How to get your report from Amazon
- In Amazon Advertising, open Reports → Sponsored Products.
- Choose the Search Term Report, set a useful date range (30–60 days is ideal), and run it.
- Download the CSV and drop it above. Nothing leaves your computer.
The search term report is the one that matters most, because it shows the actual customer searches your ads paid for — not just your keywords. That's where wasted spend hides and where your next profitable keywords are waiting to be harvested.
What it tells you to do
- 📊 By campaign — spend, sales (plus KENP), ACOS and wasted spend for every campaign, so you can see exactly where the money goes and which campaign each fix belongs to.
- 🚫 Add as negative keywords — phrases that got clicks but never converted. Pure wasted spend; the tool totals it and lets you copy the list, with the campaign to add each one to.
- 🛑 Negative product targets (ASINs) — competitor products your ads showed on that didn't convert. These are ASINs, so they must be added as negative product targets, not keywords — a distinction most tools get wrong.
- ⬇️ Lower these bids — keywords/targets that convert but sit above your break-even ACOS, eating your margin.
- ⬆️ Scale these up — profitable terms below your target ACOS that deserve higher bids or budget.
- 🎯 Winning product targets — competitor ASINs where your ads did convert; add them as product targets in a manual campaign.
- 🌱 Harvest into exact match — auto/broad/phrase search terms that converted and should become their own exact-match keywords so you control the bid.
Every row shows the campaign it came from, and you can filter the whole report to a single campaign. For KDP, Kindle KENP page-read royalties are counted as value, so a borrow-driven keyword is never mistaken for wasted spend.
FBA, KDP & Merch — why the mode matters
The single biggest mistake is judging ACOS without knowing your break-even. A 25% ACOS looks fine until you realise your margin is only 22% — that campaign is losing money. Because KDP royalties and Merch payouts are thin, those modes default to tighter targets, while FBA depends on your own cost of goods. Pick your seller type for sensible defaults, then enter your real break-even (the Amazon ACoS Calculator works it out for all three).
Frequently asked questions
Which report do I upload?
Amazon Advertising → Reports → Sponsored Products → Search Term Report → download CSV. It lists every customer search term with impressions, clicks, spend, sales and orders.
Is my advertising data uploaded anywhere?
No. The CSV is read and analysed entirely in your browser. Nothing is sent to a server.
What is break-even ACOS?
The ACOS at which you make zero profit — it equals your margin. Above it you lose money per sale; below it you profit. For a book it's roughly royalty ÷ list price.
How are FBA, KDP and Merch different?
Different margins need different targets. KDP and Merch are thin-margin so default to tighter ACOS; FBA depends on your COGS. You can override every number.
What about ASINs in my report?
Search terms that are ASINs (often starting with B0) or ISBNs are product-targeting placements — your ad showed on that product's page. The tool splits them out: wasteful ones become negative product targets, converting ones become product targets to keep. They can't be added as negative keywords, which is a common mistake.
Does it handle KDP KENP page reads?
Yes. If your report includes Estimated KENP Royalties, they're counted as value alongside sales, so Kindle Unlimited borrow-driven keywords aren't flagged as wasted and their ACOS reflects real earnings.
More free tools
Seller tools: Amazon ACoS Calculator, Percentage Calculator · See all Alienated Tools.