often goes.
AI Max
Creates reporting chaos. It attributes impressions from your existing exact and phrase match keywords to AI Max, making incrementality impossible to assess without manual de-duplication. One analysis found 99% of AI Max impressions generated zero conversions.
Broad Match
Google's preferred match type now. Works better than it used to with Smart Bidding, but still requires active negative keyword management to prevent waste.
The Core Problem
AI Max and broad match find queries you never targeted. That's the point. But they also find queries you'd never want — competitor terms, irrelevant categories, different languages, low-intent informational searches.
Without active search term management, you're paying for these queries without knowing it.
What to Do
1. Weekly Search Term Audits (Non-Negotiable)
Review search terms weekly, not monthly. AI-driven campaigns generate diverse queries fast. Waiting 30 days means 30 days of waste.
Look for: Brand terms matching to non-brand queries, competitor terms (common with AI Max), high-volume zero-conversion queries, queries irrelevant to your business.
2. Build Robust Negative Keyword Lists
Use the expanded limits: Performance Max: 10,000 per campaign, Negative keyword lists: 20 lists with 5,000 keywords each.
Start with obvious blocks:
- • "jobs," "salary," "careers," "hiring" (unless you're recruiting)
- • "free," "cheap" (if you're premium)
- • Competitor brand names (unless conquesting intentionally)
- • DIY terms if you're a service business
3. Separate Brand, Non-Brand, and Competitor Traffic
AI Max especially blurs these lines. Create negative keyword lists to enforce separation: Add competitor names as negatives to non-brand campaigns, add your brand terms as negatives to non-brand campaigns (if you have separate brand campaigns), monitor for leakage.
4. Add Top Search Terms as Keywords
If a search term converts well, add it as an exact match keyword in the appropriate ad group. This gives you better reporting accuracy, more control over which ad shows, and protection against AI Max attribution theft.
De-Duplicate AI Max Data
AI Max steals credit from existing keywords. To see true incremental value:
- Export search term report
- Filter by AI Max match type
- Cross-reference against your existing exact and phrase match keywords
- Remove overlapping terms
- Calculate actual AI Max incrementality
Heavy spreadsheet work, but necessary. Most advertisers find AI Max's "performance" is largely attribution shift, not new value.
Protected Keywords
Before aggressive negative keyword addition, create a "never block" list:
- Your brand name and variations
- Core product/service terms
- Key offering descriptors
Example: One HVAC company added "mini" as a negative to block "mini cooper" searches — and accidentally blocked "mini split" air conditioner queries, their primary product.
The Bottom Line
Google wants you to trust the AI. You should trust — but verify.
AI-driven campaigns find valuable queries you wouldn't have targeted. They also find garbage. The advertisers who actively manage search terms capture the value while blocking the waste.
Weekly audits. Robust negative lists. De-duplicated reporting. This is the work that separates profitable AI-era advertisers from those subsidizing Google's algorithm training. This week: Pull your search term report. Find 10 queries to add as negatives. Do it again next week.
