Google Ads matches – what is it?

When using Google Ads, sooner or later we always come across the term “keyword matching”. What is under this name? Well, each keyword in Google Ads can be added in three match types: exact, broad, and phrase match. Which option we choose depends on how widely the system will search for recipients to whom our ad should be displayed. Thus, Google Ads matching determines, in short, how exactly the password entered by the user in the search engine should match the one we added as a keyword. Depending on the selected match, the system may display the ad only to recipients who entered the same phrase, or also to recipients who specified their password with additional terms or entered a password only loosely related to the keyword. What meaning ranges do the individual matches cover?

Match types

Exact match – This is the most precise match of Google Ads. It reaches the narrowest group of recipients, but it allows you to maintain the greatest control over who our ad will be displayed to. By using this type of match, we only get to users who entered the exact same keyword or phrase with the same meaning (or differently – with the same search intention). When entering an exact match keyword, put it in square brackets, eg [men’s pajamas]. Then the advertisement will be displayed for this slogan and very similar slogans, such as pajamas for men, pajamas for men, etc.

Phrase match takes into account all searches as exact match, and also allows you to show your ad on terms where the keyword has been specified by the user. We’ll still show your ads only for searches that include our product or service, but it doesn’t have to be an exact repeat of the keyword. So this is a slightly more casual match type, but still allows you to keep a relatively large amount of control over how your budget is spent. We mark phrase match by placing the keyword in quotation marks. If we enter, for example, the word “women’s boots”, the ad will also be visible on more specific inquiries, e.g. black women’s ankle boots, comfortable high-heeled women’s boots, etc.

Broad match allows your ad to appear also on queries that are very loosely related to the selected keyword. Thanks to this, on the one hand, we reach a very wide audience, and on the other hand, we have little control over the contexts in which the system shows our advertisements. Broad match doesn’t have any special characters, so when you type just a keyword into the system, no additional characters, it defaults to that type of match. If you enter, for example, low-sugar diet as a keyword, your ad may also show results such as: low-carbohydrate recipes or low-sugar books.

How to use broad match wisely?

Does this mean that by using broad match, we are wasting resources on users who will not buy our product anyway? Not necessarily. Showing your ads to audiences who are not yet ready to buy is part of guiding them through the buying funnel. So, if your ad is shown to users who are not yet looking for our product, but are interested in a given topic, it may later lead to conversion.

However, to make sure your budget is used optimally, it’s a good idea to use Smart Bidding for each Google Ads match type – and broad match in particular. Thanks to this solution, the system will decide what chance for conversion is given by a specific recipient, and thus how high the rate should be determined in a given case. Considering how much he knows about the users, one can be sure that his forecasts regarding the effectiveness of activities will most often be characterized by high accuracy. What does Google Ads take into account when searching for audiences? Among other things, it may be influenced by the user’s last searches, the content of the page to which the ad leads, or other keywords from a given ad group.

Additionally, in each match type, we can narrow down the search context by introducing the so-called negative keywords. Excluding certain words will result in the ad not being displayed if the user includes these words in the keyword entered into the search engine. This feature allows us to gain a bit more control over the ad and prevent it from showing in contexts that we deem unprofitable.

Which type of approximation is best to use?

There is no clear answer to this question. Exact matching allows you to keep a lot of control over your expenses, but on the other hand, it narrows the field of activity and may deprive you of valuable recipients. Phrase match gives you more freedom and broadens the audience, but still ads are displayed only on terms strongly related to a given product or service. Broad match, in turn, carries a potentially high risk of reaching uninterested recipients. On the other hand, we can reach completely new groups of recipients and learn new keywords that are highly effective for our brand. So let’s just use keywords tailored to the specific goal that we want to achieve thanks to a given campaign.