Broad Match ads show on searches that are related to your keyword, including searches not containing the keyword terms. Broad Match includes misspellings, synonyms, related searches and other relevant variations.
Example:
Pros: Broad Match is more likely to generate significant clicks to your website.
Cons: There is a lower chance of conversion because the audience is not as targeted and may find your organization/services irrelevant to what they were seeking.
Phrase Match ads show on searches that include a phrase and close variations of that phrase. Phrase Match puts quotes around your keyword (e.g., “California dog adoption”) to show a more specific form of the meaning.
Example:
Pros: Maintains a high impression count and narrows down more than Broad Match, keeping away some irrelevant traffic and increasing chances of converting (you are paying for more relevant traffic).
Cons: Drives less traffic than Broad Match while still not closely targeting people that are likely to convert.
Exact Match gives you the most control over who sees your ad, as it is the most specific. Exact Match is designated with brackets and includes an exact term or close variation of that phrase (e.g., [cat adoption]).
Example:
Pros: Because users are searching for an exact term, traffic that comes from Exact Match’s extreme targeting has the highest chance of converting.
Cons: Lowest reach (significantly decreased impressions and clicks from your ad) out of all the match types because it is so specific and can have the highest CPC.
