I have experienced something strange with Adwords lately. If I bid on keywords like (just an example): example blue shoes blue example shoes shoes example blue Then my ad should only show when all the three words example blue shoes are in the search query right? My problem is that, with the above example, Google is showing my ads on the word shoes even though blue and example is missing! This means for me that I'm paying for a keyword I don't want at all! The words are just example words but I hope you understand what I mean. Anyone else experienced this? Anyone have an idea how to stop it? I used to use Adwords a lot a few years back and then stopped and started recently. Perhaps they added some new features/settings or something that I'm missing I can add that this isn't being done all the time but periodic. And if I for example pay for the one word shoes then it is not showing in my Adwords stats. I only see it in my logfiles. But if I count the google traffic from my logfiles the amount more or less match the amount of keywords I paid for in my Adwords account. So my conclusion is that all these one word keyword queries is squeezed into the list with keyword phrases containing the word shoes. Does this make any sense for you guys? Thanks in advanced for any help or input.
You're using Broad match, so ANY of those kw's can be matched. Use Phrase & Exact matching instead. i.e "example blue shoes" & [example blue shoes] Also make use of negative kw's like 'free' etc if you're not actually giving away free 'example blue shoes'.
and if he would use the negative keyword -shoes would that help? I have the exact same problem, and I'm actually paying for these unrelated clicks!!! the stats in my weblogs match the total number of clicks in my adwords logs - which means I'm paying $0.50 even for visitors that I don't want....! and furthermore, my whole campagin CTR is decreasing because most people see my ad but don't click, since they are seeing it even when its not completely relevant.... lets say for example I'm advertising - mario pizza delivery I'm showing even for "pizza delivery" and I DO want to use a broad match since I want my ad to show for phrases I can't think of, like "mario anshobi pizza delivery" - so the phrase match of "mario pizza delivery" wouldn't help me...
Although these are broad match terms, your ad shouldn't be showing for the single word "shoes". However, I've seen things like this recently, so I believe you when you say it is. I think it's related to the "automatic matching" thing that google is trying to roll out. Did you opt into that? If not, then google are taking a liberty with you. And, frankly, screwing you. (and everyone else this is happening to) Solution: try adding the negative keyword -[shoes] Hope this helps... and please let us know if you'd accepted an invitation from google to try "automatic matching" as that might explain why this happened to you. Cheers, Steve
I experienced the same problem, glad that Andy$$$ brought it up. My case is worse than Shamrock36. mario pizza delivery -> ad show for 'pizza transfer'
Thanks for all the replies! Nice to see that I'm not loosing it I can't remember that I opted in for the "automatic matching" feature. Anyone know how to opt out of it? If I add the negative word -shoes doesn't that mean that ALL other keywords I have in my list that has the word shoes in them will not be shown on google? Last month I spent over $700 on these useless (to me) keywords thanks to this "automatic matching" so I hope there is something I can do about it
Correct. You need to use -[shoes] if you want to avoid impressions for the single word shoes, but keep your impressions for everything else. ... at least, that's how it's meant to work - maybe google would now show your ads even if you had -shoes?!? Read the adwords t&c and find out if they're breaking them. If they've done this to you unilaterally, it's a scandal. Steve
I don't think this can be an 'automatic matching' issue, as far as I'm aware it's still in beta, and you have to be 'invited' to it. It's more likely a broad match issue - broad match is VERY broad - personally I think expanded match has made it unusable. mario pizza delivery -> ad show for 'pizza transfer' This is what broad match does - in fact it's likely to show for "annie's kebab van"
Steve: Thanks for the suggestion. I have now added the -"keyword" idea and I hope it works Didn't even know that such feature existed. I'll check it closely for a few days now and let you all know if it made a difference or not. Andy While we are at it, is there any way to filter out particular operating systems? For example lets say im selling a Windows Software then I don't want Macintosh visitors. Is there a way for that with Adwords?
Shouldn't according to who? Not Google. They clearly state, in relation to this example, you will show for "shoes". "Broad Match - This is the default option. If your ad group contained the keyword tennis shoes, your ad would be eligible to appear when a user's search query contained tennis and shoes, in any order, and possibly along with other terms. Your ads could also show for singular/plural forms, synonyms, and other relevant variations. For example, you ad might show on tennis shoe or tennis sneakers. Run a Search Query Performance Report to see what keyword variations trigger your ad." Wouldn't have anything to do with Automatic Matching, It's good old fashioned with broad match....maybe with a hint of expanded broad match. Moving past conspiracy theories, broad match is not for the timid. If you're going to use broad match you need to load up on the negative keywords - hundreds of negatives per ad group is not uncommon when set up properly. Andy$$$, my suggestion would be to pause your campaign(s) until you have time to learn about the AdWords system. No offense, but if you didn't know what a negative keyword was there are probably A LOT of other elements of an AdWords campaign you should become familiar with before you start cooking through your budget.
I don't see where they "clearly state" you will show for "shoes". Their statement is: "your ad would be eligible to appear when a user's search query contained tennis and shoes". That's "tennis and shoes", not "tennis or shoes" i.e. when both appear together. [if it was "tennis OR shoes", then a broad match keyword like DVD players would have its ads appearing for things like "baseball players" ... and I'm not seeing that happen] To me, their description says, your ad would show for searches with: (a) tennis + shoes (b) tennis + shoe (c) ~tennis + ~shoes (d) terms that relate to tennis shoes Now, if they showed your ad for "shoes", they could argue that "shoes" is related to tennis shoes. And, at some level, they're right. And, at another level, they're really pushing it. Perhaps it's time for google to offer advertisers an extra matching option that just says: "your ad would be eligible to appear when a user's search query contained tennis And shoes" and only then. Steve
Seems pretty clear to me. You're only quoting part of the broad match description. What is broad match? I. Description With broad match, the Google AdWords system automatically runs your ads on relevant variations of your keywords, even if these terms aren't in your keyword lists. Keyword variations can include synonyms, singular/plural forms, relevant variants of your keywords, and phrases containing your keywords. For example, if you're currently running ads on the broad-matched keyword web hosting, your ads may show for the search queries web hosting company or webhost. The keyword variations that are allowed to trigger your ads will change over time, as the AdWords system continually monitors your keyword quality and performance factors. Your ads will only continue showing on the highest-performing and most relevant keyword variations. They do... Phrase Match - If you enter your keyword in quotation marks, as in "tennis shoes," your ad would be eligible to appear when a user searches on the phrase tennis shoes, in this order, and possibly with other terms before or after the phrase. For example, your ad could appear for the query red tennis shoes but not for shoes for tennis, tennis shoe, or tennis sneakers. Phrase match is more targeted than broad match, but more flexible than exact match.
Again, I don't see where they say you will show for "shoes". I understand the vagueness of their language (e.g. "relevant variations of your keywords, even if these terms aren't in your keyword lists") and how that covers them for this sort of behaviour, but that doesn't say how they define "relevance". Interestingly, if you go to the google awords learning center and watch video 3d4 (sorry, I can't post links yet), it states explicitly that, for broad match, "all the terms must be present". Which contradicts the rules they state elsewhere. I'm not talking about phrase match, which is something different, but a broad match option which sticks to the statement in the learning center video: "all the terms must be present" Steve