Advertising
Log in to saveDigital marketing term
Match Type
The Google Ads rule that decides which search queries a keyword can trigger: exact, phrase, or broad. It trades control for reach.
Detailed explanation
Exact (with close variants) is the tightest. Phrase keeps order and meaning. Broad, especially with smart bidding and enough conversions, opens more queries.
The wrong match type burns budget on irrelevant searches. Negative keywords complete the setup.
Search terms reports show what was actually searched; keywords show what you bid on. Those two lists are not the same.
Frequently asked questions
- Should everything be broad match?
- Not without conversion volume and smart bidding. Brand and profitable queries often stay tighter.
- Why are negatives required?
- The broader the match, the more junk queries leak in. Negatives pull spend back to intent.
Related terms
Internal links for the topic cluster — read these concepts together.
- PPCPPC (Pay-Per-Click) is a paid advertising model where you pay only when someone clicks your ad; it underpins Google Ads and many social ad platforms.
- SEMMarketing for visibility in search results — the umbrella can include SEO, but most teams mean paid search. Budget, bids, and Quality Score run independently from organic ranking work.
- Negative KeywordA Negative Keyword is a term added to a search network campaign to specify which searches an ad should NOT appear for, preventing irrelevant impressions and wasted spend.
- Quality ScoreQuality Score is Google Ads' 1–10 rating of a keyword's expected relevance, based on expected CTR, ad relevance, and landing page experience.
- Search IntentThe purpose behind a query: learn, compare, navigate, or buy. Pages and ads rank and convert when they match that purpose, not just the keywords.