There are 4 keyword match types but in the Google Adwords Admin interface it only shows 3 available options. They are:

• Broad Match
• Phrase Match
• Exact Match
• Broad Match Modifier

Broad Match Keyword - You're telling Google to "match" up relateable keywords even though they don't exactly match our seed keyword. If our trigger keyword was:

dog food

The Google ads could trigger when someone types:

dog treats

Phrase Match Keyword - You're telling Google to match up keywords when part of the search term matches the keywords in that order. You'll need to add quotes to the keyword If the trigger keyword was:

"dog food"

The Google Ads would trigger when someone types:

cheap dog food

dog food treats

The ads would not trigger if someone typed

best dog treat food - as the words dog food are not together. The quotes " ensures the words are contained in the search term before the ads show.

Exact Match Keywords - You're telling Google to match up search terms when they are exactly typed the same way in Google. If the trigger keyword was [dog food] in square brackets.[dog food]

The ads would trigger if the search term was exactly:

dog food

Exact matches is the simplest way to run Google ads campaign but it does have its pros and cons.

Broad Match Modifier - My favourite. You're telling Google to match up search terms as long as the keywords are contained in the users search and in ANY order. Different users search differently but their keywords still have the same meaning to our trigger term. To do this, we must put a plus sign in front of the keyword. If our trigger keyword was:

+dog +food

The ads would trigger if the search term contained the following

cheap dog food

best dog treat food

dog uk food

food for dogs

doggy food

foods for dogs uk