Match Type and Bid Values

Match Type	Description
Phrase Match	A phrase match results when all of the words in the keyword phrase are present in the user's search query and are in the same order. For example, the keyword phrase "red flower" will match the search query "big red flower" and "red flower", but not "yellow or blue flower" or "flower red".
Exact Match	An exact match results when all of the words in the keyword phrase exactly match the user's search query. If the plural form is not in your keyword list, the plural form of a keyword is also used in an exact match comparison. For example, if you specify an exact-match bid for the keyword, car, both car and cars will match. To prevent plural form of a keyword from matching, add the plural form to the ad group’s negative keyword list. If your keyword list does not contain the plural form of the keyword, all search results for the plural form will be included in the singular form of the keyword in the keyword performance report.
Broad Match	A broad match results when words in the keyword phrase are present in the user's search query; however, the order of the words can vary. For example, the keyword red flower will match the search query red flower, flower is red, and other variations. It will also match the query red and the query flower. Broad match can also match on synonyms and other semantic variations of the queries. For example, a search query for red carnation might result in your ad being displayed because carnation is a type of flower. Because the search engine can vary its algorithms to expand queries to find broader matches by looking for synonyms and other meanings of the queries, the outcome can sometimes result in keywords being matched to irrelevant queries. To reduce the chance of irrelevant ads being served to users and the quality score of those ads being affected due to low CTR, you can add any irrelevant queries to your list of negative keywords. To determine the irrelevant queries, see the search query report. You can also use the broad match modifier to require that specific terms in your keyword be present in the search query. To implement the broad match modifier, include a plus sign (+) in front of every term in the keyword that must be present in the search query. For example, if you bid on “Hawaii hotels”, your ad could be served for the search queries, “Hawaii beach hotels” and “Hawaii rentals.” However, if you changed the keyword to “+Hawaii +hotel”, the keyword would match only “Hawaii beach hotels.” If you include the broad match modifier on a keyword that specifies a phrase or exact match-type bid, the plus sign will be treated as part of the keyword and not as a modifier.

Match Type

Description

Phrase Match

A phrase match results when all of the words in the keyword phrase are present in the user's search query and are in the same order. For example, the keyword phrase "red flower" will match the search query "big red flower" and "red flower", but not "yellow or blue flower" or "flower red".

Exact Match

An exact match results when all of the words in the keyword phrase exactly match the user's search query.

If the plural form is not in your keyword list, the plural form of a keyword is also used in an exact match comparison. For example, if you specify an exact-match bid for the keyword, car, both car and cars will match. To prevent plural form of a keyword from matching, add the plural form to the ad group’s negative keyword list.

If your keyword list does not contain the plural form of the keyword, all search results for the plural form will be included in the singular form of the keyword in the keyword performance report.

Broad Match

A broad match results when words in the keyword phrase are present in the user's search query; however, the order of the words can vary. For example, the keyword red flower will match the search query red flower, flower is red, and other variations. It will also match the query red and the query flower.

Broad match can also match on synonyms and other semantic variations of the queries. For example, a search query for red carnation might result in your ad being displayed because carnation is a type of flower.

Because the search engine can vary its algorithms to expand queries to find broader matches by looking for synonyms and other meanings of the queries, the outcome can sometimes result in keywords being matched to irrelevant queries.

To reduce the chance of irrelevant ads being served to users and the quality score of those ads being affected due to low CTR, you can add any irrelevant queries to your list of negative keywords. To determine the irrelevant queries, see the search query report.

You can also use the broad match modifier to require that specific terms in your keyword be present in the search query. To implement the broad match modifier, include a plus sign (+) in front of every term in the keyword that must be present in the search query. For example, if you bid on “Hawaii hotels”, your ad could be served for the search queries, “Hawaii beach hotels” and “Hawaii rentals.” However, if you changed the keyword to “+Hawaii +hotel”, the keyword would match only “Hawaii beach hotels.”

If you include the broad match modifier on a keyword that specifies a phrase or exact match-type bid, the plus sign will be treated as part of the keyword and not as a modifier.

You can specify a bid value for each match type. You specify the default bid values for each match type at the ad group level. Specifying the bid value at the keyword level overrides the bid value specified at the ad group level. A bid value can contain up to two decimal places.

If you do not specify a default bid value for a match type at the ad group level, a default bid is automatically set for that match type to the minimum bid value based on the combination of the customer’s currency and the bidding and pricing models that you specify for the ad group. The combination is used to determine the minimum and maximum bid values that you can specify. For example, if the currency is U.S., the bidding model is search, and the pricing model is CPC, the minimum bid will be $0.05 and the maximum bid will be $1,000. The following are the minimum and maximum bid values that you can specify for an ad group or keyword for each combination.

Currency	Minimum Bid	Maximum Bid
Argentinean Peso	Keyword and CPC: 0.05 Keyword and CPM: 0.05 Site placement and CPC: 0.05 Site placement and CPM: 0.05	5,000.00
Australian Dollar	Keyword and CPC: 0.01 Keyword and CPM: 0.01 Site placement and CPC: 0.01 Site placement and CPM: 0.01	1,000.00
Brazilian Real	Keyword and CPC: 0.01 Keyword and CPM: 0.01 Site placement and CPC: 0.01 Site placement and CPM: 0.01	2,000.00
Canadian Dollar	Keyword and CPC: 0.05 Keyword and CPM: 0.05 Site placement and CPC: 0.13 Site placement and CPM: 0.13	1,000.00
Chilean Peso	Keyword and CPC: 5.10 Keyword and CPM: 5.10 Site placement and CPC: 5.10 Site placement and CPM: 5.10	510,000.00
Colombian Peso	Keyword and CPC: 18.05 Keyword and CPM: 18.05 Site placement and CPC: 18.05 Site placement and CPM: 18.05	1,805,000.00
Danish Krone	Keyword and CPC: 0.06 Keyword and CPM: 0.06 Site placement and CPC: 0.06 Site placement and CPM: 0.06	6,000.00
Euro	Keyword and CPC: 0.05 Keyword and CPM: 0.05 Site placement and CPC: 0.13 Site placement and CPM: 0.13	1,000.00
Hong Kong Dollar	Keyword and CPC: 0.03 Keyword and CPM: 0.03 Site placement and CPC: 0.03 Site placement and CPM: 0.03	8,000.00
Indian Rupee	Keyword and CPC: 0.50	1,000.00
Indonesian Rupiah	Keyword and CPC: 35.00 Keyword and CPM: 35.00 Site placement and CPC: 35.00 Site placement and CPM: 35.00	9,607,994.00
Malaysian Ringgit	Keyword and CPC: 0.01 Keyword and CPM: 0.01 Site placement and CPC: 0.01 Site placement and CPM: 0.01	3,074.00
Mexican Peso	Keyword and CPC: 0.14 Keyword and CPM: 0.14 Site placement and CPC: 0.14 Site placement and CPM: 0.14	14,000.00
New Taiwan Dollar	Keyword and CPC: 3.00 Keyword and CPM: 3.00 Site placement and CPC: 3.00 Site placement and CPM: 3.00	1,500.00
New Zealand Dollar	Keyword and CPC: 0.01 Keyword and CPM: 0.01 Site placement and CPC: 0.01 Site placement and CPM: 0.01	1,000.00
Norwegian Krone	Keyword and CPC: 0.06 Keyword and CPM: 0.06 Site placement and CPC: 0.06 Site placement and CPM: 0.06	6,000.00
Peruvian Nuevo Sol	Keyword and CPC: 0.03 Keyword and CPM: 0.03 Site placement and CPC: 0.03 Site placement and CPM: 0.03	3,000.00
Philippine Peso	Keyword and CPC: 0.20 Keyword and CPM: 0.20 Site placement and CPC: 0.20 Site placement and CPM: 0.20	42,000.00
Swedish Krona	Keyword and CPC: 0.07 Keyword and CPM: 0.07 Site placement and CPC: 0.07 Site placement and CPM: 0.07	7,000.00
Swiss Franc	Keyword and CPC: 0.05 Keyword and CPM: 0.05 Site placement and CPC: 0.13 Site placement and CPM: 0.13	1,000.00
Singapore Dollar	Keyword and CPC: 0.11 Keyword and CPM: 0.11 Site placement and CPC: 0.28 Site placement and CPM: 0.28	1,500.00
Thai Baht	Keyword and CPC: 0.14 Keyword and CPM: 0.14 Site placement and CPC: 0.14 Site placement and CPM: 0.14	31,000.00
UK Pound	Keyword and CPC: 0.05 Keyword and CPM: 0.05 Site placement and CPC: 0.13 Site placement and CPM: 0.13	1,000.00
US Dollar	Keyword and CPC: 0.05 Keyword and CPM: 0.10 Site placement and CPC: 0.13 Site placement and CPM: 0.25	1,000.00
Venezuelan Bolivar Fuertes	Keyword and CPC: 0.05 Keyword and CPM: 0.05 Site placement and CPC: 0.05 Site placement and CPM: 0.05	5,000.00

For additional information related to setting keyword bid values, see the following sections:

Setting the Keyword Bid Value
The Effects of Not Bidding on a Match Type
Bid Values and Targeting

Setting the Keyword Bid Value

You can set the bid value of a keyword to one of the following:

0 (zero), which specifies that you do not want to bid by using that match type.
NULL, which defaults to the default bid set at the ad group level.
A nonzero value, which overrides the default bid set at the ad group level.

The Effects of Not Bidding on a Match Type

The keyword is compared to the user’s search query in the following order:

Exact match
Phrase match
Broad match

Exact match is the most restrictive and broad match is the least restrictive match type. If the keyword matches by using the more restrictive match type, it will also match using the less restrictive match types. If the exact match comparison succeeds, the exact-match bid value is used if it exists; otherwise, it gets the bid value from the first less-restrictive match type that has a bid value (set at the keyword or ad group level).

If there is not an exact match, the phrase-match type comparison is used. If there is a match, the phrase-match bid value is used if it exists; otherwise, it gets the bid value from the broad-match type (set at the keyword or ad group level). If there is not a phrase match, the broad-match type comparison is used. If there is a match, the broad-match bid value is used (set at the keyword or ad group level).

The following table shows example keyword bid values for each match type, as well as the bid value that would be used based on the delivered match type if the keyword participated in the auction. The delivered match type (exact, phrase, or broad) identifies the comparison used to match the keyword to the user’s query. For example, if the keyword is “red shoes” and the user’s query is “pretty red shoes,” the delivered match type would be phrase.

Exact Match Bid Value	Phrase Match Bid Value	Broad Match Bid Value	Delivered Match Type	Bid Value Used
0	0.10	0.20	Exact	0.10
0	0.20	0.10	Exact	0.20
0	0	0.10	Exact	0.10
0	0	0.10	Phrase	0.10
0.10	0.30	0.20	Exact	0.10
0.10	0.30	0.20	Phrase	0.30
0.20	0	0	Exact	0.20
0.20	0	0	Phrase	*

*Would not participate in auction.

Bid Values and Targeting

If you use targeting, the bid is increased or decreased (either the keyword’s bid values, if specified or the ad group’s bid values) by the specified incremental bid percentage. The bid values are increased or decreased by the sum of the incremental bids for all the targets that apply to the user. For example, if you specify day and hour targeting with day targeting set to 70% and hour targeting set to 90%, if you win the auction, your bid amount is increased by 160%.

Match Type and Bid Values

Setting the Keyword Bid Value

The Effects of Not Bidding on a Match Type

Bid Values and Targeting

See Also

Concepts

Community Additions