The present application provides an error correction method and device for search terms. The method comprises: identifying an incorrect search term; calculating weighted edit distances between the search term and pre-obtained hot terms by using a weighted edit distance algorithm, wherein, during the calculation of the weighted edit distances, different weights are set respectively for the following operations of transforming from the search term to the hot terms: an operation of inserting characters, an operation of deleting characters, an operation of replacing by characters with similar appearance or pronunciation, an operation of replacing by characters with dissimilar appearance or pronunciation, and an operation of exchanging characters; and selecting a predetermined number of hot terms based on the weighted edit distances and popularity of the hot terms for error correction prompt. The method and device of the present application can improve the error correction accuracy of error search terms.