Making Sense of Match Types

Learn how to make your ads more relevant

Sometimes my socks don’t match. This is not a fashion statement but usually the result of my hectic morning rush to get out the door and to work. You may always be lucky and conscious of wearing matching socks (which I’m slightly jealous of), but you may have some questions about using match types with your Yahoo! Search Marketing campaign. That’s where we can help you.

First, you need to know that Sponsored Search offers two different “match types” that help you control the way in which your keywords are matched to the terms web users enter into search boxes: Standard and Advanced.

The Advanced Match Type
The Advanced match type is your default match type. It allows your ad to appear in response to a broader range of searches, even when the keyword you are bidding on is not an exact, word-for-word match with the search query.

The benefit of the Advanced match type is that it will display your ad for related searches using keywords that you may not have specifically added to your campaigns. It can also save you time and remove the burden of having to think of every possible keyword related to your products or services. However, while the Advanced match type can deliver more traffic, this traffic could potentially be less relevant.

Example: The keyword “Fender guitar” could be matched to related search terms such as “Fender Telecaster guitar,” “Fender Stratocaster guitar” and “electric Fender guitar.”

When using the Advanced match type, make sure to use excluded words as needed. Excluded words specify search terms that you don’t want to be matched to through the Advanced match type. Here are a few key details about excluded words:
• Excluded words help block certain searches that you believe will not apply to your products or services.
• Example: You only sell new guitars, so you may want to exclude terms such as “free,” “repair,” “used” or “vintage.”
• You can currently exclude up to 250 words at the account level, as well as 250 for each ad group.

The Standard Match Type
This option restricts your ad to be displayed for searches that are exact matches to your keywords, as well as for common variations and misspellings. You may want to consider this for certain keywords and ad groups to help get clicks that are more relevant to your business.

Example: “Fender guitar” could match to “Fender guitars” and “Fender’s guitars.”

You can control your match types from the account level, all the way down to individual keywords. Learn more about them at our help center. But sadly, the help center says nothing about socks.

— Roger Park, Manager, Marketing Communications Manager and occasional non-matching sock wearer