Google Ads

Match type

How loosely Google may match a search to your keyword: exact, phrase or broad.

A keyword's match type tells Google how far a search may stray from the words you wrote and still trigger your ad. Exact match means the search must mean the same thing; phrase match means it must include the meaning of your phrase; broad match means anything Google considers related, which can be very related indeed. Broad match is the default on new keywords and the source of most search-term waste, because it hands the auction to Google's guess about intent. The right use of broad match is with a conversion goal and enough conversion data for the machine to learn from; the wrong use is a new account with no tracking, where it simply spends. The search terms report shows you what each match type is actually buying.

Augusta Bhardwaj

Built Admiral · runs the audits on real accounts