{"id":117240,"date":"2021-02-09T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-02-09T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dacgroup.com\/google-deprecates-broad-match-modifier-keywords-what-you-need-to-know\/"},"modified":"2024-12-19T16:43:59","modified_gmt":"2024-12-19T21:43:59","slug":"google-deprecates-broad-match-modifier-keywords-what-you-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dacgroup.com\/en-ca\/insights\/blog\/search-optimization\/google-deprecates-broad-match-modifier-keywords-what-you-need-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"Google deprecates broad match modifier keywords: What you need to know"},"content":{"rendered":"

On February 4, 2021, Google announced that it would be deprecating broad match modifier keywords<\/a> and rolling their functionality into phrase match targeting. It’s a huge announcement, so let’s explore what it means, the implications for performance, and the timelines everyone should know.<\/p>\n

What are (were) broad match modifier keywords?<\/h2>\n

Broad match modifier keywords, or BMM for short, were something of an unintended phenomenon in paid search when they launched in 2010. In their purest and intended form, they were designed to anchor a specific term within a broad keyword by adding a \u2018+\u2019 to the front of the word to tighten the matching options. It allowed the keyword \u2018+miami vacation rentals\u2019 to match to queries related to vacation rentals, like queries about hotels, but kept the term \u2018miami\u2019 from matching to related terms like Ft. Lauderdale or Florida, which would happen with standard broad match.<\/p>\n

\"Graphic<\/p>\n

BMM as Google originally intended<\/em><\/p>\n

Broad match often required generic ads because the query would rarely match up 1:1 with the copy. BMM was Google’s olive branch to advertisers who (rightly) claimed broad match was wasteful and unreliable. That’s the way BMM was sold to the industry, but advertisers quickly saw an unintended and better use of the \u2018+\u2019. Performance marketers realized that appending a \u2018+\u2019 to every term in a keyword created a more powerful and useful keyword match type. It removed the need for a query to match word order, as in phrase match, and still limited Google’s ability to match a query only to those that held every desired term. Thus, BMM was born and widely adopted as an industry standard.<\/p>\n

\"Graphic<\/p>\n

BMM as advertisers have enjoyed since 2010<\/em><\/p>\n

The result gave advertisers more flexibility matching to relevant queries but still allowed for control over what ad copy served against specific queries. Consider the example above. An ad with the copy \u201cGet 10% off our best rates on Miami vacation rentals when you book for 2 or more weeks<\/em>\u201d has a strong value proposition and call-to-action, but might be wasted for a search on Miami hotels. The new BMM kept this from happening as long as an advertiser had set up their campaign correctly. It also left phrase match all but useless outside of the most nuanced of scenarios.<\/p>\n

So, what exactly is changing?<\/h2>\n

Google is changing the way phrase match connects queries to keywords. In the past, a phrase match keyword like \u201cnew restaurant\u201d would need to appear in a query as written, although additional words could appear before or after the phrase. A query like \u2018new restaurants near me in Brooklyn\u2019 or \u2018Chicago new restaurants\u2019 would trigger the aforementioned phrase match term. As of mid-February, that same keyword (\u201cnew restaurant\u201d) will expand to queries like \u2018new Thai restaurants\u2019, \u2018restaurants in New York\u2019, and so on. For those advertisers who have continued to use phrase match, this will expand the impressions those keywords see and likely decrease conversion rates on higher volume.<\/p>\n

As of July, no new BMM terms will be permitted. Technically, BMM has never been a keyword match type within the engines, so nothing will look different in editors or performance grids, but advertisers will no longer be able to anchor terms within new broad match keywords.<\/p>\n

This change will bring further hand-wringing within the paid search industry over the loss of control, the forced march towards automation, the loss of query data, and the \u201ckeywordless future\u201d we have all foreseen. I will spare you those takes here. While all of that may be true (it is), this is not the most egregious example of any of those issues. Nevertheless, here are some suggestions on what to do\u2014and what not to do\u2014in light of this new reality<\/p>\n