Negative keyword match type helps to improve your click-through rate and reduce wasted ad spend. By using an appropriate match type, we influence the way of how a negative keyword should work in blocking the irrelevant search terms.
In a negative keyword match type, you have three types. Let’s get to know them in brief (you can get more insight about the match types here.)
Negative Exact Match Type: Ad will not get triggered if the search term is exactly the same as the negative keyword. For instance, search term [walking stick] will block your ad for the search term walking stick but your ad will be displayed for search terms such as – blue walking stick, walking stick with bird handle, long walking stick, etc.
Negative Phrase Match Type: Ad will not be triggered if the search term is in the same order as the negative keyword, with or without extra words. If we take the same above example of the walking stick, the ad will not appear for search terms long walking stick, walking stick, walking stick with carving, etc., but will show for search terms such as stick for walking etc.
Negative Broad Match Type: It is the default match type for negative keywords. Here, your ad will not show if all terms of your negative keyword is present in the search query irrespective of the order. If we take the example of the walking stick again, your ad will not get triggered for search queries blue walking stick, long walking stick, walking stick, etc. but will show for search queries such as walking in park, stick for old man etc.
Best Match Type to be used for Negative Keyword
To understand this, let’s divide keywords into three parts: Long Tail, short tail, and single word keywords.
Long Tail Keywords: Long tail keywords will have more than three words and are much lesser in number. It is advisable to use either exact or phrase match types in this case, as the variations of the terms can be many. To avoid the chance of blocking a relevant search term, it is better to avoid broad match type. But if need be, then make sure you follow the points mentioned in this post when using the broad match type for your negative keywords.
Single Word Keywords: If the negative keyword is a single word, it shows that you are sure your ad not to be displayed for that particular keyword. In this case, a broad match or a phrase match will perfectly suit your requirements as it will remove all the search queries related to that particular word.
Short Tail Keywords: These keywords contain three or less than three words. As we can treat these keywords as phrases, phrase match type will be the suitable one to use here. Using phrase match type will make sure that search queries are drained correctly.
Take Away: No matter what match type you select, it is important to review your search queries on a regular basis. This will help determine whether the match type is effective or not. By using a search query report to analyze the performance of your campaign, you can fine-tune your match types and negative keywords accordingly.
Note: Karooya’s Negative Keywords Tool is now Free for accounts with ad spend less than $10,000 per month. Save 10-20% of your search ad spend for free. Sign up and start saving your ad budget now.
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