Can Better Analyst change my campaigns?

No. The connector is read-only and uses only the Google Ads Search endpoint for reporting.

Why does Google show a broad Ads permission?

Google provides one Google Ads API OAuth scope rather than a narrower reporting-only scope. Better Analyst restricts the connector itself to account discovery and read-only Search requests.

Does it support MCC accounts?

Yes. Better Analyst discovers customer hierarchies and saves the required manager customer context with each selected account.

What data can I analyze?

You can query compatible Google Ads reporting resources including campaigns, ad groups, ads, keywords, search terms, segments, costs, and conversions.

How are costs represented?

Google Ads returns cost fields in micros. Better Analyst preserves the raw API values and uses the selected account currency and timezone as analysis context.

Are dashboards refreshed with live data?

Yes. Dashboard refresh reruns the saved GAQL. Rolling DURING ranges move forward, while literal historical dates remain fixed.

How do I connect Google Ads to Better Analyst?

Click "Connect Google Ads," sign in with the Google account that has access to your ads, and select the customer accounts you want to analyze. Accounts under a manager (MCC) account are discovered for you. No developer token or API setup is needed.

Is my Google Ads data secure?

OAuth tokens are encrypted before they are stored and are never sent to your browser. The connector only runs read-only reports. You can disconnect from the connector page or revoke access from your Google Account connections at any time.

Does it report on Performance Max campaigns?

Yes, at the campaign level: Performance Max campaigns appear in campaign reports with their cost, clicks, conversions, and conversion value. Google exposes less detail for Performance Max than for Search campaigns, so keyword and search-term reports mainly cover Search campaigns.

Can I combine Google Ads with GA4 or a spreadsheet?

Yes. Attach Google Analytics, Google Sheets, or Meta Ads to the same chat and ask for spend, sessions, and conversions side by side. Better Analyst fetches each source and joins the results by date or campaign.

Can I schedule a Google Ads report?

Yes. Save a Google Ads report as a Data Flow to deliver it to Google Sheets or a database on a schedule, or schedule a task that reruns the analysis and sends the summary by email or Slack.

Google Ads Keyword Performance Report: CPA and Quality Score

Build a Google Ads keyword performance report with cost, CPA, match type, Quality Score and impression share, and find keywords to pause or raise.

By David Bressler
Published November 9, 2026
Updated November 9, 2026

Summary

A Google Ads keyword performance report ranks the keywords you bid on by cost, conversions and CPA, alongside match type, Quality Score and impression share. It shows which keywords to pause and which are limited by budget or rank. Connect your account to Better Analyst and ask for it in plain English.

On this page

Who this report is for
What the report includes
How to build it in Better Analyst from Google Ads
Questions to ask
Sample output
Charts to use
Keep it up to date
Further reading
FAQ

Who this report is for

Paid search specialists who manage bids and budgets at keyword level and need a regular answer on where to cut, where to spend more, and which keywords have a Quality Score problem.

What the report includes

Metrics and dimensions in this report

Metric	Source field	Why it matters
Keyword	ad_group_criterion.keyword.text	The term you bid on, which is the unit you can actually pause or re-bid.
Match type	ad_group_criterion.keyword.match_type	Exact, phrase and broad behave differently, so compare like with like.
Quality Score	ad_group_criterion.quality_info.quality_score	Google's 1 to 10 rating of expected clicks, ad relevance and landing page experience.
Cost	metrics.cost_micros	Spend per keyword, returned in micros, so divide by 1,000,000 for account currency.
Clicks	metrics.clicks	Volume, so a keyword isn't judged on just a handful of visits.
Average CPC	metrics.average_cpc	What each click costs, which often rises as Quality Score falls.
Conversions	metrics.conversions	The outcome that decides whether the spend on a keyword was worth it.
Search impression share	metrics.search_impression_share	How often you showed when you could have, which separates a limit on reach from a lack of demand.

How to build it in Better Analyst from Google Ads

Go to Connectors, select Google Ads and authorize with Connect with Google.
Choose the serving account you want to analyze and save it.
Start a chat with the account attached and ask for keyword performance over at least 30 days, so low-volume keywords have data.
Ask Better Analyst to flag keywords above your target CPA, and to separate ones with no conversions yet.
Review the flagged list with match type and Quality Score beside it before changing anything in Google Ads.

Questions to ask

“Rank keywords from the last 30 days by cost, with match type, conversions, CPA and Quality Score.”
“Which keywords spent more than 100 last month without a conversion?”
“Compare CPA and conversion rate by match type for each campaign.”
“List keywords with a Quality Score of 5 or lower that have meaningful spend.”
“Which converting keywords have low search impression share?”

Sample output

Sample data for illustration, not real account data.

Sample data: keyword performance over 30 days (illustrative, not a real account)

Keyword	Match	QS	Cost	Conv.	CPA	Impr. share
client reporting software	Exact	8	$2,140	38	$56.32	47%
marketing dashboard tool	Phrase	6	$1,610	17	$94.71	62%
reporting tool	Broad	4	$1,480	3	$493.33	71%
ai analytics for agencies	Exact	9	$720	19	$37.89	28%
free dashboard	Phrase	3	$390	0	None	80%

Charts to use

Cost versus conversions by keyword (Scatter plot): High-cost, low-conversion keywords stand out from the ones earning their budget.
CPA by match type (Grouped bar chart): Whether broad or phrase traffic converts at a cost you can accept, by campaign.
Spend by Quality Score (Column chart): How much of the budget sits on keywords with low scores.

Keep it up to date

Schedule a weekly task that lists keywords above your target CPA and sends the list by email or Slack. For a shared working copy, a Data Flow can write the table to Google Sheets on a schedule.

Frequently asked questions

How much data do I need before pausing a keyword?

There's no universal number. A common check is whether the keyword has spent well past your target cost per conversion without converting. Low-volume keywords can look terrible on very little data, so widen the date range first.

What does a low Quality Score actually cost me?

It tends to mean higher CPCs and fewer impressions, since it feeds ad rank. It isn't a target in itself: a keyword with a modest score that converts at a good CPA can be worth keeping.

Why is Quality Score blank for some keywords?

Google needs enough recent impressions to score a keyword, so new or quiet keywords can come back empty. Quality Score also doesn't apply to campaign types that don't use keywords, such as Performance Max.

What is search impression share telling me?

The share of eligible impressions you actually received. A low value on a keyword that converts well suggests room to grow, while the related lost-share metrics show whether budget or rank is the cause.