Breaking Down The Google Match Type Changes

You may have heard that Google is planning to make an update to their keyword match types. The Digital4Startups team has put together some information related to the recent changes Google is making, and what type of implications this may have to your Paid Search campaigns.

What’s Changing?

The short version: Broad match modified is phasing out and being replaced by phrase match.

Current broad match modified keywords will still serve, but you won’t be able to add more of them once summer rolls around. Phrase match keywords will take their place and cover broader searches while respecting the order and intent of core keywords. This table from Google is the best way to illustrate the change:

Again, note that the order still holds up, so for example the “womens boots” keyword above would NOT match to a search for “boots for women”.

So What?

The big takeaway is that you will need to be extra intentional in adding negative keywords at the ad group level to avoid irrelevant search traffic from crossing over.

For example, let’s say you have a general Spray Mop ad group. In this case, a phrase match keyword in that ad group like “best spray mop” could now match “best wood floor spray mop.” You may already have a Wood Floor Cleaning ad group as its own, so you would need to make sure you add the appropriate negative terms to steer search traffic to the right ads (and the right landing pages).

What’s Next?

If you are currently running broad match modified keywords, just remember that your existing keywords will continue serving; they just will likely begin to see less volume (while phrase match will see more), so we recommend transitioning your broad match modified keywords to phrase match. However, because nothing will stop running, you don’t need to take immediate action.

Please reach out to us if you have any questions about this change.