Keyword Match Type Converter

Google Ads uses match types to control which search queries trigger your ads. Choosing the right match type is one of the most impactful decisions in any PPC campaign — it directly determines who sees your ads and how much you spend.

Broad match shows your ad for searches related to your keyword, including synonyms, misspellings, and related topics. The keyword running shoes can trigger ads for "buy sneakers online", "jogging footwear", and "best shoes for runners". This maximises reach but requires a strong negative keyword list and Smart Bidding to stay efficient.

Phrase match shows your ad when a search contains your keyword phrase, with additional words before or after. "running shoes" triggers for "best running shoes", "running shoes for women", and "cheap running shoes online", but not for "shoes for running a business".

Exact match shows your ad only when the search exactly matches your keyword or a very close variant. [running shoes] triggers for "running shoes", "running shoe", and "shoes for running", but not "best running shoes".

Google has steadily expanded broad match reach and deprecated modified broad match (the +keyword format). Today, broad match covers a wider range of queries than ever — including searches with no words in common with your keyword. Google's machine learning interprets the intent behind the query and your landing page, not just keyword text.

This shift makes broad match genuinely useful when paired with Target CPA or Target ROAS Smart Bidding. Without Smart Bidding, broad match can exhaust budgets quickly on low-intent traffic. Phrase and exact match remain essential for budget control, precise attribution, and segmenting performance by intent tier in your reports.

Negative keywords prevent your ads from showing for searches that don't match your offer. Start every campaign by mining the search terms report after the first week and adding clearly irrelevant terms as negatives.

Organise negatives in layers: campaign-level negatives apply universally (competitors, irrelevant categories), while ad-group-level negatives handle overlaps between ad groups. Negative phrase and negative exact match give you more surgical control — avoid negative broad for single generic words as it can inadvertently block relevant traffic.

Build a shared negative keyword list in Google Ads for negatives that apply across all campaigns in your account.

Single Keyword Ad Groups (SKAGs) were popular when Quality Score depended heavily on keyword-to-ad relevance. Today Google evaluates landing page relevance and user signals more holistically, making SKAGs harder to maintain and less rewarding. Current best practice is themed ad groups with 10–20 tightly related keywords.

Group keywords by intent and specificity: generic category keywords, brand-specific queries, and comparison queries each deserve their own ad group with a distinct message and landing page. Use the Ad Group Splitter (accessible via the output panel) to segment your list automatically before uploading.

1. Prepare your CSV. Use the Download for Ads Editor option from the More menu. The file uses the column headers Google Ads Editor expects: Campaign, Ad Group, Keyword, Criterion Type, Max CPC.
2. Import in Google Ads Editor. Open Google Ads Editor, select your account, go to File → Import → Import CSV, and select your file. Review the proposed changes in the preview pane before applying.
3. Post and sync. Click Post to push changes to your Google Ads account. Use the Change History panel to verify the upload completed successfully.