Google has long employed keyword match types as a way for advertisers to broaden the search terms their ads show for, keep the search term target tight or block ads from showing for certain search terms. Still, many advertisers don’t understand or misuse match types. Additionally, Google has over time, adjusted the way match types work. Below is an overview of each match type.
Exact Match – Originally, as the name alludes, an advertiser’s ad would only show when the search term exactly matched a keyword in the ad account. Over time though, Google has liberalized this match type. In fact, a search term may illicit an ad impression for an exact match keyword where it wouldn’t for a broad match (modifier) keyword. While much more targeted than broad match, Exact match keywords may show for a host of similar search terms such as misspellings, singular/plural, stems, abbreviations, accents, added or removed function keywords (prepositions), implied words, synonyms and paraphrases and same search intent. As you read through that list, you may notice that the possible matches become more liberal and leave a lot of room for interpretation on Google’s part. There are two general outcomes from this increased exposure, one good and one bad. On the one hand, broader matching allows the advertiser’s ads to show for search terms with similar or the same meaning without having to spend time adding these additional keywords to the account. The downside is that ads will show for search terms where Google misses the mark in matching meaning and ad dollars will be wasted. In order to react to the latter, advertisers will need to employ negative match type keywords to their exact match ad groups.
Phrase Match – Phrase match allows an advertiser to implement a keyword phrase that would cover similar search terms that in include the keyword phrase as part of the search term, in that order. For instance, the phrase match keyword “paid search” would illicit ad impressions for “google paid search” or “paid search management”. Again though, Google has expanded this match type’s reach to include,” Close variants include misspellings, singular and plural forms, acronyms, stemmings (such as floor and flooring), abbreviations, accents, implied terms, synonyms and paraphrases, and variants of your keyword terms that have the same meaning”. Advertisers will need to add less keywords to their ad groups. They will also need to extend their list of negative keywords. Phrase match is a good option if you are confident that your target keyword phrase would generate targeted users from larger search term phrases with its inclusion. Phrase type also makes a good replacement for broad match modifier keywords where word order matters. For instance, the broad match modifier keyword +development +process would also show ads for “process development” a word with an entirely different meaning. Using phrase match in this example would eliminate ads from showing for “process development”.
Broad Match – As the name would suggest, this is the most liberal of Google Ad’s match types. When you use a broad match keyword, “your ad is eligible to serve when someone searches for relevant variations of your keyword”. Be aware that broad match is the default match type for keywords. If you do not specify a match type, your keywords will work as broad match. This can be very costly and lead to a large amount of poorly spent ad budget. Relevant variations include synonyms, possible misspellings, stemmings and other related searches. Keep in mind with this match type that Google may show your ad for search terms that, “don’t contain the keyword from the keyword list, and searches that are related to the keyword but don’t have the same meaning”. Google also states that it may take the users recent search activities into account to deliver relevant matches. Broad Match can be a good tactic when employing various smart bidding options from Google. The smart bidding helps target users with intent towards your offering and broad match keeps the net cast wide to let smart bidding reach scale.
Broad Match Modifier (BMM) – BMM is technically a setting within Broach Match. The BMM setting gives the advertiser a lot more control of the Broad Match setting. To use this setting, simply add a “+” in front of a keyword(s). This instructs Google to only show your ads if the “+” keywords are part of the user’s search query. This greatly tightens the exposure of a broad match setting and generally leads to much more targeted ads. BMM is quite similar to Phrase match in the way it works. But it also allows the advertiser to limit the keyword variations in an ad group. In phrase match, the keyword “new car” would show ads for “new car” but not “car new” or “car dealer new”. BMM, +new +car, would show ads for all these listings. Again, there is a disclaimer to this setting as well. “Your ad may also show for close variations of the individual “+” terms or the combination of these terms in the keyword.”
Negative Keywords – In the past, an advertiser could setup a campaign and use all exact match keywords in his or her ad groups. The advertiser could then be confident that ads would only show for the keywords in the account. There was no need for negative keywords. While this may not have been the best practice, it certainly was a tactic used by those with little available time or limited Google Ads knowledge. As Google has morphed all its match types to more liberal functionality, Negative Keywords are a necessity for successful search campaigns. Negative keywords employ the same core match types – exact, phrase and broad. They work in a slightly different manner. Generally, this is because the negative match type rules are rigid and don’t employ any liberalized matching. You will need to enter singular/plural variations, misspellings, stems, abbreviations, etc. to block any unwanted search term variations.
Negative Broad Match – This is the most restrictive setting. Setting a keyword as broad match negative will stop an advertiser’s ads from showing for any search term that includes this keyword. Word order is irrelevant – the search term will be blocked regardless of order. This is also the default setting for negative keywords.
Negative Phrase Match – This setting blocks search terms that have the same word order as the negative keyword. If the negative keyword is part of the search term, in the same order, ads will not serve. Keep in mind that setting a single keyword as phrase match will have the same effect as broad match since the keyword will always be in the same word order.
Negative Exact Match – The most straightforward of all match types, positive and negative. If the negative match keyword exactly matches the search term, ads will not serve.
Understanding and correctly setting match types has long been a very important piece of campaign management. As the match types evolve and other settings like smart bidding rely on match types, correctly using match types grows in importance.