Skip to content
    Moz logo Menu open Menu close
    • Products
      • Moz Pro
      • Moz Pro Home
      • Moz Local
      • Moz Local Home
      • STAT
      • Moz API
      • Moz API Home
      • Compare SEO Products
      • Moz Data
    • Free SEO Tools
      • Domain Analysis
      • Keyword Explorer
      • Link Explorer
      • Competitive Research
      • MozBar
      • More Free SEO Tools
    • Learn SEO
      • Beginner's Guide to SEO
      • SEO Learning Center
      • Moz Academy
      • SEO Q&A
      • Webinars, Whitepapers, & Guides
    • Blog
    • Why Moz
      • Digital Marketers
      • Agency Solutions
      • Enterprise Solutions
      • Small Business Solutions
      • The Moz Story
      • New Releases
    • Log in
    • Log out
    • Products
      • Moz Pro

        Your all-in-one suite of SEO essentials.

      • Moz Local

        Raise your local SEO visibility with complete local SEO management.

      • STAT

        SERP tracking and analytics for enterprise SEO experts.

      • Moz API

        Power your SEO with our index of over 44 trillion links.

      • Compare SEO Products

        See which Moz SEO solution best meets your business needs.

      • Moz Data

        Power your SEO strategy & AI models with custom data solutions.

      NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
      Moz Pro

      NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

      Learn more
    • Free SEO Tools
      • Domain Analysis

        Get top competitive SEO metrics like DA, top pages and more.

      • Keyword Explorer

        Find traffic-driving keywords with our 1.25 billion+ keyword index.

      • Link Explorer

        Explore over 40 trillion links for powerful backlink data.

      • Competitive Research

        Uncover valuable insights on your organic search competitors.

      • MozBar

        See top SEO metrics for free as you browse the web.

      • More Free SEO Tools

        Explore all the free SEO tools Moz has to offer.

      NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
      Moz Pro

      NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

      Learn more
    • Learn SEO
      • Beginner's Guide to SEO

        The #1 most popular introduction to SEO, trusted by millions.

      • SEO Learning Center

        Broaden your knowledge with SEO resources for all skill levels.

      • On-Demand Webinars

        Learn modern SEO best practices from industry experts.

      • How-To Guides

        Step-by-step guides to search success from the authority on SEO.

      • Moz Academy

        Upskill and get certified with on-demand courses & certifications.

      • MozCon

        Save on Early Bird tickets and join us in London or New York City

      Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints
      Moz API

      Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints

      Find your plan
    • Blog
    • Why Moz
      • Digital Marketers

        Simplify SEO tasks to save time and grow your traffic.

      • Small Business Solutions

        Uncover insights to make smarter marketing decisions in less time.

      • Agency Solutions

        Earn & keep valuable clients with unparalleled data & insights.

      • Enterprise Solutions

        Gain a competitive edge in the ever-changing world of search.

      • The Moz Story

        Moz was the first & remains the most trusted SEO company.

      • New Releases

        Get the scoop on the latest and greatest from Moz.

      Surface actionable competitive intel
      New Feature

      Surface actionable competitive intel

      Learn More
    • Log in
      • Moz Pro
      • Moz Local
      • Moz Local Dashboard
      • Moz API
      • Moz API Dashboard
      • Moz Academy
    • Avatar
      • Moz Home
      • Notifications
      • Account & Billing
      • Manage Users
      • Community Profile
      • My Q&A
      • My Videos
      • Log Out

    The Moz Q&A Forum

    • Forum
    • Questions
    • Users
    • Ask the Community

    Welcome to the Q&A Forum

    Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

    1. Home
    2. Digital Marketing
    3. Paid Search Marketing
    4. Adwords Duplicate Keywords with Different Match Types - Good or Bad?

    Moz Q&A is closed.

    After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.

    Adwords Duplicate Keywords with Different Match Types - Good or Bad?

    Paid Search Marketing
    4
    6
    9084
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as question
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with question management privileges can see it.
    • JCCMoz
      JCCMoz last edited by

      If you have the following keywords in an Ad Group advertising for a product, let's for example call it "target" product

      [target product]

      "target product"

      +target +product

      I've found that the exact match keyword has the highest conversion rate in almost all circumstances.  So it would make sense to have a higher max bid on the exact match then phrase or broad batch.  Even with lots of negative search terms to maximize conversion on the broader matches, if the bid is the same as exact match, the cost per conversion will be much higher (too high.)

      However in chatting with an Adwords Support Rep (on a different matter) they stated after looking through my account at the end of the chat:

      " duplicate keywords will impact on quality score. your all keywords will compete with each other"

      However many of the ad groups in question these duplicate keywords have quality score of 9 and 10.  So obviously if there is an effect it seems it may be minimal.

      I thought it was pretty common for people to bid higher on more exact match and lower on more broad match.  What's the real story here?  Was this support rep not seeing the big picture?

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
      • SEO1805
        SEO1805 last edited by

        Do different match types really "compete against each other"  I would think not.  Are you really saying if theres:  [some keyword] and +some +keyword  that Adwords won't only send the closest match type to the auction and ignore others, or, if the bid for [some keyword] is $1.00 and for +some +keyword is $10.00 then you are effectively bidding $10.00 on some keyword.  However this is rare someone would make the broad match bid higher than a closer match type, so in reality I don't see a realistic scenario where a broad match is "competing" against an exact match  to effectively raise the CPC.    If the broad match bid was $0.99 and the exact match was $1.00 the exact match still goes to the auction with $1.00 max CPC.  You only send one keyword to the auction correct?

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • Hurf
          Hurf last edited by

          My apologies if I haven't presented this clearly. However, I'm not seeing anything contradictory here:

          "If  same keywords are used in different match types then they are not considered as duplicate keywords."

          Vs

          "As Alick300 has mentioned, keywords with different match types are not considered duplicates"

          As a matter of course, it would be a good exercise to run your campaign through Adwords Editor to check for duplicate keywords (as referenced above), in case any have slipped through the net.

          Good luck with your campaign!

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
          • JCCMoz
            JCCMoz @Hurf last edited by

            This contradicts what the previous poster before you posted which I believe is more accurate.

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
            • Hurf
              Hurf last edited by

              If you are concerned about duplicate keywords, download the Adwords Editor and follow Google's guidelines on identifying and removing them, here: https://support.google.com/adwords/editor/answer/47633

              QS aside, my concern with duplicate keywords would be the cost implication as you'll end up bidding against yourself in the auction. As Alick300 has mentioned, keywords with different match types are not considered duplicates. Be aware that broad match keywords with the same words in different order, etc would be considered duplicates.

              I hope that helps you.

              JCCMoz 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
              • Alick300
                Alick300 last edited by

                Hi,

                You are on right track. If  same keywords are used in different match types then they are not considered as duplicate keywords. Just remember the keyword with the highest AdRank enters the general auction for placement.

                Generally the advertisers tend to follow different strategies and stick with the one, which gives them higher Conversions, high Return on Investment (ROI) etc...

                1. Launch different match type keywords within a single ad group and go with the ones, which gives you better results.

                2. Launch different match type keywords in different ad groups OR different campaigns and then add embedded negative match type keywords to streamline the traffic. Now, once you accrue data, you can pause the match types which are not proving worth for you and optimize the rest of the keywords.

                Bid higher on_ exact_, lower on phrase and the lowest on broad.

                Using this strategy, when all match types could be matched to a query,  the most restrictive  type wins, your   ad-rank will be higher, and as a result, your  chances to win a higher position  (in the  auction) are higher.

                Hope this helps

                Thanks

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 4
                • 1 / 1
                • First post
                  Last post

                Got a burning SEO question?

                Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.


                Start my free trial


                Browse Questions

                Explore more categories

                • Moz Tools

                  Chat with the community about the Moz tools.

                • SEO Tactics

                  Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers

                • Community

                  Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!

                • Digital Marketing

                  Chat about tactics outside of SEO

                • Research & Trends

                  Dive into research and trends in the search industry.

                • Support

                  Connect on product support and feature requests.

                • See all categories

                Related Questions

                • HelloWorld2020

                  How to know competitors keywords for adwords

                  I want to run google campaign for adwords and I want to target keywords that my competitor is ranking for. How can I know what are the keywords that are helping my competitors the most. Is there some way so that I can know what my competitor is bidding for those keywords. I heard it also depends on the landing page quality. Please suggest the best strategy to run adwords at lower cost and yet perform well. I am willing to run campaign for this website .  It is basically meant to connect manufacturers representatives and independent sales reps to businesses. Any suggestions are welcome.

                  Paid Search Marketing | | HelloWorld2020
                  0
                • Fubra

                  PPC: how to get rid of an ad appearing on a keyword we don't want?

                  Hi, Our ad on Google Ads is appearing for a search we don't want. it isn't in our search keywords and when i try and ad it to our negative ones, we get the error " You cannot exclude keywords that are targeted " which i assume means that google thinks we are bidding on it? We have a selection of broad phrase matches so i can only think that this is where it's coming from? Do you have any tips on tracking down which keyword is generating this ad and how we can turn it off? (we don't want to pay for clicks on this search if possible!) Btw - i have turned off each keyword in turn to test it = nothing. have then paused the whole campaign = gets rid of the ad (but this is our most successful campaign so i can't just turn it off). Any advice super super welcome. thank you!

                  Paid Search Marketing | | Fubra
                  1
                • singhmahendra

                  How to Find Competitor PPC Keywords ?

                  Can anyone suggest best way to find all PPC keywords of a competitor. Any tool recommendation ?

                  Paid Search Marketing | | singhmahendra
                  0
                • Crystalline_15

                  Google Analytics showing my Adwords campaign bounce rate at 0%

                  I am relatively new to Adwords, and I can't figure out why the Adwords section of Analytics is showing all my site visitors at 0% bounce rate.  Does that mean the account connection is not done right?  Obviously Google ads are not a 0% bounce rate. If I can't get that to work, does anyone know how Google ads appear in Traffic?  Is it Direct or Referral? I'm sure there's some simple answer I'm just not aware of, I would appreciate anyone's help. Thanks!

                  Paid Search Marketing | | Crystalline_15
                  0
                • hellemans

                  Adwords negative keywords / keyword lists conflicting?

                  Does any of you had any experience on large 5k+ shared negative keyword lists impacting normal campaign negative keywords in Adwords even if they are not selected on these campaigns? And a second question; does anyone know how selected negative keyword lists can be removed from a campaign? I seem to be able to add them but not to remove them... Cheers!

                  Paid Search Marketing | | hellemans
                  0
                • benjmoz

                  Using multiple domains in one Adwords account

                  Hi, I am currently setting up an Adwords account and wanted to know if you can run multiple websites through one account. We have 2 domains each promoting a different one of our brands and i was wondering the best way to run the account. Regards Ben

                  Paid Search Marketing | | benjmoz
                  0
                • seowoody

                  Arabic Keyword Research

                  Hi All, Can anyone recommend good SEOs who specialise in Arabic? I've had my client's website translated into Arabic but the translation company do not specialise in local keyword research. They've translated literally I think (obviously not being an Arabic speaker, I can't confirm this). I need someone to review the translated site (only 4 pages so far), with a marketing head on, and ensure it includes the relevant local keywords used in UAE countries. Will also require deeper keyword research for a Google.ae PPC campaign and Ad copy written in Arabic. If I fail to find someone here in the moz community I'll head over to oDesk, where I'll find everyone and their mother-in-law proclaiming to be the worlds best Arabic SEO 😕
                  I like recommendations! Thanks, Woody 🙂

                  Paid Search Marketing | | seowoody
                  0
                • EcommerceSite

                  Is there any reason to add the word "buy" to our Adwords keywords?

                  Was having a discussion with someone so I am going to write this up as neutral as possible and let you guys decide. We have a large keyword list and they are all setup as phrase. Should we go back and add the word buy in front of all those keywords? Even though they are setup as phrase already. Example: "Widget" (as a phrase) Should we go back and add "Buy Widget" as a keyword?

                  Paid Search Marketing | | EcommerceSite
                  0

                Get started with Moz Pro!

                Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

                Start my free trial
                Products
                • Moz Pro
                • Moz Local
                • Moz API
                • Moz Data
                • STAT
                • Product Updates
                Moz Solutions
                • SMB Solutions
                • Agency Solutions
                • Enterprise Solutions
                Free SEO Tools
                • Domain Authority Checker
                • Link Explorer
                • Keyword Explorer
                • Competitive Research
                • Brand Authority Checker
                • Local Citation Checker
                • MozBar Extension
                • MozCast
                Resources
                • Blog
                • SEO Learning Center
                • Help Hub
                • Beginner's Guide to SEO
                • How-to Guides
                • Moz Academy
                • API Docs
                About Moz
                • About
                • Team
                • Careers
                • Contact
                Why Moz
                • Case Studies
                • Testimonials
                Get Involved
                • Become an Affiliate
                • MozCon
                • Webinars
                • Practical Marketer Series
                • MozPod
                Connect with us

                Contact the Help team

                Join our newsletter
                Moz logo
                © 2021 - 2025 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
                • Accessibility
                • Terms of Use
                • Privacy

                Looks like your connection to Moz was lost, please wait while we try to reconnect.