Broad match can find searches you'd never think of, but only Smart Bidding with trustworthy conversion data can tell good ones from bad. Here's when each match type fits, and how to add broad without losing control.
Google has pushed broad match for years. It's the default when you add a keyword, and the recommendations page keeps suggesting broad versions of the keywords you have.
Many advertisers have tried it and watched their money go to searches that had little to do with what they sell. Others swear by it. Both can be right, because broad match works under some conditions and not others.
The short version
- Exact match shows your ads on searches with the same meaning as your keyword. Phrase match includes the meaning of your keyword. Broad match reaches related searches too.
- Broad match only makes sense with Smart Bidding that bids for conversions, because it's the bidding that has to tell good searches from bad ones.
- That bidding is only as good as your conversion data. With double-counted sales or page views as conversions, broad match buys more of the wrong thing.
- Start with exact and phrase. Add broad beside them, not instead of them, in campaigns that already convert, and watch the search terms.
What each match type does
Google's keyword matching options are, from narrow to wide:
- Exact match shows ads on searches with the same meaning or intent as the keyword, including close variants.
- Phrase match shows ads on searches that include the meaning of the keyword.
- Broad match shows ads on searches related to the keyword, even when they don't contain its words. Google also uses signals such as the other keywords in the ad group and the landing page.
None of them means exactly what it did ten years ago. Exact match isn't literal any more, and phrase match took over the old broad match modifier in 2021. With AI Max switched on, a Search campaign also reaches searches beyond its keywords.
Why broad match needs Smart Bidding
With broad match, you don't pick the searches. Google does, and many of them are searches you'd never have chosen. What decides whether that pays off is how much you bid on each one.
With Smart Bidding, Google sets a bid for each search at the moment of the auction, based on how likely that search is to convert. A loose search gets a low bid or none. That's why Google itself calls it critical to pair broad match with Smart Bidding.
With manual bids or Maximize clicks, the bid doesn't follow how likely a search is to convert. Broad match then mostly buys more clicks, not more sales.
When broad match pays off
- The campaign bids for conversions or conversion value, such as Maximize conversions or Target ROAS.
- The conversion data can be trusted. One purchase action as primary, no page views counted, no sale counted twice. See Why does Google Ads count more conversions than GA4 and Shopify?
- The campaign already converts, with enough conversions a month for the bidding to learn from.
- It has hit a ceiling. It spends what it can on exact and phrase, or it serves rarely because the niche is small.
When it doesn't
- A new campaign with few or no conversions.
- A small budget, where every wasted click hurts.
- Products or services where similar-sounding searches mean something quite different.
- Accounts where conversions aren't measured, or measured badly.
How to add broad without losing control
- Keep the exact and phrase versions. Add the broad version beside them in the same ad group.
- Check the search terms report every week for the first month, and block searches that don't fit with negative keywords.
- Compare the cost per conversion, or the return on ad spend, of the broad version with exact and phrase after a few weeks.
- If it does clearly worse, pause it. Broad match isn't a principle, it's a test.
How Bavian handles it
Bavian adds new keywords mostly as exact and phrase match. It only adds broad match in campaigns that bid for conversions and where the conversion tracking can be trusted, and takes back broad it added on its own if it does clearly worse.
