Keywords & Targeting
Phrase Match
Phrase match is a keyword match type, written in quotes, that shows ads for searches that include the meaning of the keyword, with additional words allowed before or after.
In practice
Phrase match sits between exact and broad. "emergency plumber" can match emergency plumber near me or 24 hour emergency plumber cost, but should not match plumbing supply store, because the meaning of the phrase has to be present. Since Google folded broad match modifier into phrase match, it has become the workhorse for discovery in accounts that do not want to hand the keys to broad match.
We use phrase match to find new query variations that exact match would miss, then promote the winners to exact and negate the losers. It needs more negative keyword attention than exact because the implied meaning matching can drift, particularly on short, generic phrases.
One trap: phrase match negatives block more than people expect. A phrase negative for holster blocks every query containing that word, including glock holster if that is a term you sell. Audit negative match types against your own keyword list.
Why it matters
It is the discovery match type that feeds your exact match list without the volatility of broad match.
RELATED TERMS
Exact Match
Exact match is a Google Ads keyword match type, written in brackets, that shows ads for searches with the same meaning or intent as the keyword, including close variants.
Broad Match
Broad match is the default keyword match type that shows ads for searches related to the keyword's meaning, including synonyms, related topics, and queries that do not contain the keyword's words at all.
Negative Keywords
Negative keywords are terms added to a campaign, ad group, or shared list that prevent ads from showing on searches containing them.
Written by Ilya Bulychev, Founder, Live PPC Ads. Part of the PPC Glossary.
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