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Google Adwords’ introduces their new keyword match type called “Modified Broad Match”

Before modified broad match…

For advertisers using Google Adwords in the past the three keyword match types that were used in their campaign ad groups were broad, phrase and exact.

With many advertisers being reluctant to use the broad match type for their keywords because of the irrelevant search queries that their advert was displaying for, Google have decided enough is enough, and have developed a new additional keyword match type – the modified broad match (or as we like to call it +match).

Google’s New Targeting Option

The new option, known as modified broad match, is a new feature that can be used with your Adwords advertiser account that allows you to create keywords which have a greater reach than phrase match, but allow you to assert more control than the regular broad match type.

For advertisers who currently utilise the phrase and exact keyword match types, the modified broad targeting option allows your campaign to increase its scope by helping you get more clicks and conversions with a more attractive return on investment.

Implementing the new targeting option is extremely simple, much like the other keyword match type options. Simply put a plus symbol (+) at the front of one or more words that you currently have set to broad match. The plus symbol is added to the start of the keyword, to provide it with a “rule” that the keyword has to be closely related to the search query a customer types in.

Modified broad match in action…

Using a real case study makes it a lot easier for me to explain exactly how the modified broad match type works.

In the case of one of our clients, an online retailer of bags and luggage, we noticed that in many of the brand name campaigns for the products that they sold, Google was matching it with extremely broad variants, abbreviations and synonyms.

For example in one of the campaigns, there was an ad group that had all the specific 4 wheeled luggage products that Samsonite sold. One of the broad keyphrases in this ad group was “Samsonite 4 wheeled luggage.”  Although we had the same keyword in the ad group, with all the match type variants, we were still finding that the keyword “Samsonite 4 wheeled luggage” was being matched for “Antler 4 wheeled luggage.”

As Google uses Samsonite as a variant of “bag” and “luggage”, it was being found for very general bag related search queries by possible customers who were looking for the specific brand Samsonite.

This is where the modified broad match option has come to save the day! If we now place a plus symbol at the start of the Samsonite word, for example “+Samsonite 4 wheeled luggage,” Google will now make sure that the Samsonite keyword has to be found in the customers search query before the specific ad group advert is triggered.

The image below illustrates the different keyword match types and how these are matched related to user search queries.

Multiply and Conquer

Although Google have made it extremely simple to apply the new match type to your keywords, they do suggest that additional keywords are added to your ad groups further to your existing broad match keywords. Setting your bids to your ad group default and then adjusting them over time to target the best possible CPA and return on investment seems to be the best strategy for using it successfully.

If you haven’t already, I would recommend you test out this new feature that Google have made available. In the short period of time that this has been available in the UK, it has definitely enabled us to maximize the ROI for our client.

Posted by James Murphy

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