Keywords

What are keyword matching options?Print
The four keyword matching options determine which Google searches can trigger your ads to appear. These options can help you control who sees your ads.

You can set each search-targeted keyword to have one of those four settings. To use a keyword matching option, just add the appropriate punctuation to your keyword:

Broad match: keyword
Allows your ad to show on similar phrases and relevant variations

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

Negative match: -keyword
Ensures your ad doesn't show for any search that includes that term
With some options, you'll enjoy more ad impressions, clicks, and conversions; with others, you'll get fewer impressions and more narrow targeting. By applying the appropriate matching options to your keywords, you can best meet your ROI goals.


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Broad Match
This is the default option. If your ad group contained the keyword 'tennis shoes,' your ad would be eligible to appear when a user's search query contained either or both words ('tennis' and 'shoes') in any order, and possibly along with other terms. Your ads could also show for singular/plural forms, synonyms, and other relevant variations.
Broad match keyword: Ads may show on searches for:
tennis shoes tennis
shoes
buy tennis shoes
tennis shoe photos
running shoes
tennis sneakers


Run a Search Query Performance Report to see what keyword variations trigger your ad. Check out this blog post to learn how broad match can help you reach more customers (English only).

Learn more about broad match


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Phrase Match
If you enter your keyword in quotation marks, as in "tennis shoes," your ad would be eligible to appear when a user searches on the phrase tennis shoes, with the words in that order. It can also appear for searches that contain other terms as long as it includes the exact phrase you've specified.
Phrase match keyword: Ads may show on searches for: Ads won't show on searches for:
"tennis shoes" red tennis shoes
buy tennis shoes
tennis shoes photo shoes for tennis
tennis shoe
tennis sneakers


Phrase match is more targeted than broad match, but more flexible than exact match.


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Exact Match
If you surround your keywords in brackets -- such as [tennis shoes] -- your ad would be eligible to appear when a user searches for the specific phrase 'tennis shoes,' in this order, and without any other terms in the query.
Exact match keyword: Ads may show on searches for: Ads won't show on searches for:
[tennis shoes] tennis shoes red tennis shoes
tennis shoe
buy tennis shoes


You likely won't receive as many impressions, clicks, or conversions with exact match as you would with broad match. However, if you've carefully constructed a comprehensive keyword list, the traffic you do receive may be more targeted to your product or service.


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Negative Match
If your keyword is 'tennis shoes' and you add the negative keyword '-used,' your ad will not appear for any searches that contain the word 'used.'
Keywords: Ads may show on searches for: Ads won't show on searches for:
tennis shoes
-used tennis shoes
buy tennis shoes
tennis used tennis shoes
shoe used for tennis



Negative keywords are especially useful if your account contains lots of broad-matched keywords. It's a good idea to add any irrelevant keyword variations you see in a Search Query Performance Report or the Keyword Tool as a negative keyword. Learn more

Learn more about negative keywords



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Remember, no matter which matching options you use, it's important to only use keywords that accurately describe your product or service. Read more tips on creating an effective keyword list.


What are the steps to creating a keyword list?Print
After setting your advertising goals, the next step is to build out your keywords. This can sometimes be daunting, especially if you're just beginning, but here are four steps to start creating an effective keyword list:

Expand your keyword list to include as many relevant words as possible.
Target the keyword list by using keyword matching options.
Scrub or refine the keyword list.
Group the keywords in thematic clusters to be paired with different ads.


Step 1: Expand
First, review your site content to identify which keywords (word combinations and phrases) describe the main categories of your business. Write down every relevant keyword under each category you find. Expand the list by including all of your brand and product names as well as plurals and synonyms for each word or phrase on your initial list. Also, remember to think like your customers. How might your customers ask for your product or service? (Don't worry about capitalization — our system is not case-sensitive.)

If you're still looking for more keywords after your own brainstorming, try out our Keyword Tool.

Step 2: Target
Now it's time to target your keywords using Google's keyword matching options. These enable you to pin point ad delivery so your ads reach people precisely when they are searching for what you have to offer. You can choose to designate each of your keywords as a broad, phrase, exact or negative match. Each type of match provides a varying degree of exposure.

For example, a broad-matched keyword will allow your ad to appear on your keyword as well as variations and synonyms of that keyword that the AdWords system identifies as relevant. However, a negative-matched keyword will never trigger your ad. Decide which of your keywords you would like to place where along this spectrum.

Step 3: Scrub
After creating, expanding, and targeting your list of keywords, it's time to refine it. To do this, review your list and make sure you're satisfied with what you've come up with. Eliminate any keywords that may be irrelevant.

Step 4: Group
You've already created different 'buckets' for your words based on your product lines. Now it's time to do even more refined and granular grouping into thematic categories, which are called ad groups. Organizing and grouping keywords is crucial because you'll need to write ad copy targeted to each group.

Can I run on any keyword as long as I pay a high enough CPC?Print
Not necessarily. We place a lot of weight on the quality of your keywords. So if we find that your keyword is not performing well, the Quality Score of your keyword will decrease, increasing the bid required for certain auctions. In addition, your position on a search results page may drop. If there's a more relevant keyword running against yours - even at a lower bid - it will likely outrank your ad. The best way to ensure a high ad placement is to increase both your ad's quality and maximum CPC.

How do I manage the number of keywords in my account?Print
Each ad group has a limit of 2000 keywords. To ensure that accounts do not place unnecessary load on our advertising servers, we ask that you keep the overall number of keywords in your account to a manageable size. When you approach an unmanageable amount of active keywords, we'll place a notice within your account and request that you refine your keyword list and remove unnecessary keywords. In most cases, a handful of well-targeted keywords will deliver the majority of your relevant clicks, and there is no need to create hundreds or thousands of keywords.

By default, our ad system does the work for you by displaying your ad on variations of your keywords, including misspellings and similar keywords. This means that one keyword can serve the purpose of several related words or variations. Adding the additional variations separately won't necessarily increase your visibility by much.

Regardless of whether or not your account contains a small or large number of keywords, you can always take advantage of a 'well-scrubbed' keyword list that focuses on your most targeted keywords. We recommend that you build your keyword lists with the following in mind:

Do...
Use our keyword matching options.
Use our Keyword Tool to select your keywords and see which related searches will trigger your ads.
Review our FAQ on making your keywords work for you.
Get more steps for creating a targeted keyword list.

Don't...
Include these variations: misspellings (french cusine), capitalization (French cuisine), incorrect spacing (french cui sine), hyphens (french-cuisine).
Use variations that are more than three words long (best for unique markets and product names).
Use a three-word keyword in multiple matching variations at one time: [buy red bicycle], "buy red bicycle," buy red bicycle.

Are keywords case-sensitive?Print
No. Keywords are matched without regard to upper-case or lower-case letters. For example, you don't need to enter 'real estate' and 'Real Estate' as keywords; just 'real estate' will cover both.

Can keywords contain symbols?Print
The AdWords system doesn't recognize most symbols (i.e., non-letter characters) when they appear in keywords. The two exceptions are ampersands and accent marks.

I. Valid Symbols

Our system recognizes two kinds of symbols in keywords: ampersands (&) and accent marks (e.g., á).

The following terms would be treated as different keywords:

bed and breakfast is distinct from bed & breakfast
sidewalk cafe is distinct from sidewalk café

II. Ignored Symbols

You can add keywords containing periods or dashes to your account, but the punctuation will be ignored. For example, our system would treat the following keywords as identical:

T-rex is equivalent to T rex
Fifth Ave. is equivalent to Fifth Ave

If your account contains more than one equivalent keyword, such as in the examples above, only one of the keywords will be allowed to trigger an ad per search query. We recommend deleting keyword duplicates to make your ad groups more manageable.

III. Invalid Symbols

You'll see an error message if you try to add keywords containing the following symbols to your account:

! @ % ^ * () = {} ; ~ ` <> ? \ |

If you include a comma in your keyword, the system will treat the term as two keywords. For instance, if you try to add flowers,plants, you'll actually add the keywords flowers and plants to your ad group.

How do I use filters to review my disapproved keywords?Print
You can review all of your disapproved keywords from the Keywords Tab. To do this, follow the steps below:

Sign in to your AdWords account at https://adwords.google.com.
Click Filters and Views above the statistics table from any Keywords Tab within your account.
Click Filter keywords.
Select "Approval status" in the available filters.
Uncheck all boxes except "Not triggering ads: requires action."
Click Apply.