Keyword Match Types.

With exact match, written in square brackets such as [electrician zurich], the ad can appear for searches with the same meaning as the keyword. This includes close variants such as typos, plurals or reordering, as long as the intent stays the same. With phrase match, written in quotation marks, the meaning of the keyword must be contained in the search, with additional words allowed before and after, for example 'electrician zurich emergency'. Broad match without any symbols is the widest option: Google also serves the ad for related searches and considers additional signals to do so.

The logic has changed over the years. Exact match used to be literal; today every option covers close variants and equivalent phrasings. The former 'broad match modifier' option was folded into phrase match in 2021. At the same time broad match has become much smarter and is recommended by Google especially in combination with Smart Bidding, because the system then classifies searches by conversion likelihood.

For an SME with a small budget a simple rule still applies: the less data the account has, the narrower the keywords should be. Broad match keywords without reliable conversion tracking and without a bid strategy that learns from it often lead to clicks on searches unrelated to the offer. Starting with exact and phrase match, reviewing the search terms report regularly and opening up only as the data grows keeps you in control.

The counterpart is indispensable: negative keywords. They have their own match types and exclude searches where the ad should not appear, such as 'free', 'job' or 'apprenticeship'. Unlike positive match types, negative keywords do not include close variants; plurals and spellings must therefore be added individually where needed. Together with responsive search ads and well-built landing pages, this produces a campaign whose spending is traceable.