Google Ads has quietly expanded how exact match works by also including keywords in exact match to include close variations that share the same meaning as your keyword. This was first reported by Ginny Marvin at Search Engine Land who covered this in detail.
Like I said, Google quietly posted it in their help docs and didn't really make any mention of it beyond that.
Google said this is "powered by Google’s machine learning" and it will expand exact match to also "match with the intent of a search, instead of just the specific words." "This means your exact match keywords can show ads on searches that include implied words, paraphrases, and other terms with the same meaning," Google added.
Here is the example Google has given us:
Let’s say you’re marketing for a travel business. If you’re using the exact match keyword [yosemite camping], your ads may show on other terms like “yosemite campground,” “campsites in yosemite,” or “yosemite national park ca camping.”
In each case, the intent of the search still matches the original keyword: to go camping in Yosemite National Park. However, you wouldn't show on terms like “yosemite hotel” or “best yosemite camping,” because while both refer to staying at the park, the intent is different. Instead, these terms would match to the broad match version of this keyword.
Back in 2014, Google expanded exact match to include plurals, misspellings and other close variants and then again in 2017 expanded exact match to include additional rewording and reordering of keywords. Now it can even mean similar meanings of the word!
Advertisers are asking why Google calls it "exact" match if it doesn't match exactly. Matt Van Wagner wrote:
Why have syntax rules at all for goodness sake? Exact should mean exact. Duh. Why not rename it to Almost Match?
— Matt Van Wagner (@mvanwagner) September 7, 2018
And, for the record, I am still pissed off Google requires + to indicate more restrictive broad match. Plus means more, not less. #fuzzy
So Exact Match is now Broad Match Modifier? This is how you know that "growth" in search ads has bottomed out. This is an obvious cash grab and a roll back of features to make product worse than it was a decade ago.
— Tad Miller (@jstatad) September 7, 2018
I'd welcome new matching variants - if they were in a match type that wasn't called "Exact". Makes no sense. These variants should be added for keywords w/o an advertiser set match type (aka broad). Then the added power & flexibility would actually help. #ppcchat #whycallitexact?
— Greg Finn (@gregfinn) September 7, 2018
These close variant changes to Exact are shameful. Again, these types of variant matches could be fantastic .... as an entirely different match type! Let's make "variant match" or <ahem> just use this type of variant matching for Broad match that most uneducated SMB end up using.
— Greg Finn (@gregfinn) September 7, 2018
I assume the PPC community is going to have a blast with this.
To learn more, Ginny has more details from Google on this at Search Engine Land.
Forum discussion at Twitter.
