Google Keywords Match Close Variants
Many of our readers already know Google Adwords and their Keyword matching system inside and out. Well things have changed over the last week and we are going to tell you how and why. For those of you who don’t already know, Google uses three different kinds of keyword match types; [exact match] which only matches the exact keywords, “phrase match” which matches the keyword phase regardless of what comes before or after the matched phrase or broad match which is the broadest match of all. Google Adwords updated their “Advanced Settings” early last week to include keyword variants matching. This is actually a good thing because approximately 7% of all search queries contain a misspelling, and according to Google, the longer the search query, the higher the misspelling rate.
Keyword Variants Matching
The Google Adwords Keyword Variants Matching is also a good because many Google’ers will type slightly different search query variations in when searching for the exact same thing. To better help you visualize what I am talking about, I have adapted an example from Google’s official Adwords blog to help you understand. When someone searches for “children bicycles” or “children’s bicycle,” they are basically searching for the same answer. If someone searches for “hardwood floor” or “hardwood flooring,” they are most likely searching for the same answer as well. This is what Google Keyword Variants Matching is all about.
Keyword Variants Example
For experienced Google Adword users, below is a more in depth look at the system changes. Let’s assume that the line directly below is your keywords and settings:
[Cabin Rental] “Swim Toys” [Fishing Charter]
Now look at these three keyword examples, exact and phrase match, within Google Adwords.
- Cabin Rental Safe Kids Swim Toys Fishing Charter
- Cabin Rentel Safe Kids Swimming Toys Fishing Charters
With Google Adwords’ current keyword matching settings, only the keywords in line #1 would be considered a match that would trigger your Google PPC Ad to appear in the sponsored search results. Unfortunately, with the current keyword match settings, line #2 would not be considered a match by Google Adwords so it would not appear in the search results even though they are very similar. Although the keywords are very similar, these slight variations will cause your ad not to appear even though it is safe to say that the user is looking for the same results.
Check Your Adwords Settings
According to Google’s official blog, the change is not supposed to take place until “mid-May” but we have noticed that many of our Google Adwords campaigns have been updated automatically. This is troubling to us because Google’s official blog clearly states that the keyword variants changes would be “starting mid-May.” So check your settings. Here are a few screen shots that I took from one of my accounts that may help you out.
Google Adwords Alert Displaying “In mid-May”
Go to your Adwords “Advanced settings” Section
Go to your “Keyword matching options” Section
Make An Educated Decision
Now that you know a little more about Google’s Keyword Variants matching settings, make an educated decision on whether or not you want to include “plurals, misspellings, and other close keyword variants.”
Final Thoughts
These new Keyword Variants matching from Google Adwords will definitely increase clicks and costs because more impressions equals more clicks. Google provides a “Did you mean:” search suggest directly under the search query every time you misspell a word. I think these changes are somewhat unnecessary, especially if you’re searching for something that’s uniquely spelled. Personally, I search for business names and other keywords that Google has deemed “misspellings” when they are correct and I don’t want Google trying to tell me what I am searching for. If you have ever searched for something correctly and Google prompts a “Did you mean” or “Showing results for” search suggest underneath, then you know what I’m talking about. Furthermore, the fact that Google decided to spring this on everyone early has me a bit concerned. Combine that with the fact that this Google Adwords update is retro-active. If you don’t want keyword variants matching within specific campaigns you will have to go back through every account to manually select “Do not include close variants.” I find this change very frustrating. Seems like Google has made these changes retro-active in order to make more money from their Adwords platform while justifying it all in the name of creating a “better user experience.”
Tags: Adwords Keyword Variants Matching, Search Engine Placement, SEP