Glossary · search-ads
What is Keyword match types?
Match types decide how closely a person's search has to resemble your keyword before your ad can show. Google Ads has three. Exact match, written in square brackets, shows for searches with the same meaning as the keyword. Phrase match, in quotation marks, shows for searches that include the meaning of the keyword, with words possibly added before or after. Broad match, with no symbols, lets Google show the ad for anything it judges related, using signals beyond the words themselves. None of them is literal any more — even exact match covers close variants and synonyms. Broad gives reach and needs strong conversion tracking to work; exact gives control and less volume.
What does Keyword match types mean for a business in Pakistan?
Broad match is risky for a small twin-city budget without conversion tracking, because Google will happily match 'wedding photographer Islamabad' to 'wedding hall Islamabad' or 'mehndi designs'. Phrase and exact keep a limited daily spend on searches a local business can actually serve, especially where Roman Urdu spellings vary widely.
A worked example
Say a bakery in Bahria Town runs [birthday cake Bahria Town] on exact and "custom cake Rawalpindi" on phrase. The exact keyword gets fewer clicks but most of them order. The phrase keyword picks up 'custom cake delivery Rawalpindi Bahria phase 7', which is also useful, and 'custom cake recipe', which becomes a negative.
Terms that go with this one
These come up in the same conversations and are worth reading together.
- Negative keywordnegative keywordA negative keyword tells Google Ads which searches must never trigger your ad. If you sell new furniture, adding 'used', 'second hand' and 'olx' as…
- Search terms reportsearch terms reportThe search terms report lists the actual words people typed before they saw and clicked your Google ad — as opposed to the keywords you chose to bid…
- KeywordkeywordA keyword is the actual phrase a person types into a search box — one word or eight, it does not matter, the word keyword just means the query. It…
- Long-tail keywordlong-tail keywordA long-tail keyword is a longer, more specific search phrase — usually four words or more — that fewer people type but each one wants something…
- Smart biddingsmart biddingSmart bidding is the family of Google Ads bid strategies that set a different bid for every auction using machine learning, rather than a fixed price…
Keyword match types — quick answers
What does Keyword match types mean?
Match types decide how closely a person's search has to resemble your keyword before your ad can show. Google Ads has three.
Keyword match types ko Urdu mein kya kehte hain?
کی ورڈ میچ ٹائپس — though in practice almost everyone in Pakistan says "match type". Broad match is risky for a small twin-city budget without conversion tracking, because Google will happily match 'wedding photographer Islamabad' to 'wedding hall Islamabad' or 'mehndi designs'.
Why does Keyword match types matter for a business in Pakistan?
Broad match is risky for a small twin-city budget without conversion tracking, because Google will happily match 'wedding photographer Islamabad' to 'wedding hall Islamabad' or 'mehndi designs'. Phrase and exact keep a limited daily spend on searches a local business can actually serve, especially where Roman Urdu spellings vary widely.
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