For years, performance marketers avoided broad match keywords, fearing wasted spend on irrelevant clicks. That's beginning to shift as automated bidding systems get better at reading intent.
What Changed
Modern bidding algorithms increasingly use signals beyond the literal keyword - like landing page content and audience behavior - to judge whether a broad match click is actually relevant.
When It Works
- Accounts with a long, clean conversion history the algorithm can learn from
- Landing pages tightly matched to a specific offer
- Sufficient budget to let the system gather data before judging performance
A Word of Caution
Broad match still isn't right for every account - smaller budgets or new accounts without conversion history often still perform better with tighter match types.