Google Ads: the trap of “seller” volumes by municipality

Before launching a campaign, most agencies look at how many people search for each phrase. That is the right approach. The figure still has to match the phrase.

The figure we recorded

In October 2026, while preparing a campaign for an agency in Anderlecht, we recorded 1,000 monthly searches in Google Ads for “vendre maison Anderlecht”, meaning “sell house Anderlecht”. A surprising volume for a seller search limited to one municipality.

The same data gave exactly the same volume to the buyers' phrase, “maison à vendre Anderlecht”, meaning “house for sale Anderlecht”. Google Ads matches close variants of a keyword, and its volume figures reflect that: here, the seller search inherits the buyer search's volume.

What a second measurement shows

Cross-checked with that second source, seller searches followed by a municipality name almost all fall below the measurement threshold, around 10 to 20 a month. For a neighbouring agency in Dilbeek, September 2026 volumes painted the same picture:

• “maison à vendre” (house for sale): 1,600 searches a month;
• “huis te koop” (house for sale, in Dutch): 1,000;
• “maison à louer” (house to let): 880;
• seller searches in the municipality: fewer than 250.

A campaign built on “municipality + sell” phrases therefore mostly buys buyers. To reach sellers, it is better to target general valuation phrases, limited to your area, and to judge the campaign by cost per valuation request, not cost per click.

How to check before paying

• Compare the seller phrase's volume with the closest buyer phrase: if they are identical, they have been grouped.
• Cross-check with a second measurement source before setting a budget.
• After a week of running ads, read the search terms report: those are the searches people actually typed.
• Count valuation requests received, not clicks.

That is how we build the campaigns in our Google Ads service.

Excluding what brings no sellers

A campaign aimed at sellers has to exclude searches that are not from sellers. Negative keywords do exactly that: they stop the ad from showing on certain searches.

• “to let”, “rent”, “kot” (student room): those are tenants.
• “for sale” followed by a property type: mostly buyers.
• “notary”, “fees”, “calculation”: often early-stage browsers, to test before keeping them.

The list grows every week by reading the actual search terms. It is ongoing work, not a setting made once at launch.

Then there is the landing page, which matters as much as the ad. A seller who clicks “Get your property valued” should land on a valuation page, not on the list of properties for sale. Every paid click landing on the wrong page is wasted, even if the ad was well targeted. It is a simple, often forgotten check that we run for every ad group before launch.

What a client says

What to remember

• A “seller + municipality” volume can be the buyers' volume.
• Genuine seller searches by municipality are rare.
• Sellers are reached through general valuation phrases.
• A campaign is judged on cost per enquiry, not cost per click.

Want to know what your campaigns are really buying? We read your search terms and your cost per enquiry. Request a free audit or get in touch.