Search Marketers Tear Into Google Over AdWords Exact Match Change

Like a volcanic eruption, search marketers are raising their voices today over an unpopular AdWords change that Google announced late Thursday.

If you missed the news, Google said that AdWords will no longer allow advertisers to prevent their ads from showing up on “close variants” of their keywords — i.e., ads will, by default, show up on both the advertisers keywords and on close spellings. If you bid on the singular version of a keyword, it might also show on the plural version and you can no longer tell Google you don’t want that. Your ads might also show on misspellings and other “close variants” of your keywords.

The reaction to this change on Twitter and the search marketing blogs has been swift, loud and extremely negative. Here’s a sample of the tweets we found today, many of which are using the #ppcchat community hashtag:

Really @adwords? This isn't adding an option, it's taking one away. I like excluding close variants. #ppcchat http://t.co/880F7ZJEVY

— Eric Heiken (@EricHeiken) August 15, 2014

Terrible idea by @adwords Less control = worse results > Close variant matching for all keywords > http://t.co/wVC9K4JELY

— Brad Geddes (@bgtheory) August 15, 2014

"Enhanced Match Types" #ppcchat

— David Szetela (@Szetela) August 15, 2014

Google Adwords PR – "How do we spin crap to seem like it is the tastiest dessert these advertisers have ever had?" #ppcchat

— ßryant Garvin (@BryantGarvin) August 15, 2014

So exact match isn't a thing anymore? I'm not usually one to "tisk tisk" @adwords but c'mon guys… http://t.co/8gCsN2Qvux

— aaron levy (@bigalittlea) August 15, 2014

I like @ajkohn's quote on http://t.co/RRcXSpHvGS "A big middle finger to those sophisticated enough to use exact/phrase match campaigns"

— Rand Fishkin (@randfish) August 15, 2014

I worry GOOG is erring too much toward "simplicity for all" rather than advanced targeting for experts & automation for novices #ppcchat

— David Rodnitzky (@rodnitzky) August 15, 2014

Here's the thing: It's not whether we always opt out of close variants, it's that we have the CHOICE to do so. #ppcchat

— Melissa Mackey (@Mel66) August 15, 2014

The benefit to Google is…more matched searches, more clicks, more ad spend. Can't see any other reason in doing this. | #ppcchat

— Leo Sussan (@lsussan) August 15, 2014

@Mel66 @Matt_Umbro They can take away the option, but pretending it's a good thing is treating us like idiots #ppcchat

— Martin Roettgerding (@bloomarty) August 15, 2014

@misterwesthead I have no problem with the feature'e existence! I do have a problem with the removal of choice. | #ppcchat

— Leo Sussan (@lsussan) August 15, 2014

WTF Google. Just.. WTF http://t.co/RXa16EQcyN #ppcchat #closevariants

— netmeg (@netmeg) August 15, 2014

and by "exact" we mean "almost" or "ish" http://t.co/b53UkYgr2t

— aaron wall (@aaronwall) August 15, 2014

Hey @adwords you listening to How Pissed off you have made #ppcchat with this whole close variants BS?

— ßryant Garvin (@BryantGarvin) August 15, 2014

Hey @adwords – see anyone that's happy about your ill-conceived close variants announcement? Me neither. #ppcchat

— Melissa Mackey (@Mel66) August 15, 2014

A number of search marketers have expanded their thoughts in blog posts addressing the change. Here are a few:

• Brad Geddes: AdWords is Forcing Variation Match Upon You–This is Why it’s a Terrible Idea
• Julie Bacchini: Google Does Not Care What You Think
• Larry Kim: RIP Exact Match and Phrase Match in AdWords!
• Jay Stampfl: Google axes close variant option: what it means for advertisers

And that’s not all. There’s even a Change.org petition that asks Google to give back to advertisers the choice to exclude close variants from AdWords campaigns.

Says petition creator Bryant Garvin: “Bottom-line this is bad for advanced advertisers and should be rolled back so those of us who ‘know what we are doing’ can still do what we do best!”

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily MarTech. Staff authors are listed here.

About The Author

Matt McGee

Matt McGee joined Third Door Media as a writer/reporter/editor in September 2008. He served as Editor-In-Chief from January 2013 until his departure in July 2017. He can be found on Twitter at @MattMcGee.