With exact match, you can show your ad to customers who are searching for your exact keyword, or close variants of your exact keyword. Close variants include searches for keywords with the same meaning as the exact keywords, regardless of spelling or grammar similarities between the query and the keyword.
Whether someone is searching for “running shoes” or “shoes for running,” what they want remains the same; they’re looking for running shoes. Close variants of exact match keywords help you connect with people who are looking for your products or services—despite slight variations in the way they search—and reduces the need to build out exhaustive keyword lists to reach these customers.
Of the four keyword matching options, exact match gives you the most control over who sees your ad, and can result in a higher clickthrough rate (CTR).
Negative exact match keywords behave differently than exact match keywords, and don’t include close variants. Learn more about negative keywords.
How exact match works in Google Ads accounts
With exact match, your ads may appear when the meaning of someone’s search matches the meaning of your keyword.
Google shows your ad when someone searches for your keyword or close variants of your keyword. Close variants may include:
- Misspellings
- Singular or plural forms
- Stemmings (for example, floor and flooring)
- Abbreviations
- Accents
- Reordered words with the same meaning (for example, [shoes mens] and [mens shoes])
- Addition or removal of function words. Function words are prepositions (like in or to), conjunctions (like for or but), articles (like a or the), and other words that don’t impact the intent of a search. For example, [shoes for men] is a close variant of [men shoes] with the function word “for” removed.
- Implied words (for example, if your exact match keyword is [daydream vr headset], your ads may show on searches for “daydream headset” since “vr” is implied)
- Synonyms and paraphrases (for example, if your exact match keyword is [bathing suits], ads may also show on searches for “swimming suits”)
- Same search intent (for example, if your exact match keyword is [images royalty free], ads may also show on searches for “free copyright images”)
For information on how exact match works on other advertising platforms, see the relevant platform’s help center.
Examples
| Exact match keyword | Ads may show on searches for | Ads won't show on searches for |
| [shoes for men] |
|
|
| [bathing suits] | swimming suits | competition swimwear |
| [all inclusive Aruba] | all inclusive vacations Aruba |
Aruba holidays |
| [images royalty free] | free copyright images | stock images |
How exact match can help you
You can use exact match to limit who sees your ad to only those who search for your exact keywords or close variants of your exact keywords. These are the people who are likely most interested in what you offer. Keep in mind:
- Building and maintaining a list of exact match keywords, including choosing maximum bids for each keyword, requires a time commitment that can be difficult for advertisers with busy schedules.
- With exact match, you probably won't receive as many impressions, clicks, or conversions as you would with other keyword matching options. However, the people that do see your ads might be more interested in your product or service.
- Try using a combination of two or more keyword match types to run an effective ad campaign. If you use broad and exact match, for example, you'll reach a broader audience while also precisely targeting who can see your ad.
- If you want to make sure that your ads don't show for a certain search term, add that term to your ad group or campaign as a negative keyword. Learn how to Get negative keyword ideas using the search terms report.