Google Keyword Planner: Is It Free and How to Use It

Google Keyword Planner is a free tool inside Google Ads for finding keyword ideas, seeing roughly how many times a term is searched each month, and estimating bids for Google Search ads. There is no charge for using the tool itself, but you need a fully set-up Google Ads account, and the numbers it gives are rounded estimates, not exact search counts.

This article answers the questions people in Thailand ask most often about google keyword planner, one at a time: whether it is really free, what kind of account you need, why search volume sometimes appears as a wide range, how its two tools differ, how to set the language and location to Thai and Thailand, how to read top of page bid, how far you can use it for SEO, and how to add keywords to a plan or a campaign. Every mechanic described here comes from the Google Ads Help Center. Where Google does not publish something, the article says so plainly.

What is Keyword Planner, and is it free?

Keyword Planner is a tool that lives inside your Google Ads account. Google's Help Center describes it as a tool for researching keywords for Search campaigns: it helps you find keyword ideas related to your business and see estimates of how often each term is searched and what it would cost to target. Google's own product page for the tool describes Keyword Planner as a free resource.

"Free" here means there is no fee for the tool. Browsing keyword ideas or checking forecast numbers costs nothing. You only pay once you launch an ad campaign and people click on or see your ads, according to the bidding model you chose. Opening a plan in Keyword Planner does not start any ads running.

Do you need a Google Ads account?

Yes. There is no standalone version of Keyword Planner outside Google Ads. Google's product page says that to access the tool you must first finish setting up a Google Ads account and create a campaign, and that you do not need to create a separate account for it. The Google Ads Help Center also states that you must complete account setup by entering billing information before you can use basic features such as getting keyword ideas.

Account mode is the other thing that stops people finding the tool. Google states that if your account uses Smart mode, you need to switch to Expert mode first before the Keyword Planner menu appears.

How to open it: in your Google Ads account, open the Tools menu (the tools icon) and select Keyword planner. The first screen asks you to choose between two tools: Discover new keywords, and Get search volume and forecasts. Menu labels may differ slightly depending on the interface language you have set.

Discover new keywords vs Get search volume and forecasts

The two tools answer different questions. The first is "which words should I use?" The second is "how will the words I already have perform?"

Discover new keywords

Use this when you do not have a keyword list yet. There are two ways to start. The first is Start with keywords: type words or phrases related to your products or services, separated by commas. The second is Start with a website: enter a URL and Google will find keywords related to that site's content (Google notes that the contents of hyperlinks on the page are not used). The Help Center also says that entering a keyword and a URL together can return more ideas than a URL alone.

Once you have results, you can filter them by criteria such as competition, ad impression share or keyword text, and narrow them down using the categories Google groups them into.

Get search volume and forecasts

Use this when you already have a keyword list. You can type or paste the list, or upload a CSV file. A simple file needs one column with the header "Keyword". The results come in two parts: historical metrics, and forecasts such as the clicks, impressions and cost you might expect.

The table below summarises how the two tools differ.

Why search volume shows as a range, and how to get finer numbers

Many people open Keyword Planner and see average monthly searches as a wide range, such as 1K-10K, instead of a single number. The first thing to know is that the Google Ads Help Center does not publish a clear rule for which accounts see ranges and which see more precise figures. Any explanation that claims to know the exact condition, such as tying it to ad spend in the account, is an assumption Google has not confirmed in writing, not a rule.

Here is what Google does confirm:

• Figures are rounded. The Help Center says search volume statistics are rounded, so when you look at several locations at once, the numbers may not add up neatly.
• They are averages. Average monthly searches is the average number of times people searched for a keyword and its close variants, based on the month range, location and network you selected. By default it is averaged over 12 months.
• Close variants are merged. The Google Ads API documentation explains that close variants, such as car and cars, are merged into a single result, so you may get fewer results than the number of keywords you entered.
• Very low-volume or sensitive terms may have no data. Google says keywords with very low search volume, or keywords considered sensitive, cannot be discovered or forecast, and results in categories such as health or finance are often unavailable because of personalised advertising and data privacy policies.

If you need finer numbers, the official route Google offers is the Google Ads API, which returns both average monthly searches and approximate monthly search volume for up to the past four years. Google's API documentation says historical search volume metrics refresh monthly. This route needs technical setup, so it suits teams with a developer. For most people, the more practical approach is to read the monthly trend chart on the results page and combine it with data from live campaigns or from your own site's Search Console.

How to set the language and location to Thai and Thailand

The Keyword Planner results page has a targeting panel at the top. Google's Help Center describes three parts:

• Locations. Type a country, region or city, such as Thailand or Bangkok. To target everywhere, remove the locations you entered and targeting resets to "All locations".
• Language. Type a language name or choose from the list, for example Thai.
• Search networks. Choose "Google" to see Google Search only, or "Google and search partners" to include other Google search sites such as Maps and partner sites.

These settings are not cosmetic. Google states that average monthly searches, competition and top of page bid ranges are all calculated for the location and network you select. If you forget to change them from a previous setting, every number belongs to another market. One point to watch in Thailand is that people search in both Thai and English, for example "รองเท้าวิ่ง" and "running shoes". Enter both versions as seed keywords and compare the figures yourself. Google also notes that forecasts for small areas may be less accurate because there is less data to base them on.

How to read top of page bid

The results table has two columns: Top of page bid (low range) and Top of page bid (high range). Google's Help Center explains that the low range is an approximation of the 20th percentile of bids that advertisers' ads were shown at the top of the page for, and the high range is an approximation of the 80th percentile. The data covers the last 30 days and is based on the location and network you selected.

Put simply, about 20% of the top-of-page bids Google observed were at or below the low range, and about 80% were at or below the high range. Neither number is what you will actually pay per click. Actual cost depends on each auction, your ad quality and your bidding strategy. If a keyword has little bidding history, the column may be blank.

A hypothetical example: a keyword shows a low range of 8 baht and a high range of 35 baht. That means that over the last 30 days, the bids that reached the top of the page were spread across a wide band. You can use the figures to set a starting budget and compare one keyword against another, but you should not treat them as fixed prices. All numbers in this example are hypothetical.

Two other columns are worth knowing. Competition shows as low, medium or high, and measures how many advertisers showed ads on that keyword compared with all keywords on Google. It describes competition on the ads side, not how hard the term is to rank for in SEO. Ad impression share shows a dash when there is not enough data to calculate it.

Can you use Keyword Planner for SEO, and what are the limits?

Yes, as a source of ideas and a rough measure of demand. The parts that are useful for SEO are the keyword idea lists, the seasonal trends, and the ability to compare which terms have more demand than others. But you need to understand these limits:

1. It is built for ads. Google designed the tool for Search campaigns. Metrics such as Competition and top of page bid describe the ad auction, not how difficult organic ranking is.
2. Close variants are merged. Singular, plural or near-identical spellings may share one number, so you cannot tell which form people search more.
3. Historical data is exact match. Google states that historical metrics such as average monthly searches are shown for exact matches only, so changing the match type does not change the historical numbers.
4. Thai long-tail terms often have no data. Because very low-volume terms are not shown, many long Thai search phrases disappear from the list even though real people may be searching them.
5. It does not show search intent. The numbers tell you how many people search, not whether they want information or want to buy. Check the actual search results page as well.

For SEO work, use Keyword Planner alongside real query data from your own site's Search Console and a look at the live results page for each term. If you want a keyword research process that runs from seed terms through to pages, the SEO Thailand team can help you set it up.

How to add keywords to a plan or a campaign

Once you have chosen your keywords, there are two main routes:

• Save them to a plan. Tick the keywords, pick a match type from the drop-down (it starts on Broad match), then select Add keywords to create a new plan or add to an existing one. The keywords go into Saved keywords, where you can group them later. Google's product page notes that you can save a plan or share it with other people.
• Add them to an existing campaign. In the Keyword ideas section, select the keywords, open the three-dot menu on the blue bar, choose Add to account, pick the ad group and match type, then select Add.

Inside a plan you can view forecasts. Google says forecasts take your bid, budget, seasonality and historical ad quality into account, while historical metrics do not. Forecasts are refreshed daily from a short window of recent data (the Help Center says roughly the last 7-10 days, adjusted for seasonality), and you can change the forecast date range at the top of the Forecasts page. All forecasts are for the Search Network. Try moving the bid up and down to see how expected clicks and cost change before you commit a real budget.

What this means for Thai businesses

For businesses in Thailand, google keyword planner is a starting point with no tool fee, but the numbers need careful reading. Set the location to Thailand, or the provinces you actually sell in, every time. Enter seed keywords in both Thai and English, and do not drop Thai long-tail terms just because the tool shows no figure for them. Businesses in health or finance should expect that data may not be available at all. For advertising, the top of page bid range is fine for a starting budget, but the real cost only becomes clear once a campaign runs. If you want to turn this research into a campaign structure, Google Ads management can take a plan through to a live campaign, and the same keywords can feed a content marketing plan.

Google Keyword Planner FAQ

Is Google Keyword Planner free?

Yes, Google describes Keyword Planner as a free resource with no fee for the tool. You do need a fully set-up Google Ads account, including billing information, and you only pay once you run an ad campaign.

Why does Keyword Planner show search volume as a range like 1K-10K?

Google does not publish a clear rule for when volumes appear as ranges. What Google confirms is that the figures are rounded averages; if you need finer monthly numbers, the Google Ads API returns monthly data for up to four years back.

What do the low range and high range of top of page bid mean?

The low range approximates the 20th percentile and the high range the 80th percentile of bids that showed ads at the top of the page over the last 30 days, for your selected location and network. They are not what you will pay per click.

Can I use Keyword Planner for SEO?

Yes, as a source of ideas and a rough measure of demand, but the tool is built for ads. Competition does not measure SEO difficulty, close variants are merged and very low-volume terms are hidden, so pair it with Search Console and a look at the live results.

Why can't I find the Keyword Planner menu?

The most common reason is that the account is still in Smart mode, which Google says must be switched to Expert mode first. The other is incomplete account setup, such as missing billing information.

Summary

Keyword Planner gives you a rough picture of search demand and ad cost with no tool fee. The key is to set the location and language correctly, understand that the figures are rounded estimates, and combine them with real data from your own site and campaigns. If you want help turning keyword research into a measurable campaign, the Google Ads team at Relevant Audience can help you plan it.