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Keyword Planner

Keyword Planner is a Google Ads tool that suggests keywords and estimates how often they are searched each month and what advertisers pay to show ads on them.

How it works

Keyword Planner is built for researching keywords for Search campaigns. Even keyword ideas need an account with billing details.

It gives two kinds of numbers. Historical metrics describe the past. Avg. monthly searches is the average number of searches for a keyword and its close variants over the months, locations and network you chose (12 months by default). Forecasts estimate clicks, cost and impressions from your bid and budget and, unlike historical metrics, take seasonality into account.

The search figures are rounded. For a seasonal product, the 12-month average hides the peak, so read the monthly breakdown (Keyword Planner volumes for seasonal products). For a shop on Shopping ads, the volume is a guide to demand, not a sales forecast.

Where you see it

  • Google Ads → Tools → Keyword Planner: “Discover new keywords” for ideas, “Get search volume and forecasts” for your own list. The table shows Avg. monthly searches, Competition, Top of page bid (low range) and Top of page bid (high range).

Example

Example store, not client data.

The tableware shop checks “christmas plates”. The monthly breakdown shows 1,200 searches in December and 100 in each remaining month. Avg. monthly searches = (1,200 + 11 × 100) ÷ 12 = 2,300 ÷ 12 ≈ 190, before Google’s rounding. A December plan built on 190 is 1,200 ÷ 190 ≈ 6.3 times too low; a July plan is 190 ÷ 100 = 1.9 times too high.

Not to be confused with

  • Google Trends — interest relative to its peak, from 0 to 100, without search counts. Google asks you not to cite the two sources together.
  • Search volume — how often a query is searched. Avg. monthly searches is one rounded estimate of it.

Right and wrong readings

  • Wrong: “The keyword shows the same 1,000 searches in broad and in exact match, so broad match brings no extra traffic.” Right: search volume is always shown for the exact keyword; only forecasts change with match type.
  • Wrong: “Two regions show 1,000 searches each, so together they get 2,000.” Right: the figures are rounded, so volumes for several locations may not add up.

Sources

  • Use Keyword Planner — Google Ads Help: Search campaigns, billing details, Tools menu, the two starting options. Checked 2 October 2026 (archived copy of 26 September 2026).
  • About Keyword Planner forecasts — Google Ads Help: Avg. monthly searches, rounding, exact match, forecasts. Checked 2 October 2026 (archived copy of 20 April 2026).