Are Exact Match keywords expensive in Google Ads?

Are you wondering whether those super specific exact match keywords in Google Ads are actually worth the higher cost? Google Ads Coach Jyll Saskin Gales tackles this question and more in Episode 62 of Inside Google Ads. We're diving into the world of keyword match types, looking at whether exact match consistently delivers a better return on investment compared to broad match, and discussing why the old "phrase match is the middle ground" advice might not hold up anymore. Plus, we're exploring why trying to micromanage exact match through scripts or SKAGs isn't the most effective strategy anymore.

Plus, be sure to stay tuned until the end of the episode for a new Insider Challenge to solve!

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Transcript

Are Exact Match keywords expensive in Google Ads? 

This is a question I've heard a few times recently and like most things in Google Ads, there's not a clear answer, but I'm definitely not going to leave you on “it depends.”

I'm your host, Jyll Saskin Gales. I spent six years working for big brands at Google, and now I work for you. 

This is Inside Google Ads: Episode 62, Exact Match Keywords.

Our first question comes from Giovanni Pupo on LinkedIn and they say, have you found that the ROI on Exact Match keywords consistently justifies the higher cost? Or do you see cases where Broad Match with solid negative keywords outperforms? 

Yes and yes. 

Let's back up a step. Exact Match keywords are the tightest kind of keyword targeting you can do. Although the user's search does not need to exactly match your keyword, contrary to the name Exact Match, it does need to have the same meaning, or at least what Google considers the same meaning. 

Now, Exact Match keywords don't always cost more than other keyword types, but they often do because the more specific the search is, the more likely there are to be more people searching for that thing that you want, and the more competitors there are likely to be looking for that exact thing.

For example, let's say you are a car accident attorney. You have “car accident attorney” in Exact Match, so you could match to “truck accident attorney,” “car accident lawyer,” and “auto injury lawyer.” Right? Those would probably be exact matches. And those are all the exact kinds of searches you and all your competitors are going to want to advertise on. Whereas, if you used something like Broad Match on that keyword, you would probably match to searches for “lawyer,” much more generic, or “what to do after a car accident,” anything related to that. And those don't have as high intent, likely not as competitive, they're likely to be cheaper. So that's why in general, Exact Match keywords tend to be more expensive than their Broad Match counterparts. But that's exactly how they're supposed to work. 

Broad Match combined with Smart Bidding is going to find those other searches where maybe the search itself doesn't have all the intent signals you need, but because of other things Google knows about that user, like the fact that maybe yesterday they were searching for an “auto repair shop,” for example, Google knows, okay, this could actually be relevant to you even though the search doesn't exactly match your keyword. 

I say all this to say the ROI in Exact Match keywords can sometimes justify the potentially higher cost because they tend to convert better than something like Broad Match, but that doesn't always shake out. Broad Match could potentially get you more reach, more affordably. So it really depends on your goals.

The key of course for either one to work is you have to have solid conversion tracking in place, and Smart Bidding is going to be the only option for Broad Match. Don't even try to use manual bidding with Broad Match. Even Google will tell you that. With Exact Match I know some people still like to stick with manual bidding or SKAGs, but if you've been listening to this podcast before, you know, it's 2025. You got to get with the program. Smart Bidding is the way!

If you've been enjoying the Inside Google Ads podcast, let me know. I love to hear from you. 

I got some lovely comments on LinkedIn recently from Joey Bidner and Andrew Grifford. Thank you! I appreciate that. If you're listening to this on Apple or Spotify, you could drop a comment to let other folks know they should have a listen. If you're watching this on YouTube, drop a comment. Let me know what you think of the episodes. And of course, if you want to share Inside Google Ads on social media, be sure to tag me. It really does brighten my day to hear from you.

Our next question comes from Gabriele Benedetti on LinkedIn. And they say, in these days, I am trying to #MEME, make Exact Match exact with as many scripts as I can. But yet I've not found my preferred one. Any suggestions? 

I do not have a suggestion for you for a script to make Exact Match exact. And here's why. I actually had a coaching client recently who implemented this. They had a script that would check every hour for potential negative keywords in the Search Terms Report and add them. But what I told them is what I'm about to tell you. 

You cannot whack your campaigns into submission. You have to work with the system.

It's like there's a carrot and a stick. Whether you're a parent or a Google Ads manager, I prefer the carrot. The carrot meaning let's give this campaign what it needs to succeed in matching me to the right searches. Conversion tracking, Smart Bidding, consolidation, automation–that's the carrot. Rather than using a stick solution to tell the campaign what a bad job it's doing over and over and over and over and over with negative keywords. It's just not sustainable. It's just not scalable.

You cannot make Exact Match exact again, Exact Match now means exactly matching meaning. And that's fine, in my opinion. In politics and in Google Ads, the only way out is forward. We can't go back. Move forward with the times.

Before we get to our final question, I was in Europe recently speaking at the Friends of Search conference and at SMX Munich, and I recorded both of those talks, partly because it was my first time speaking in Europe, so I wanted to see how I did. (I think I did pretty great, if I'm allowed to say that.) And I also wanted to be able to share this milestone with my Inside Google Ads course members. So if you are a member of Inside Google Ads, you can exclusively watch my Friends of Search talk about “Advanced Audience Targeting” and my SMX Munich talk about image assets called “Seeing is Converting.” If you're not yet a member, you can join at learn.jyll.ca. That's J-Y-L-L dot C-A.

Our final question today comes from Tdle68 on YouTube, and they ask, could you please expand further on why you wouldn't choose Phrase Match? 

Sure. Phrase Match used to be my go-to match type. It was that lovely Goldilocks solution between Exact and Broad. Now I think Phrase Match is pretty useless.

See, Exact is useful because it's the most narrow match type, so that affords you the most control, and Broad is useful because, when paired with Smart Bidding, it leverages all kinds of extra signals that Phrase and Exact can't see. 

To quote Google, “When you use Broad Match, the system also looks at additional signals in your account to match more relevant traffic, which includes landing pages, keywords in your ad group, previous searches, and more.” 

My interpretation of this is that, well, Phrase Match doesn't afford you enough control anymore, and Phrase Match doesn't give you access to those extra signals, which leaves it as a pretty useless solution in 2025. Go Exact or go Broad. 

There's not just one match type to rule them all in Google Ads. If there were, it would make all this way too easy. If you're just getting started with Google Ads, if you're a small business owner, if you're working with a small business owner or working with a small budget, I do generally recommend starting with Exact Match keywords. If you've been running ads for some time and you're looking to scale, if you have a larger budget, then Broad Match keywords can be the right solution for you.

Today's Insider Challenge is this, and this is actually coming off a coaching call I had right before I started recording. Let's say you've picked about 8 Exact Match keywords that perfectly align with the kinds of searches you want to advertise on. You are a local service provider, so you're advertising in a small service area where you do business. You run your Google Ads for a few weeks, and you don't get that much traffic, about 50 or so impressions, just a handful of clicks, but you have 67% Impression Share. No conversions and at this rate you're just not going to get enough clicks in a month to potentially get any conversions. What do you do? 

Do you say, okay, that's the opportunity, I'm happy with it? Do you adjust your match types? Do you add more Exact Match keywords? Do you maybe test Broad Match instead? What do you do? Are you happy with these results or not happy with these results?

The beauty of the Insider Challenge is there's no right or wrong answer, just an opportunity to stretch your brain on real life Google Ads problem solving. 

Last Episode's Challenge was this. Let's say you're auditing an account, you're looking at the Performance Max campaign, you check the insights for the Search term categories, and you see that this is essentially a brand campaign, like pretty much all the search term categories are of the company's brand. And they also have a Brand Search campaign going, so they're both getting traffic. How do you decide which one to use? Do you add exclusions to your PMax campaign so all the brand goes to Search? Do you shut off the Search so that PMax can cover it? How do you evaluate and make that decision?

This is also based on a real coaching client scenario. And the thing I did, before I even tell you, I know this will be so unpopular. So remember, there's no right or wrong answer. This is what we decided to do.

We turned off Search and we let PMax effectively become the Brand Search campaign. Now, why would we do that?

Well, in this scenario, it was just like I told you here, there was a PMax campaign that was essentially functioning like a Branded Search campaign. And there was a Branded Search campaign that was functioning like a Branded Search campaign. But Performance Max was doing better. It had lower CPCs. It had a higher conversion rate, much higher conversion volume, better CPA. Overall, it was just doing a better job. 

So I thought, why fight it? Let's go with it towards the PMax future.

We turned off Branded Search. We let PMax cover all of that. We just made sure that we set a target CPA so that PMax would stay as a Brand campaign, because the only way it would be able to achieve that CPA was through brand searches. And in the future, if we decide you want to test the waters a little into Non-brand Search, not something this advertiser is currently doing, all we need to do is adjust that CPA upward and it'll give PMax the opportunity to flex into that.

Would you do the same thing? Would you not even dare?

I'm Jyll Saskin Gales and I'll see you next time Inside Google Ads.