Exact match
Exact match shows your ad for searches with the same meaning and intent as your keyword. The tightest control, including close variants.
In the platformSearch
Exact match
Exact match shows your ad for searches with the same meaning and intent as your keyword. The tightest control, including close variants.
You create it with square brackets, such as [accountant tel aviv]. It is the tightest match type, but not literal: Google includes close variants such as misspellings, plurals, abbreviations, reordered words and rewordings it judges to mean the same thing. Use it for proven, high-value searches, where you want precise control of the bid, ad and landing page, and for brand terms.
Where you'll see it
In Google Ads, open Campaigns > Audiences, keywords and content > Search keywords. Exact match keywords appear in brackets and the "Match type" column reads "Exact match". In the search terms report (Insights and reports > Search terms), the "Match type" column shows when a search matched as an exact close variant. Meta and TikTok have no keyword match types.
Worked exampleaccountant tel aviv, from phrase to exact
| Spend | Leads | CPA | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phrase, before | $1,500 | 25 | $60 |
| Exact, one month | $900 | 20 | $45 |
Five fewer leads for $600 less spend. Whether that trade is good depends on what a lead is worth, so look at both numbers, not CPA alone.
Do
- Check search terms for close variants you don’t want, and add them as negatives
- Keep broader types where they find new searches
Don't
- Assume exact match blocks every variant
- Move everything to exact
- Give very low-volume exact keywords their own ad groups; it spreads data thin