Exact match, phrase match, and broad match control which searches trigger your ads. Getting this wrong is one of the fastest ways to burn budget on irrelevant clicks or miss the volume you need to hit your targets.
Updated May 2026 · Written by Blake Sherman · 8 min read
Exact match gives you the tightest targeting of the three match types. Your ad shows when someone searches for your keyword or a close variant of it.
Your ad shows when the search query matches your keyword exactly, or when Google determines the query has the same meaning. That second part matters. Exact match is no longer truly exact.
Since 2019, Google expanded exact match to include close variants: misspellings, plurals, abbreviations, acronyms, and reworded queries with the same intent. Your keyword [running shoes] can match "shoes for running" or "jogging sneakers" because Google treats them as the same intent.
Phrase match covers a broader range of queries than exact match while still keeping some control over what triggers your ads. It expanded significantly in 2021 when Google removed broad match modifier.
Your ad shows when the search query includes the meaning of your keyword. The query can contain additional words before or after the phrase, and Google allows close variant matching within it.
When Google removed broad match modifier (BMM) in 2021, phrase match absorbed most of that functionality. If you were running +keyword +terms before, phrase match now covers the majority of those scenarios. The order can vary and additional terms can appear anywhere in the query.
Broad match has the widest reach and the least control. It matches any query Google considers related to your keyword, which can include synonyms, related topics, and searches Google deems relevant based on the user's history and context.
No brackets. No quotes. Just the keyword. Google decides what to match it against, and "related" gets interpreted loosely. On a new campaign with no conversion data, broad match regularly shows ads for queries that have nothing to do with your business.
That said, broad match has a real use case when used correctly. Paired with Smart Bidding that has genuine conversion signal, the algorithm uses broad match's wider reach to find converting queries you wouldn't have known to target manually. The discovery value is real, but only when there's enough data for the algorithm to learn from.
Google's official line is that broad match works best with Smart Bidding. What they don't say clearly: it performs poorly without it. If you're on manual CPC or Maximize Clicks with broad match keywords, you're matching against a wide range of queries with no algorithmic filter. The only thing standing between your budget and irrelevant traffic is your negative keyword list, and that list is always incomplete. If you're going to use broad match, pair it with Target CPA or Target ROAS and make sure your conversion tracking is measuring something real.
How the three match types stack up across the dimensions that actually matter for campaign management.
| Match Type | Syntax | Control | Reach | Best For | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exact | [keyword] | Highest | Narrowest | High-value terms, brand, competitors | Missing volume from intent variants |
| Phrase | "keyword" | Medium | Moderate | Supporting terms, intent categories | Some unexpected matches; needs regular review |
| Broad | keyword | Lowest | Widest | Discovery on established campaigns with Smart Bidding | High irrelevant traffic without sufficient conversion data |
The right match type mix depends on where your campaign is in its lifecycle. A new campaign with no conversion history has different needs than an established account hitting target CPA.
New campaign (0–30 days, limited conversion data): Start with exact match on your core high-intent terms and phrase match on supporting keyword themes. No broad match. The account needs clean data before you can trust an algorithm to expand reach intelligently. Running broad match at launch means Google is optimizing toward whatever it can find, which may have nothing to do with what converts.
Established campaign (50+ conversions/month, clean tracking): This is where introducing broad match on specific keywords makes sense. Use it as a discovery layer alongside your exact and phrase campaigns. Review the search terms report weekly. Add new exact match keywords based on what broad match surfaces. Add negatives proactively. Think of broad match as a research tool with a budget attached.
Brand and competitor terms: Exact match only. You don't want phrase or broad match bleeding into competitor queries you haven't deliberately decided to bid on, or triggering on branded queries with modified intent you haven't evaluated.
Google Ads has three keyword match types: exact match ([keyword]), phrase match ("keyword"), and broad match (keyword). Exact match gives you the most control. Broad match gives you the most reach. Phrase match sits between them. Broad match modifier was removed in 2021. Its behavior is now handled by phrase match.
Not since 2019. Google expanded exact match to include close variants: misspellings, plurals, abbreviations, acronyms, and queries with the same meaning or intent. Your [running shoes] keyword can match "shoes for running" because Google treats them as equivalent intent. For most advertisers this is acceptable. In niche B2B or sensitive verticals where slight meaning shifts matter, check the search terms report on exact match campaigns periodically.
Google deprecated broad match modifier in 2021 and folded its behavior into phrase match. Phrase match was expanded to cover most BMM scenarios: queries containing the meaning of your keyword, regardless of word order, with additional terms allowed anywhere. Old +keyword +terms keywords still exist in some accounts but are now treated as phrase match by Google.
When your Smart Bidding strategy has real conversion signal to work with, roughly 30–50 genuine conversions per month with clean conversion tracking. The algorithm uses broad match's wider reach to find converting queries you wouldn't have targeted manually. Without that signal, it matches loosely related queries with no filter beyond your negative keyword list. On new campaigns or accounts with limited conversion data, stick to exact and phrase match.
Running the same keyword in multiple match types in the same ad group causes them to compete against each other and splits performance data. If you want to run the same keyword in exact and phrase, put them in separate ad groups so you can control bids independently and read performance clearly. Introducing broad match on a keyword you already run in exact match also makes the search terms report harder to read. Broad match can match queries that should logically go to your exact match keyword.
Exact match uses square brackets: [keyword]. Phrase match uses quotation marks: "keyword". Broad match has no special formatting: keyword. The formatting is the same in Google Ads Editor. Use the Match Type Builder to generate all three formats from a plain keyword list in one step.