Sometimes, multiple keywords or search themes in your account may be eligible to match a search term, but only one will be selected to participate in the auction.
So, how does Google decide which keyword to promote?
Google uses a prioritization framework for this purpose!
We’ve also recently introduced updates to query matching controls, including new brand inclusions and exclusions, to help direct traffic more effectively.
While the framework for keyword and search theme prioritization isn’t brand new, recent advancements in AI have brought significant improvements.
Now is a great time to explore the details of keyword prioritization and query matching controls. Understanding these aspects will help you better organize your campaigns and ad groups, create effective keyword lists (both positive and negative), select the right keyword match types, and leverage search themes to enhance performance.
We’ll discuss various scenarios and key considerations for each prioritization rule, as well as the latest developments in query matching controls.
Why Keyword Prioritization Matters
Keyword prioritization rules are designed to enhance the relevance of keywords to queries, resulting in improved user experiences and better outcomes for advertisers.
Additionally, these rules provide a significant advantage by addressing the issues that led advertisers to use complex “keyword sculpting” techniques. Previously, advertisers had to create intricate account and bid structures to direct traffic effectively.
How Keyword Prioritization Works In Google Ads
I categorize the four priority levels or rules into two groups:
- Priority rules 1 and 2 apply when you have a keyword or search theme that exactly matches the search term or its spell-corrected variant.
- Priority rules 3 and 4 apply when there isn’t an exact match and multiple keywords or search themes could potentially enter the auction.
Top Priority: Identical Exact Match Keywords
When you have an exact match keyword that exactly matches the search term or its spell-corrected variant, this keyword will be given priority in the auction over all other keywords in your account.
This prioritization rule means:
- Additionally, if you have the broad match campaign setting enabled, these keywords will be considered as if both broad and exact match versions are active.
- The exact match keyword [skydiving license] will be used for the exact query “skydiving license.”
- The same exact match keyword [skydiving license] will take precedence over other instances of this keyword in phrase or broad match formats, whether within the same ad group or across different ones.
- It will be prioritized over Performance Max for Search text ads.
- It will also be prioritized over any relevant phrase or broad match keywords, such as “skydiving certification” or “skydiving licensing,” that could otherwise match the query.
Keep in mind:
- Misspelled or spell-corrected search terms are treated as “identical,” but plurals and synonyms are not. For example, [skydoiving license] is considered identical to [skydiving license], but [skydiving licenses] or [freefall license] are not.
- For a keyword to match, it must be eligible to serve. This applies to all prioritization rules.
- For instance, if a campaign is restricted by budget, the keyword may not always trigger an ad.
- Similarly, if targeting settings don’t align, if the creatives or landing pages in the ad group are disapproved, or if the keyword has a low search volume, traffic may be directed to other keywords or Performance Max instead.
2nd Priority: Phrase, Broad Match, Or Search Themes That Are Identical To The Query
Next, if there isn’t an identical exact match keyword, the system will check for a phrase or broad match keyword, or Performance Max search theme that matches the query or its spell-corrected variant.
This prioritization rule means:
- If the query has an identical search theme in Performance Max but lacks an identical keyword in Search, the Performance Max search theme will be given priority.
- A search keyword that exactly matches the query will be prioritized over Performance Max, regardless of its match type—whether exact (as covered by the first priority), phrase, or broad.
- It’s important to emphasize this: if there is an identical search keyword for the query of any match type, Performance Max will not be considered for selection, with one exception.
- If there are duplicate search themes and phrase or broad match keywords that exactly match the query, priority will be determined by Ad Rank.
- For example, if both a search theme and a phrase match keyword like “skydiving license” are eligible for the query, the ad with the highest Ad Rank will be selected for the auction.
- This is because Performance Max search themes are prioritized similarly to phrase and broad match keywords.
Keep in mind:
- Misspelled or spell-corrected search terms are treated as “identical,” but plurals or synonyms are not. For example, [skydoiving license] would match [skydiving license], but [skydiving licenses] or [freefall license] would not.
- Repeating the same keyword across multiple match types within a campaign does not improve performance. The system prioritizes eligible keywords that match the search term, so a single match type is sufficient.
- There’s a common misconception that exact match keywords are “cheaper” than phrase or broad match types. If all other factors are equal (ad, landing page, bid strategy), the cost for capturing identical traffic will be the same across broad or phrase match keywords. More details on keyword matching options are available here.
- If you’re using phrase and/or broad match keywords and have duplicates across match types within your ad groups, it’s best to deduplicate and remove redundant keywords, especially in the most restrictive match types.
- Instead of duplicating keywords, consider using search themes to address gaps and guide the AI in Performance Max. More information on search themes can be found here.
Now, let’s move on to the next two rules of prioritization for scenarios where you don’t have an identical match for the query in your account.
3rd Priority: Relevance (AI-Based Keyword Prioritization)
This is the latest development in keyword prioritization and represents a major advancement in Search campaign keyword selection.
AI-based keyword prioritization uses relevance signals to determine the best keywords from the most relevant ad groups when multiple ad groups could potentially match a query.
This prioritization rule means:
- Relevance is assessed by evaluating:
- The meaning of the search term.
- The meaning of all the keywords within the ad group.
- The landing pages associated with the ad group.
- Keywords with lower Ad Rank but higher relevance may be chosen over those with higher Ad Rank but lower relevance.
- AI-based prioritization is currently applicable only to keyword-based Search campaigns and does not apply to Dynamic Search Ads.
- This rule is used when no identical keywords match the search term.
Keep in mind:
- AI-based keyword prioritization offers a major advantage by minimizing the need for intricate campaign structures to manually direct traffic. It still allows you to control which keyword matches a query through effective ad group theming.
- However, AI-based prioritization depends on its ability to infer relevance. This is why ad group theming is crucial, especially when using broad match keywords. By organizing your keywords into relevant themes with corresponding assets and landing pages, you help Google better understand the intent behind your keywords and landing pages, leading to more accurate match selection.
For example, consider a search for “skydiving certifications near me.” This could potentially match the ad groups “Skydiving License” and “Advanced Skydiving Courses.”
Both ad groups are relevant to the query, but the “Skydiving License” ad group has keywords and a landing page specifically focused on licensing, while the “Advanced Skydiving Courses” ad group centers on advanced courses.
Since ‘license’ (present in both the keywords and landing page) and ‘certifications’ (in the search term) are more closely related than ‘courses’ and ‘certifications,’ the “Skydiving License” ad group is chosen for the query.
(As someone who has worked extensively on education and certification campaigns, I find this example particularly insightful!)
4th And Final: Ad Rank
Ad Rank is the ultimate rule for deciding which keyword or search theme in your account gets chosen for the auction. We’ve discussed some scenarios where Ad Rank comes into play when other criteria aren’t met.
Ad Rank evaluates several factors, including ad quality components, in real-time during each auction to determine where and if your ads are shown compared to other advertisers. You can learn more about Ad Rank here.
Here’s what this prioritization rule means:
- When multiple relevant phrase and/or broad match keywords are eligible after AI-based keyword prioritization, Ad Rank is used to make the final choice for the auction.
- If you have the same keyword appearing in both phrase and broad match, Ad Rank will determine which ad gets priority. The ad with the highest Ad Rank will be favored.
- If you have the same search theme in both Performance Max and phrase or broad match keywords in Search, Ad Rank will decide which one takes precedence.
Keep in mind:
- Ad Rank takes into account various factors, including your bid, the expected impact of ad assets and formats (such as sitelinks and location extensions), and the context of the user’s search.
- When running both Performance Max and Search campaigns without an exact match to the search query, the campaign or ad with the highest Ad Rank will be chosen.
- Regarding Quality Score: This metric is based on the historical performance of your keyword for similar searches, so the match type you use does not affect Quality Score. Changing match types does not alter Quality Score either.
- For instance, if everything else is the same (bid, ad, etc.), a broad match keyword like “running shoes” and an exact match keyword like [running shoes] will have the same Quality Score.
- If your broad match keyword “running shoes” matches the search query “shoes for running,” this does not influence the Quality Score.
New Controls For Query Matching
In June, we introduced several updates related to query matching and brand controls. I’ll provide more details on each update and address some of the questions I’ve received about them.
Brand Inclusions For Broad Match Campaigns
This feature, formerly known as brand restrictions, ensures that your ads only appear for queries related to your brand name in broad match campaigns.
To enable brand inclusions, activate the broad match keyword setting in your campaign. This will automatically adjust your keywords to broad match.
Once you create a brand list at the account level, you can apply it to your campaign.
It’s important to note that broad match is continually improving, with AI advancements driving these enhancements. For instance, in the past six months, broad match performance improved by 10% for advertisers using Smart Bidding, thanks to AI-driven advancements in quality, relevance, and language understanding.
Alongside Smart Bidding, there are several key controls for managing broad match. We’ve already discussed the significance of ad group theming.
Brand inclusions are a new control designed to help advertisers use broad match more effectively in their branded campaigns. This means:
- You can direct traffic exclusively to queries that include your brand while leveraging additional broad match signals, such as landing pages, keywords in your ad group, and previous searches.
- You may also receive recommendations to switch your brand-focused campaigns to broad match and apply brand inclusions.
Keep in mind:
- Brands are distinct from keywords. Unlike keywords, brands are treated as individual entities.
- We use logos, websites, and trademarks to identify the correct brand and related products.
- There’s no need to include misspellings, variants, or translations in your brand lists.
- If a query strongly correlates with a brand entity, your brand products will be linked to the brand.
Brand Exclusions For Search
Currently available for Performance Max, brand exclusions will soon be introduced for Search as well.
Brand exclusions provide a simple way to block traffic from queries related to specific brand names and their misspellings.
Similar to brand inclusions, you create brand lists at the account level and apply them to exclude certain brands from your Search and/or Performance Max campaigns.
Here’s what you can do with brand exclusions:
- Apply your brand exclusion lists to multiple Search and/or Performance Max campaigns.
- Exclude searches related to competitor brands.
- Apply brand exclusions to all match types and Dynamic Search Ads in Search.
- Prevent matches to other brands mentioned alongside your specified brand. For instance, you can target “google” but avoid searches like “google vs samsung phone.”
- Exclude sub-brands if needed. For example, you might want traffic for “google” but not “google maps.”
Keep in mind:
- Brands are distinct from keywords. Unlike keywords, brands are treated as individual entities.
- We use logos, websites, and trademarks to accurately identify brands and their related products.
- You don’t need to include misspellings, variants, or translations in your brand lists.
- If a query strongly matches a brand entity, the brand’s products will be associated with that brand.
- The most straightforward brand name typically covers all its variants when they share a common term, like “Google” and “Google LLC.” For example, “Google” will capture searches including “Google” without needing additional variants.
- However, if the brand variants don’t share common words, such as “Google,” “YouTube,” and “Alphabet,” you should create a comprehensive list that includes all these variants.
- More general brand names often, though not always, capture traffic related to all brand variants. (Learn more here.)
- While you can add brands as negative keywords, keep in mind that negative keywords can’t block brand variants effectively. It’s best to use negative keywords only to exclude unwanted traffic, regardless of performance.
Negative Keywords Block Misspellings
Negative keywords are a powerful tool for blocking traffic from unwanted search terms, and this recent update makes them even more effective. Negative keywords now also prevent matches with misspelled queries. Here’s how this update impacts your strategy:
- You may want to review and refine your negative keyword lists to remove misspellings and simplify your account management.
- You no longer need to monitor search terms for potential misspellings or anticipate how people might incorrectly spell your keywords. Simply enter the correct spelling as a negative keyword.
- Misspelled versions of keywords will be blocked, but correctly spelled queries will not be affected. For example, adding “YouTube” as a negative keyword will block searches like “yiotube,” but not the correctly spelled “YouTube.”
- This update will block misspellings but will not affect synonyms, singular/plural forms, or other close variations. If you want to exclude these, you’ll need to add them separately (e.g., “YT” as a variant of “YouTube”).
Keep in mind:
- This update affects both campaign-level and account-level negative keywords. Learn more about negative keywords here.
- Misspellings will be covered by all types of negative keywords, regardless of match type.
- To determine if a word is considered a misspelling of your keyword, you can search it on Google and check if it shows “These are results for” the corrected query.
Will Pausing Low Volume Keywords And/or Ad Groups Impact Query Matching And Performance?
Finally, I want to address a recent change that has raised some questions.
Earlier this year, we announced that we would automatically pause Search ad groups and keywords that haven’t received any impressions in the past 13 months. Idle ad groups and keywords can accumulate over time, contributing to clutter without improving performance.
We do not anticipate that pausing ad groups or keywords with no impressions for over a year will significantly impact your Search campaign traffic or alter the traffic distribution between your Search and Performance Max campaigns.
You can still review and unpause any keywords or ad groups you believe are necessary. However, this brings us back to the importance of account structure and ad group theming for relevance.
Before re-enabling paused ad groups or keywords, consider the following:
- Review the creative theming of your ad groups, keeping in mind the relevance signals that AI-based prioritization considers, including other keywords and landing pages in the ad group.
- Check the keyword status for potential issues.
- Evaluate whether these ad groups/keywords are necessary or if other keywords or ad groups are already covering this traffic.
- Consider expanding the match type of these keywords to capture more queries.
Key Takeaway
With a better grasp of how keyword prioritization rules and query matching controls operate, it’s a good time to reassess your account.
Look for opportunities to reorganize and consolidate your campaigns, and focus on refining the themes of your ad groups.
These changes will help streamline your account, making management simpler, and ensure that your ads are effectively matched to relevant queries, ultimately driving better results.
Original news from SearchEngineJournal