Don’t Freak Out Over AdWords Match Type Changes

Recently, Google announced that in mid-May they will change what Exact and Phrase match types mean. For the last decade there have only been a handful of changes to match types. This most recent move may be the most significant change of all though. It basically kills the meaning of exact and phrase match and several news articles have painted a grim picture. However, Sweet Spot is not afraid of this change and I will tell you why.

The original match types:

Broad match: keyword

Allows your ad to show on similar phrases and relevant variations

(The broad match modifier may also be used to further refine your broad keyword matches: +keyword.)

Phrase match: ”keyword”

Allows your ad to show for searches that match the exact phrase

Exact match: [keyword]

Allows your ad to show for searches that match the exact phrase exclusively

With the changes coming this month, Broad match will stay virtually unchanged. However, Phrase and Exact will now include close variants including misspellings, singular and plural forms, acronyms, stemmings (such as floor and flooring), abbreviations, and accents.

Google is framing this as no big deal. However, it could have serious consequences. With the new matching system, if you have “slate roofing” as a keyword, it will also bring in searches for “slate roof.”  “Slate roof” is more of an informational keyword with a lower conversion rate.  Consumers searching “slate roof” are much more likely to be looking for photos or more information about slate roofs.  “Slate roofing” has a much higher conversion rate.  Consumers searching for “slate roofing” are more likely to be looking to buy something.  Therefore, an advertiser would be losing profits by appearing for the keyword “slate roofs.”

This is a serious situation but I am not freaking out because you can turn it off.

1)      Go to your Campaigns tab.

2)      Choose the campaign you want to adjust and click Settings.

3)      Scroll down to Advanced Settings and click Keyword Matching Options.

4)      Choose Do Not Include Close Variants and Save.

So, if you have a campaign that is reliant on transactional keywords, turn this new matching system off.  You will now be able to manage it as usual. Moving forward I will be building campaigns to anticipate this new matching system though.

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