For those who are running SEM campaigns, this article by The Drum is a great resumé of the upcoming changes on Google and the recommended « broad match » approach, that allow more latitude to manage our investment on Google side and less on ours, even more if we try to avoid cannibalization between clients.
The broad match approach that will probably become a standard in a near future
Before, broad match meant that if the search query was contextually similar to the keyword being targeted, your ad could show. This has now had a much-needed overhaul to ensure marketers remain in control of budgets. Modern search is an evolution of broad match and focuses on the meaning of your keyword and the intent behind it; this can include searches that don’t contain the original keyword terms.
Google’s BERT algorithm technology helps interpret queries, language and search intent. It uses this understanding to make keyword matching behavior more closely aligned. That makes broad matches more relevant.
We’ve seen great results from testing, with incremental traffic and revenue. You should ensure you’re live with automated bidding, as the new broad match needs this to work effectively. Choose campaigns to switch to broad match and run a test (you could start by testing any previous broad match modifier keywords).
