Big news you need to know about Google Adwords.
The world of keywords and keyword matching has changed. Don’t get left behind.
If you play in the world of Google Adwords then you need to read this!
Because our black-and-white world of keyword matching has changed and for whatever reason, this change seems to be flying under the radar.
Google quietly released a help document that reveals their definition and rules around keyword matching isn't what it used to be. The difference all comes down to MEANING.
In the past, a Google Adwords exact keyword match was pretty self-explanatory and had pretty good control. If the keywords matched exactly, then your ad may be shown.
But now, Google tells us that for an exact match your ads may show on searches that are the same meaning as your keywords.
Let's pause to take that in!
Meaning is a whole different ball game. There is nothing black-and-white about meaning.
It’s clear the Google algorithm and unimaginable volume of data they have means that they can now determine a users meaning and intent in their search, beyond the keywords they use.
You can see Google’s definitions of exact match, phrase match and broad match keyword match types here:
Google’s definition of exact match, phrase match and broad match keywords
That's pretty amazing!
The other interesting call out from this help desk document is the insight they share in broad match. Where Google tells us they are going to take into account the following when determining broad matches:
The user’s recent search activities
The content of the landing page
Other keywords in an ad group to better understand keyword intent
I personally love the fact that they're calling out the importance of your landing page content, we've known post-click experience matters but lot of people still don't take it seriously! Ensure you’re the exception, and spend as much time and care on your landing page quality and content, please!
This is also a firm reminder we need to consider and plan around the entire customer journey in our advertising, even Google Adwords.