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Google Ads Script (JavaScript)
/**
* Goodlabs Google Ads script: n-gram search term analysis
* Schedule: Weekly on Mondays
*/
var CONFIG = {
MIN_IMPRESSIONS: 50,
MIN_COST: 20,
SPREADSHEET_URL: "https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/YOUR_SHEET_ID/edit",
DATE_RANGE: "LAST_30_DAYS"
};
function main() {
Logger.log("Extracting search terms for N-Gram analysis...");
var report = AdsApp.report(
"SELECT Query, Impressions, Clicks, Cost, Conversions, ConversionValue " +
"FROM SEARCH_QUERY_PERFORMANCE_REPORT " +
"WHERE Impressions > " + CONFIG.MIN_IMPRESSIONS + " " +
"DURING " + CONFIG.DATE_RANGE
);
var ngrams = {}; // token -> { imps, clicks, cost, convs, value }
var rows = report.rows();
while (rows.hasNext()) {
var row = rows.next();
var query = row["Query"].toLowerCase().trim();
var imps = parseInt(row["Impressions"], 10);
var clicks = parseInt(row["Clicks"], 10);
var cost = parseFloat(row["Cost"].replace(/,/g, ""));
var convs = parseFloat(row["Conversions"].replace(/,/g, ""));
var val = parseFloat(row["ConversionValue"].replace(/,/g, ""));
var words = query.split(/\s+/);
for (var n = 1; n <= 3; n++) {
for (var i = 0; i <= words.length - n; i++) {
var gram = words.slice(i, i + n).join(" ");
if (!ngrams[gram]) {
ngrams[gram] = { gram: gram, words: n, imps: 0, clicks: 0, cost: 0, convs: 0, val: 0 };
}
ngrams[gram].imps += imps;
ngrams[gram].clicks += clicks;
ngrams[gram].cost += cost;
ngrams[gram].convs += convs;
ngrams[gram].val += val;
}
}
}
exportToSheet(ngrams);
}
function exportToSheet(ngrams) {
var ss = SpreadsheetApp.openByUrl(CONFIG.SPREADSHEET_URL);
var sheet = ss.getSheetByName("NGram_Analysis") || ss.insertSheet("NGram_Analysis");
sheet.clear();
sheet.appendRow(["N-Gram Token", "Words", "Impressions", "Clicks", "Cost", "Conversions", "CPA", "Conv. Rate", "ROAS", "Status"]);
var output = [];
for (var k in ngrams) {
var item = ngrams[k];
if (item.cost < CONFIG.MIN_COST) continue;
var cpa = item.convs > 0 ? (item.cost / item.convs).toFixed(2) : "N/A";
var cr = item.clicks > 0 ? ((item.convs / item.clicks) * 100).toFixed(2) + "%" : "0%";
var roas = item.cost > 0 ? (item.val / item.cost).toFixed(2) : "0.00";
var status = (item.convs === 0 && item.cost >= CONFIG.MIN_COST) ? "🚨 NEGATIVE CANDIDATE" : "OK";
output.push([
item.gram, item.words, item.imps, item.clicks,
item.cost.toFixed(2), item.convs, cpa, cr, roas, status
]);
}
output.sort(function(a, b) { return parseFloat(b[4]) - parseFloat(a[4]); });
if (output.length > 0) {
sheet.getRange(2, 1, output.length, 10).setValues(output);
}
sheet.getRange(1, 1, 1, 10).setFontWeight("bold").setBackground("#f3f4f6");
Logger.log("Exported " + output.length + " n-gram patterns to Google Sheets.");
}How it works
- Pulls search term metrics (Clicks, Impressions, Cost, Conversions, Value) for the past 30–90 days.
- Splits each search phrase into unigrams (single words), bigrams (2-word phrases), and trigrams (3-word phrases).
- Sums cost and conversions across all occurrences of each n-gram token.
- Isolates n-grams with spend above threshold and 0 conversions or CPA exceeding 3x target.
- Generates a structured multi-tab Google Sheet with ranked negative keyword recommendations.
Step-by-step installation
- Navigate to Tools & Settings > Bulk Actions > Scripts in Google Ads.
- Paste the code into a new script.
- Provide your Google Sheet URL in SPREADSHEET_URL.
- Authorize the script and run a Preview test.
- Schedule it to run weekly on Monday mornings.
Frequently asked questions
Why is N-Gram analysis better than regular search term reports?
Standard reports evaluate whole phrases; n-gram tokenization aggregates words appearing across dozens of low-volume queries that together waste thousands of dollars.