Keywords, queries and match types

A keyword is not a search. A keyword is an instruction about which searches you want, and how loosely that instruction is interpreted is the single biggest determinant of where your money goes.

Two different things

• The keyword is what you add to the account.
• The search term is what the person actually typed.

The search terms report shows the second, and it is the most important report in the account. Everything about waste and discovery lives there.

The match types

• Exact [running shoes] — that search and close variants. Tightest control, least reach. "Close variants" includes plurals, misspellings, reorderings and same-meaning phrasings, so exact is not literal.
• Phrase "running shoes" — searches including that meaning, with words before or after.
• Broad running shoes — Google's interpretation of intent, using the whole account as context: landing page, other keywords, past performance. Widest reach, least predictable.

Broad match has become far more capable and far more expensive to run carelessly. It works when conversion tracking is solid and Smart Bidding has enough data to steer it. It burns money when either is missing.

Negative keywords

Negatives are how you say no. They come in the same match types and are the main maintenance job in a search account: read the search terms report, add the searches you never want to pay for again.

Two habits worth building early. Add negatives at the right level — campaign or account lists, not scattered on ad groups. And watch for negatives that conflict with your own keywords, which silently suppress traffic you want.

Where the money leaks

The classic pattern is broad match plus weak negatives plus automated bidding drifting toward upper-funnel and competitor queries. Every one of those searches looked plausible to the machine. Only the search terms report reveals it.

What trips people up

• Assuming exact match is literal. It has not been for years.
• Never reading search terms. The report is the account's conscience.
• Adding negatives so aggressively that the bidding system loses the data it needs.

You have got this when

Your instinct on "spend is up, conversions are flat" is to open the search terms report before touching bids.