What Are Match Types?

Keyword search match types allow you to specify how closely a word in a search user's query must match your keyword before it triggers the display of your search ad. This helps your ad reach the right audience at the right time.


Currently there are four main match types available in adCenter:

  • Exact match type: Your ad will appear only when that exact keyword, with the exact spelling, is entered without other keywords.
  • Phrase match type: Your ad will appear only if the customer search query includes all your keywords in the exact order given or in combination with other words either before or after (but not between) the words in your keyword. 
  • Broad match type: Your ad will appear if a customer’s search query contains all of the words in your keyword in a different order—or if the words are in the same order but have other terms that are not noise words between them. Additionally, broad match also includes the following enhancements:
    • Expanded broad match: This feature automatically matches an advertiser's ads to words that are semantically related to the keywords on which the advertiser bids.
    • Entity detection: Think of this feature as a filter on top of phrase and broad match that restricts the cases in which an ad will phrase or broad match.
    • Content match: Triggers the display of your ad on relevant pages of the MSN content network—but only if you have chosen to distribute your ad to the content network. Your ads are matched to web pages according to the relevance of your keywords, ad title and description to the web page content. For example, if you sell bicycles, your ads would appear on pages that are about bicycles or cycling.

Chances are, you're already using one of these adCenter match types—most probably exact match type. If you haven’t been happy with the amount or quality of your traffic, consider making the change to phrase match and broad match types in your ads.


Additional Resources