Question about broad search

[amarquis]

Say that I sell widgets and I make an adgroup focused on, say, red widgets. My broad match keyword "red widgets" should be matching all sorts of searches related to red widgets (and it does), but there is a little issue. The keyword tool, if asked about the performance of red widgets, suggests I also include "zany red widgets" and other variations that are basically my search term plus another adjective (one not as important as red).

Is there a benefit to including these in my adgroup? I mean, "red widgets" should already be matching "zany red widgets" and another variations, correct?

(Note: The quotes around my keywords are just to delimit them, not to suggest phrase match)

[chris1]

Yes, more granular data.

[amarquis]

But, can I rely on it? For example, can I be sure that all my data under "zany red widgets" are really the totality of "zany red widgets" searches, that the broad matched "red widgets" didn't snap up any of them?

[Mel66]

You can run a Search Query Report to see exactly which keyphrases triggered clicks.

[abbottsys]

But, can I rely on it? For example, can I be sure that all my data under "zany red widgets" are really the totality of "zany red widgets" searches, that the broad matched "red widgets" didn't snap up any of them?
Be careful doing a simplistic analysis. Remember, at the end of the day, what gets displayed depends on quality score, not what you "think" should display.

Example: suppose I'm advertising on widgets only. I may not show up on a red widget search *if* enough people are advertising on red widgets and have higher quality scores than me. But, now suppose I boost my quality score by totally cranking up my bid on widgets to some very high value. Then, chances are I'll bump out some of the red widget folks and my ad will display on a red widgets search. But, it would be much more cost effective for me to do a dedicated red widgets ad and use the red widgets keyword.

[AdWordsRep]

Another point of possible interest:

Say that I sell widgets and I make an adgroup focused on, say, red widgets. My broad match keyword "red widgets" should be matching all sorts of searches related to red widgets (and it does) [...]

It's important to remember that the AdWords system is not designed to show an ad for any or all variations of a broad matched keyword.

Rather, it's designed to show an ad for any relevant variations on the keyword. (To be specific, this means variations which are relevant to the users actual query.)

Is there a benefit to including these in my adgroup? I mean, "red widgets" should already be matching "zany red widgets" and another variations, correct? Given the above mentioned functionality of Broad Match, it might be to your advantage to explicitly use any variations of the broad matched keyword which are important to you as keywords in their own right. Please note, though, that if these added variations are not really targeted to the ad and the landing page, then they may well end up with low quality score - and thus with a higher Min CPC.

AWR

[amarquis]

Another point of possible interest:

Given the above mentioned functionality of Broad Match, it might be to your advantage to explicitly use any variations of the broad matched keyword which are important to you as keywords in their own right. Please note, though, that if these added variations are not really targeted to the ad and the landing page, then they may well end up with low quality score - and thus with a higher Min CPC.

AWR

Thank you, and everyone else, for the thoughtful replies.

[adamap]

Mel66 is right on with the search query reports. You might be getting 'gadget' related searches in addition to 'widget' ones.