“Private search term” reporting in Performance Max campaigns was spotted in Google Ads, highlighting queries with fewer than 50 unique searches over the past 90 days.
This change could affect how advertisers can view and analyze search query data in Performance Max campaigns, potentially impacting their ability to optimize based on specific user searches.
This would be a welcome update as advertisers have complained about Google’s black box of search terms and how it can be really hard to see the performance of key search terms. They aren’t seeing specific searches, but at least some information is being given about the low volume category of keywords, that could help with broader strategy.
Details. Search terms are marked as “private” if they’ve been searched by fewer than 50 unique users within a 90-day period, according to Google’s explanation.
Why we care. By explicitly labeling terms that receive fewer than 50 unique searches in 90 days as “private,” you can better understand the composition of your search traffic and identify which terms fall into the long-tail category.
This is particularly valuable for businesses operating in niche markets or those running highly specialized campaigns, as it helps them gauge the proportion of their traffic coming from these less common searches.