Last checked against Google’s documentation on 5 October 2026.
What are keyword match types?
A keyword match type tells Google how closely a person’s search has to relate to your keyword before your ad can show. There are three: broad match, phrase match and exact match. Each one trades reach for control. Broad match reaches the most searches and gives you the least say over which ones; exact match reaches the fewest and gives you the most.
Match types are the main lever you have over which searches you pay for in a Search campaign. They decide how many search terms reach your ads, how much the search terms report drifts from your keyword list, and how much work your negative keywords have to do. This guide covers how each match type behaves today, what happened to broad match modifier, how match types interact with Smart Bidding and AI Max, and how to choose.
Broad, phrase and exact match in Google Ads today
Google’s keyword matching options page defines the three types this way:
| Match type | How you write it | Ads can show on searches that | Reach vs control |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broad match (default) | tennis shoes | Are related to the keyword, which can include searches that don’t contain its words | Most reach, least control |
| Phrase match | "tennis shoes" | Include the meaning of the keyword; the meaning can be implied, and the search can be more specific | In between |
| Exact match | [tennis shoes] | Have the same meaning or intent as the keyword | Least reach, most control |
Broad match
Broad match is what you get if you type a keyword with no symbols. Google’s example: the broad keyword low carb diet plan can show on searches such as “carb free foods”, “low carb diets” and “mediterranean diet books”. None of those has to contain the keyword’s words. To decide what is related, Google says broad match may also take into account the user’s recent search activity, the content of your landing page, and the other keywords in the ad group. That last point matters in practice: a broad keyword in a tightly themed ad group behaves more predictably than the same keyword in an ad group full of mixed ideas.
Phrase match
Phrase match shows your ad when the search includes the meaning of your keyword, usually with words added before or after. Word order still counts when it changes the meaning. Google’s example in its phrase match update page: the phrase keyword "moving services NYC to Boston" can match “affordable moving services NYC to Boston” and “NYC corporate moving services to Boston”, but not “Boston to New York City”, because the direction of the move changed.
Exact match
Exact match is the narrowest type, but it is not literal. Google’s example: [red shoe] can show on “red shoes” and “shoe in red”. Use it for the searches you know convert and want to bid on precisely.
Close variants: why exact match is not exact
Google’s close variants definition says close variants let keywords match searches that are similar but not identical, and that all match types are eligible for them, with no way to opt out. For exact match keywords, Google lists:
- Spelling and form: misspellings, singular or plural forms, stemmings (floor and flooring), abbreviations and accents.
- Reordered words with the same meaning: [shoes mens] and “mens shoes”.
- Added or removed function words that don’t change intent: “shoes for men” for [men shoes].
- Implied words: “daydream headset” for [daydream vr headset].
- Synonyms and paraphrases: “swimming suits” for [bathing suits].
Phrase match keywords get close variants too, such as dropping a function word: Google’s example is “hats for winter” matching “winter hats on sale”. The practical takeaway is that an exact match keyword is a set of searches, not a single one. Read the search terms behind your exact keywords as carefully as the ones behind broad.
What happened to broad match modifier
Broad match modifier (BMM) was a fourth option, written with a plus sign before each required word, such as +moving +services. It sat between phrase and broad: every marked word had to appear, in any order. It is gone. Google’s page on the change sets out the timeline and what it means for old keywords:
- February 2021Google Ads begins incorporating broad match modifier behaviour into phrase match.
- July 2021Phrase and BMM keywords share the same updated phrase matching behaviour in all languages.
- TodayNew keywords can’t use +keyword notation. Legacy BMM keywords still serve, but behave as phrase match.
You can still change the bid or status of a legacy BMM keyword. If you edit its text, Google converts it to phrase match notation when you save. If an older account still holds BMM keywords, nothing is broken; they are phrase match in all but appearance. Converting them to phrase notation is tidy-up work, not a performance fix.
Match types, Smart Bidding and AI Max
Google’s keyword matching page is direct about one pairing: it says it is critical to use Smart Bidding with broad match, because every search is different and the bid for each one should reflect the signals present at auction time. With a Smart Bidding strategy, a loosely related search can get a lower bid than your core searches. With manual CPC, it gets the same bid as everything else in the ad group.
That does not mean broad match plus Smart Bidding is always right. Smart Bidding learns from the conversions you count, so it can only steer broad match well when tracking is reliable and the campaign gets enough conversions to learn from. In a low-volume account, broad match has a lot of room to explore before the bidding has the data to rein it in.
Which keyword wins when several could match
When more than one keyword in your account could match the same search, Google applies an order of priority, described on the same matching page:
- 1. Identical exact matchAn exact match keyword identical to the search term is preferred.
- 2. Identical phrase or broadPhrase and broad keywords (including AI Max) or Performance Max search themes identical to the search term share the next priority.
- 3. Most relevant ad groupsIf several ad groups could match, only the most relevant ones are considered.
- 4. Highest Ad RankAmong equals, the ad with the highest Ad Rank serves.
This is why an exact keyword identical to a search is the most reliable way to send that search to a particular ad group and landing page, even when a broad keyword elsewhere could also match it.
AI Max for Search
AI Max for Search adds search term matching on top of your keywords: it uses broad match and keywordless technology to reach searches beyond your keyword list. In the search terms report, those searches show “AI Max” in the Match type column, and Google’s AI Max reporting page says the Source column shows whether a match came from broad match expansion or keywordless matching. If you turn AI Max on, your phrase and exact keywords no longer mark the edge of the searches the campaign can enter, so read the AI Max rows separately before you judge it.
Negative keyword match types work differently
Negative keywords also come in broad, phrase and exact, but they follow stricter rules. Google’s negative keywords page says negatives won’t match close variants or other expansions, though they do account for casing and misspellings. Using Google’s example running shoes:
| Negative type | Blocks | Still allows |
|---|---|---|
| Broad: running shoes | Any search containing both words, in any order, e.g. “blue running shoes” | “running shoe”: only one of the terms is present |
| Phrase: "running shoes" | Searches with the words in that order, with other words around them | “shoes running” |
| Exact: [running shoes] | “running shoes” with no other words | “blue running shoes” |
So a negative broad keyword does not behave like a positive broad keyword; it is closer to an “all these words” rule. Add plurals, singulars and synonyms yourself. Our guide to finding negative keywords covers lists, levels and the order to work in.
Reading match type in the search terms report
Open Campaigns › Insights and reports › Search terms, per Google’s search terms report page. The Match type column shows how closely the search that triggered your ad is related to the keyword, not the match type you set on the keyword. Values include Exact match, Exact match (close variant), Phrase match, Phrase match (close variant), Broad match, and AI Max for campaigns that use it.
Add the Keyword column next to it, then group spend by match type value. The mix tells you how far a campaign’s searches have travelled from what you wrote:
- Exact match26%$1,800
- Exact / phrase close variants20%$1,400
- Phrase match16%$1,100
- Broad match39%$2,700
One detail trips people up: Google omits some low-volume searches from the report for privacy reasons, so the rows will not add up to the campaign total. Judge each match type slice on the searches you can see, and treat the gap as unexplained rather than as waste.
Which match type to use, and when
There is no single right answer. Choose by what you know about the search and what the campaign can learn from:
- Exact match for proven searches: terms that already convert at a cost you accept, brand terms, and searches you want to route to one specific ad and landing page. An online shop’s best product names, a lead-gen service’s core “service + city” terms, or a SaaS product’s category name are typical candidates.
- Phrase match when the core idea must be present but you want the longer, more specific searches around it, and when the account doesn’t yet have the conversion volume to steer broad match.
- Broad match with Smart Bidding, reliable conversion tracking, and enough conversions for the bidding to learn. Plan to read the search terms report more often and build negatives as you go.
A common working pattern is to let phrase or broad keywords find searches, then add the ones that convert as exact keywords so you can bid on them and send them to the right ad. Spend that comes in through broad match on searches you never want goes the other way, into negative keywords.
How to change a keyword’s match type
Per Google’s edit keywords page: go to Search keywords in the Campaigns menu and click the pencil icon next to the keyword to choose a new match type. Know what this does: Google says that when you edit a keyword or change its match type, you are removing the original keyword and creating a new one. The old keyword’s statistics stay visible if you change the status filter to include removed keywords, but the new keyword starts without that history.
Because of that, change match types deliberately: pick a quiet period, note the date, and compare the new keyword with the old one over equal periods. If you are adding a tighter version of a converting search, it is often cleaner to add a new exact keyword and leave the original running until the new one has data.
Run a free Google Ads audit to see how your match types are spending.
