N-Grams

N-grams Overview

The N-grams tool helps you analyze the words and short phrases that appear across your search terms. Instead of looking at each search term one by one, N-grams aggregate performance for individual words (monograms) and word combinations (bigrams and trigrams).

This makes it easier to spot patterns like:

• Which words tend to drive profitable sales
• Which words waste spend without converting
• Common themes you may want to target or exclude earlier

You can access N-grams from the Tools section in the sidebar.

How N-grams Work

An N-gram is simply a sequence of N words taken from your search terms:

• Monogram: single words (for example, grandpa, funny, canadian)
• Bigram: two-word phrases (for example, grandpa shirt, funny gifts)
• Trigram: three-word phrases (for example, shirts for men, funny canadian shirts)

When you choose a date range and N-gram type (mono/bi/tri) the table shows:

• Each N-gram as its own row
• Metrics such as CPC, spend, sales, impressions, clicks, CTR, orders, CVR, and ACOS

All metrics are aggregated across every search term that contains that N-gram. For example, the row for grandpa includes performance from any search term where the word "grandpa" appears.

You can sort by any column, change the date range, and switch between monograms, bigrams, and trigrams to see patterns at different levels.

Practical Uses

N-grams are a discovery and diagnostic tool. They are especially useful for:

1. Finding new keyword ideas

Sort by sales, orders, or low ACOS to find words and phrases that consistently perform well across many search terms. These can become:

• New phrase or broad match keywords
• New exact match keywords built from top bigrams or trigrams

Example: If funny canadian shirts or grandpa shirts for repeatedly show strong performance, you might want to build dedicated keywords and campaigns around those themes.

2. Catching negative keywords earlier

Sort by spend, then look for N-grams with high spend and little or no sales.

These are strong candidates for:

• Phrase match negatives when a word or short phrase is broadly unprofitable
• Adding as exact match negatives if a specific trigram is clearly off-target

Because N-grams aggregate across many search terms, they often reveal problem words earlier than looking at individual search terms alone.

3. Understanding audience and intent themes

N-grams can also reveal who your buyers are and what they care about. Common examples:

• Relationship words: dad, grandpa, mom, coworker
• Occasion words: birthday, christmas, fathers day
• Style/angle words: funny, vintage, minimalist, cute

These themes can guide:

• Which campaigns or ad groups you create
• How you group keywords
• How you write your product titles and bullets

4. Spotting obvious cleanup opportunities

Some words are simply not a fit for your product (for example, kids when you only sell adult sizes). N-grams help you quickly see if those words are getting traffic and spend, so you can block them with negatives.

Limitations and Tips

The N-grams tool is intentionally simple and focused:

• It currently supports monograms, bigrams, and trigrams only.
• It is an analysis tool; it does not directly create keywords or negatives. You will apply your decisions back in your campaigns or with other tools.
• Results are influenced by your chosen date range. For seasonal products, compare multiple ranges when needed.

A good workflow is:

1. Choose a relevant date range (for example, the last 30 days or a key seasonal window).
2. Start with monograms to find broad themes and obvious wins or problems.
3. Switch to bigrams and trigrams to see more specific phrases you may want to target or negate.
4. Take action in your campaigns, ad groups, and negative keyword lists based on what you find.

Used regularly, N-grams give you an early read on which words and phrases are helping or hurting your ad performance, so you can adjust your keyword strategy faster.