Modified Broad Match Explained
Modified broad match keywords were a type of keyword matching option used in Google Ads (formerly known as Google AdWords) to help control which searches triggered your ads to appear. They offered a middle ground between broad match and phrase match keywords, allowing you to reach a similarly wide audience as you would with broad match, but with more control over which searches triggered your ads.
To use modified broad match, advertisers would place a plus sign (+) directly in front of one or more words in a keyword phrase. Each word preceded by a + must appear in the user's search exactly or as a close variant. Close variants could include misspellings, singular/plural forms, abbreviations, and acronyms, but not synonyms or related searches.
For example, if the keyword was +women's +hats, the search queries “women's hats,” “buy women's hats,” or “hats for women” could trigger the ad, but not “girls' hats” or “women’s scarves.”
As of 2021, Google phased out modified broad match types, merging its capabilities with phrase match. This means that phrase match now covers many of the use cases of modified broad match, aiming to provide the reach of broad match but with the control that was once provided by having the + modifier.
Try It Below
You can use our generator below to have a go at creating some modified broad matched keywords. If you want a more extensive keyword match generator/tool that covers all match types, check out our one here.