Let me start with a confession. I was very anti broad keywords. For most of my 20 years managing paid search, broad match keywords were a no-no. They were messy, expensive, and about as targeted as a billboard on the highway. You added them, watched spend spike, and then spent the next week cleaning up search terms wondering why you did that to yourself.
So when Google reps started pushing broad keywords again, I was skeptical. Very skeptical. Hard pass skeptical. And yet… here we are.
Because the truth is, after testing adding broad keywords to many campaigns now, they are performing pretty well. Not everywhere. Not blindly. But in the right situations, with the right guardrails, they can absolutely work.
Why Broad Keywords Used to Be a Hard No
Historically, broad match meant Google took your keyword and ran wild with it. Close variants were anything but close. Intent was questionable at best. Control was minimal. If you cared about efficiency, lead quality, or your sanity, you stuck with exact and phrase match. That was the rule for a long time, and honestly, it was the right call.
Broad keywords were a waste of money because Google did not have the intelligence it has now. The targeting simply was not there.
What Changed
Google’s AI and machine learning have come a long way. Whether we like it or not, the platform is much better at understanding intent, context, and user behavior than it used to be. Broad keywords today are not the same broad keywords from ten years ago. They are influenced by signals like search behavior, device, location, previous actions, and conversion data from your account.
That does not mean you should trust them blindly. It does mean you should stop judging them based on how they behaved in 2014.
Want To Test Broad Match?
If you are considering adding some broad keywords into your campaign there are a few things to do before you get started and knowing how to manage the campaign after you are done.
- Broad keywords should not be added everywhere and do not add broad keywords to a brand new campaign. Ever. That is still a great way to light money on fire.
- Broad keywords work best in campaigns that already have a lot of data. Ideally, this is a campaign with a long history, consistent conversions, and a tight, well performing keyword list.
- Go through your search terms and add negative keywords aggressively. Anything irrelevant, low quality, or obviously not a fit needs to be blocked first. The cleaner your campaign is before you add broad, the better your results will be after.
- Broad keywords do not fix bad structure. They amplify whatever you already have, good or bad.
- I prefer keeping broad and phrase match keywords together in the same ad group when the intent is very tight. This allows Google to learn from both while still anchoring performance around higher intent searches.
- Do not set it and forget it, this is where people get into trouble. Check search terms every couple of days and add negatives quickly. Watch cost, conversion rate, and CPA closely. Broad will test boundaries, and it is your job to reinforce them.
Put Bias Aside and Test It
I get the hesitation. I had it too. But Google’s AI is doing a much better job with targeting than it used to and if you already have strong data, clean structure, and solid conversion tracking, broad keywords are worth testing. Not because Google says so. Because the results are proving it.
Broad keywords are no longer an automatic no. However, if used carelessly, they will still waste money. Used strategically, they can uncover new search opportunities and help campaigns scale without sacrificing efficiency.
If you are curious about adding broad keywords but are not sure where to start or whether your account is ready, that is a smart pause…Chat with us about your Google Ads strategy. We will tell you if broad keywords make sense for your account, where to test them safely, and how to avoid the expensive mistakes.
