All You Wanted to Know about Broad Match Modifier

Broad match modifier (BMM) was one of the four keyword matching types in Google Ads. This match type allows advertisers to specify keywords that must be included in search queries to trigger ad placement.

In short, it gave advertisers the flexibility of broad match with restrictive control of phrase match or exact match.

Let’s discuss in this Innocams blog post this now defunct but interesting keyword matching technique that once helped thousands of businesses shine with their PPC campaigns.

What are Keyword Match Types?

Keyword match types are techniques advertisers use to control how evenly a search query should match with a specific keyword to show an ad. 

For example, if you use the keyword “watch store”, Google may show your ad when a searcher uses search terms like watch store, analogue watch shop, digital watch store etc. 

This is an example of a particular keyword match typing technique namely, phrase match. More later.

4 Keyword Match Types

Before we delve deeper into the nitty-gritty of broad match modifiers, a short discussion on the 4 keyword match types is necessary: It will help us understand better this particular matching technique we’re dealing with in this blog post. 

When broad match modifiers were in vogue, there were 4 types of keyword match types: broad match, broad match modifier, phrase match and exact match. Here’s a lowdown on them–

• Keyword Match Types: Broad Match

If you don’t select any specific phrase or exact word combination as the trigger of ads placement, Google may show your ads against any search queries that it thinks are relevant to your keyword.

This is called broad match type. For example, if you select SEO as your broad match keyword type, Google may show your ad against queries like SEO agencies, SEO techniques, best SEO agencies in… etc. 

I’ll compare the pros and cons of these match types later, but now let’s take up the next match type.

• Keyword Match Types: Broad Match Modifier

In a modified broad matching technique, you were required to use a + sign before the keyword that must be included in the search queries that will trigger your ads. 

For example, if you used the keyword +content marketing, Google might have shown your ads against relevant searches that must have included the keyword content.

For example, the search engine might have shown your ads against search terms like SEO content marketing, SEO content creation, Content optimisation etc.

• Keyword Match Types: Phrase Match

In this matching, marketers enclose the phrase in quotation marks which or whose derivatives must be included in the search terms to trigger the ad placement. 

For example, if your input is “digital marketing”, Google may show your ads against queries that contain either digital marketing or its close derivatives (synonyms, misspelling etc.) like online marketing etc.

Google has now discontinued the broad match modifier matching type and incorporated its behaviour into this phrase match type.

• Keyword Match Types: Exact Match

Here you put your preferred keyword inside third brackets. This is the most restrictive type of keyword matching where Google doesn’t have much to do but show your ads against the exact or almost exact search terms. 

For example, if your keyword input is [content marketing], Google must show your ads against this exact search term or its closest derivatives like digital content marketing etc.

How Broad Match Modifiers Worked?

A broad match modifier would give you the functionality of a broad match, within the framework of your unique needs. Here is how it was done:

Broad Match Modifier: The Mechanism

In a modified broad match, you instructed Google Ads to show your ads only if certain keywords, as mentioned by you, were used in the search query. 

Google Ads then used the behaviour of broad match  but made your target keywords as the controller of that behaviour. 

In short, it showed your ads for your specified keywords in the broadest possible way. Hence, you had the flexibility of broad match with the restrictive control of phrase or exact match. 

Broad Match Modifier: Benefits

Here are the key benefits broad match modifier used to yield for advertisers:

Provided a wider Reach

In this match type, Google Ads helped advertisers reach a wider range of potential customers by not only including their preferred keywords in search terms but showing their ads against search terms related to their target keywords (synonyms, misspelling etc).

Ads Based on Relevance

When you used this type of keyword matching method, Google showed your ads against relevant search queries based on your specified keywords. This showed your ads against a wide range of relevant search queries.

Generated Qualified Leads

This appearance of your ads for relevant searches improved the quality of your leads, meaning, only people who are using your keywords and their derivatives will see your ads. This used to generate leads that were most likely to convert.

Improved Click-Through-Rate

And of course, qualified leads would click on your ads, increasing your CTR significantly.This improved CTR, again, might have translated into more conversions and profits for you.

Less Cost-per-Click

By showing your ads to the relevant searches, a broad match modifier could significantly lower your CPC as only qualified leads who are likely to convert would click on your ads.

Disadvantages of Broad Match Modifiers

However, modified broad keyword matching had its potential demerits. Google discontinued this match typing in early 2021 and some of the reasons for it were these disadvantages:

• Though somewhat restricted by modifiers, this type of keyword matching frequently showed ads against irrelevant searches, increasing the advertiser’s CPC and lowering his CTR and conversions. 
• To offset this disadvantage, you would have to constantly monitor your search terms report and add irrelevant queries to your negative keyword list. This is a time-consuming, complex and taxing job.
• This low CTR may result in low search rank and quality score for your ads.

Why Google Discontinued Broad Match Modifier?

As you know, this broad match modifier  is no longer an option in Google Ads. Now you can use only broad match, phrase match and exact match techniques. 

There are a number of reasons why Google did this. Here are the key reasons for this discontinuation–

1. Google wanted to provide advertisers with more simplified keyword matching options and incorporated BMM’s reach into the restrictive framework of phrase match technique. 

2. Google wanted to address the low CTR and high CPC issues, arising out of the modified keyword matching technique. It thought it best to expand the functionality of phrase match rather than continue with this complex and potentially disadvantageous broad match modifiers.

3. With the advent of machine learning and natural language processing, Google has been focussing on the meaning of search terms rather than the keywords themselves. But the broad match modifier primarily focused on the exact keywords, which did not align with Google’s changed search policies and algorithms. 

Comparison of the Four Matches 

Broad match	Broad match modifier	Phrase match	Exact match
Advantages
Wide Reach.	More targeted than broad matches.	More targeted than modified broad matches.	Completely targeted.
Helps discover potential keywords.	Has flexibility of broad and specificity of phrase and exact matches.	Has the flexibility of broad matches.	Exclude ads from all irrelevant searches.
Very helpful in showing the ropes while starting out.	Helps discover potential negative keywords.	Very suitable for long-tail keywords.	Generate qualified leads by showing ads to potential customers only.
Disadvantages
Can drive irrelevant traffic.	May generate unqualified leads.	May generate unqualified leads.	May miss potential customers by being overly specific.
May increase CPC.	May increase CPC.	Requires constant monitoring.	Requires very careful keyword selection that can be challenging.
May decrease CTR.	May decrease CTR.	Requires aggressive use of negative keywords.	More competitive and costlier than the other three keyword match types.

Conclusion

Broad match modifier was a keyword matching technique that helped businesses reach a wider audience but offered the facility to pinpoint the target audience with specific keywords.

If properly used, it could generate qualified leads and more conversions. It provided the flexibility of broad matching with specificity of phrase and exact keyword matching techniques.

However, it had the potential to generate some unqualified leads, jacking up the advertisers’ CPC and lowering their CTR. 

Google discontinued this keyword match technique, but incorporated its basic facilities into the phrase match. 

Frequently Asked Questions