Phrase Match.
Phrase match is one of my favorite type of matches. I know, I know, I'm a nerd if I have a favorite type of PPC matching. But hey, I have a favorite font as well, that is definite nerd status!
Phrase matching allows you to have a exact phrase that triggers your ad. For example, if I had a phrased keyword "Ford Trucks" the following searches would display my ad:
buy Ford trucks
Ford trucks suck
I love ford trucks
dealerships that sell Ford trucks
etc.
As long as your phrase is in the search your ad will have a chance to be displayed. Keep in mind that people have weird search patterns and you will limit yourself with Phrase Match. You will also miss everyone who can't spell correctly. If someone searched for "Ford Trucsk" your ad wouldn't be displayed.
Negative Match.
Another one of my favorite types of matching is the negative match. Negative match helps when there is a related search term but it isn't a search term you care about. You could go through all of your search terms and make them all phrase matches, but you would lose a lot of smaller searched for terms. Negative match allows your ad never to be shown if a specific search term is searched for.
For example, you only sell new Ford TRUCKS. You don't sell cars at all. You could have the following keywords.
"Ford"
"Ford Truck"
"Ford Trucks"
-car
-cars
-used
-preowned
-pre
-owned
-parts
-part
-classic
Those keywords would allow your ad to be shown whenever someone searched for your keywords, but wouldn't show you ad if someone searched for anything related to cars, parts and classic trucks. You would undoubtedly get a lot of clicks if you bid enough, but you wouldn't get clicks that won't help you sell more trucks.
If you haven't ever used matching for your keywords, you are missing out big time! I have some Ad Groups that I only have one keyword, and it is an exact match ([keyword]) and others with more negative keywords that broad matched keywords.
Matching keywords is a great way to make money because it gives you complete control over when and where your ad is shown. This helps your CTR and saves you money by not spending your money on keywords you don't want to bid on.
