How to Target Underperforming Amazon Search Terms
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Quick answer
Underperforming search terms are Amazon Ads queries that gain clicks or impressions but fail to convert at a profitable rate. They consume budget that could otherwise support stronger terms and distort your view of campaign health. Targeting them means identifying low-ROAS or zero-order terms, grouping them as negative keyword candidates or bid-reduction opportunities, and reviewing those changes before they go live. This process keeps bid schedule analysis cleaner and makes before-and-after comparisons more reliable.
Not every low-performing term needs to be negated immediately. Some may simply need a lower bid, and others may need more data before you decide. The key is separating those groups rather than applying one blunt rule. The guidance below walks through that decision path.
Identify Low-Performing Search Terms
Start with the Search Terms report and look at terms that spend money without meaningful return. Common red flags include:
- High clicks with zero orders
- Spend above your target ROAS threshold
- Repeated clicks with no sales over a multi-week period
Tools such as Amazon Negative Keyword Tool by Todoza can classify search terms as negative keyword candidates or bid-reduction opportunities. This structured view is useful when you want to act on underperformers without reviewing every search term manually.
Classify Terms Before Making Changes
Treat underperforming terms in three groups:
- Negative keyword candidates for terms that clearly do not convert and are unlikely to improve.
- Bid-reduction candidates for terms that show some value but not enough at the current bid.
- More data needed for terms with too few clicks to judge.
Because these tools are read-only, team review is still required before adding negative keywords or changing bids. That approval step helps avoid removing a term too early based on a short window.
When This Matters for Bid Schedules
Underperforming terms can make before-and-after bid comparisons misleading. If a few wasteful terms continue running at full bid, they may hide improvements from better-performing terms. Removing or reducing those terms gives your adjusted bid schedule a cleaner test.
Compare spend, sales, ROAS, and wasted spend over the same length of time before and after the change. The goal is to see the effect of your bid schedule adjustment, not the noise from unrelated search terms.
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Once underperforming terms are classified and reviewed, measure the result against the previous period. This is the same logic used when comparing before and after performance for Amazon bid schedules. A cleaner search term set makes the impact of bid changes easier to see.