How do I add search terms as keywords or exclude them?
Last updated: 31 October 2026 · The MargenOptimierer app is in German. Button and menu names are shown exactly as you see them, with the English meaning in brackets.
In the Suchbegriffe (search terms) tab of the Werbekonsole (ad console) you can see on which searches your ads appeared at OTTO. You add a search term that sells to a manual campaign with Als Keyword übernehmen (add as keyword). You exclude a search term with clicks and no sale from its automatic campaign with Ausschließen (exclude). You queue both and then send them to OTTO, as described in How do I send my changes to OTTO?
How it works
- In the Werbekonsole, in the Suchbegriffe tab, tick the search terms you want to add.
- Click Als Keyword übernehmen at the bottom. A window opens.
- Under Zielkampagne (target campaign), choose a manual campaign.
- Under Match-Arten (match types), tick how closely a search has to fit the keyword. Exakt (exact) is already ticked.
- Enter the Startgebot in Euro (starting bid in euros) and click Vormerken (queue).
- Send the changes to OTTO, as described in How do I send my changes to OTTO?
Example: Adding “gartenstuhl klappbar” as a keyword
The campaign “Automatic – Garden furniture” advertises 298 items. In the Suchbegriffe tab it shows the search term “gartenstuhl klappbar” with 40 clicks and 3 sales. You add it to “Manual – Garden furniture”, which advertises the same 298 items. It gets the match type Exakt and a 0.40 € starting bid, and the preview in the window tells you beforehand that the keyword will be created on 298 items.
The search term “gartenstuhl kinder” in the same campaign has 30 clicks and 12 € of ad spend, but no sale. You tick it and click Ausschließen. Under Gilt für (applies to) you choose An allen Artikeln der Kampagne (on all items in the campaign) and click Vormerken. That creates a negative keyword on each of the 298 items, so 298 negative keywords.
Ein Suchbegriff, der verkauft, wird ein Keyword. Einer, der nur Klicks kostet, wird ausgeschlossen.
What else matters when you add search terms
Creating a new manual campaign
If you have no suitable manual campaign, choose Neue manuelle Kampagne anlegen (create new manual campaign), the first option under Zielkampagne. Under Artikel der neuen Kampagne (items in the new campaign) you choose which items go in, and you enter a name and the daily budget. The button then reads Anlegen (create), and the new campaign goes to OTTO right after your click, together with its items and keywords. It starts today and runs with no end date.
One keyword in several match types
If you create the same keyword on an item in two match types, MargenOptimierer asks you first. If you later change the bid of one, OTTO changes the other along with it, and the two match types become one. If you remove one, OTTO removes both.
You can only exclude in automatic campaigns
In a manual campaign, OTTO rejects a negative keyword. If you tick search terms from manual campaigns, MargenOptimierer leaves them out and tells you so in the preview. You remove a negative keyword in the Negatives (negative keywords) tab, and that too waits in the Changelog until you send it.
Next
- How do I send my changes to OTTO?