In the last post we covered the basic terms in a Search Term Report. This time, let's untangle the two columns that confuse people most when they first open the report — Targeting and Customer Search Term.
Start With Campaign Type
| Campaign Type | What Shows in Targeting | Who Decides It |
|---|---|---|
| Manual | The keyword you entered directly | You (the seller) |
| Auto | loose-match / close-match / substitutes / complements | Amazon's algorithm |
In a Manual campaign, you enter a keyword like "Product A" yourself and ask Amazon to show your ad to shoppers searching that term. In an Auto campaign, you don't set keywords — Amazon decides on its own which search terms it considers relevant to your product.
So What Is Customer Search Term?
Regardless of campaign type, it's the exact phrase a shopper actually typed into Amazon's search bar. Targeting is "the condition you aimed for," and Customer Search Term is "the actual search that triggered your ad under that condition."
A Hypothetical Example
Let's say a seller of Product A ran a single Auto campaign.
| Targeting | Customer Search Term | Clicks | Orders |
|---|---|---|---|
| close-match | Product A | 30 | 4 |
| close-match | Product A genuine | 15 | 2 |
| loose-match | Brand B similar product | 20 | 0 |
| loose-match | Product A bundle | 10 | 1 |
There are only two Targeting values here, but many different actual phrases show up under Customer Search Term. "Brand B similar product" got 20 clicks and 0 orders — a possible sign that the wrong customers are clicking without buying. This kind of issue is invisible if you only look at Targeting; you have to drill into Customer Search Term to find it.
Key Takeaways
Targeting is "the condition you aimed for"; Customer Search Term is "the actual phrase that was searched." When reviewing ad performance, always drill down to Customer Search Term to find the real problems.