To Konkurrensverket - Swedish Competition Authority
21 December 2023
Case no. 288/2022
1. Can bidding on a keyword in exact match generate ad views/impressions as a result of a search
query containing more words than the keyword alone?
Response: Keywords are words or phrases that are used to match ads with the terms people are
searching for. When a customer searches for a term that matches an advertiser’s selected keyword, the
advertiser’s ad enters an auction to determine if it will show.
When selecting keywords, the advertiser will also select a match type: broad match, phrase match or
exact match. The keyword match types dictate how closely the keyword needs to match with the user’s
search query so that the ad can be considered for the auction. The below image illustrates the different
match categories:
For Exact match, ads may show on searches that have the same meaning as the keyword, with no
specific restriction on query length. In the example above, the query “home furnishing shop” can match to
the exact keyword “furniture store” because it has the same meaning, even though the query has more
words than the keyword.
Additionally, answer specifically for following two examples:
a. Can bidding on the keyword
kry (
note: name of an online medical service provider) in exact
match, [kry], generate ad views/impressions in correspondence with the search query
kry ont i
huvudet (
note: ont i huvudet = head ache)?
Response: It should not as the query has a more specific meaning than the keyword and therefore is not
eligible for exact match.
b. Can bidding on the keyword
min doktor (
note: name of an online medical service provider) in
exact match, [min doktor], generate ad views/impressions in correspondence with the search
query
min doktor ont i huvudet?
Response: It should not as the query has a more specific meaning than the keyword and therefore is not
eligible for exact match.
2. In what way or ways are ad views/impressions prevented when a negative keyword consisting of
only one word is added in the phrase matching type and broad matching type? If there is a
difference between which ad views/impressions that are prevented from appearing when only one
word, for example
kry, has been added as a negative keyword in the match type phrase match,
"kry", respectively in the match type broad match, +kry, provide examples that clarify these
differences.
Response: Negative keywords lets the advertiser exclude search terms from the advertiser’s campaigns.
For Search campaigns, the advertiser can use broad match, phrase match, or exact match negative
keywords. However, these negative match types work differently than their positive counterparts. The
main difference is that one will need to add synonyms, singular or plural versions, misspellings, and other
close variations if one wants to exclude them.
For single word negative keywords, like “kry”, there is no difference in behavior between negative phrase
match and negative broad match.
Negative broad match is the default for negative keywords. For negative broad match keywords, the ad
won't show if the search contains all the selected negative keyword terms, even if the terms are in a
different order. The ad may still show if the search contains only some of the keyword terms.
For negative phrase match keywords, the ad won't show if the search contains the exact keyword terms
in the same order. The search may include additional words, but the ad won't show as long as all the
keyword terms are included in the search in the same order. The search may also include additional
characters to a word and the ad will show even when the rest of the keyword terms are included in the
search in the same order.
For negative exact match keywords, the ad won't show if the search contains the exact keyword terms,
in the same order, without extra words. The ad may still show if the search contains the keyword terms
with additional words.
3. Are ad views/impressions in correspondence with the search query
min doktor affected
differently if [min doktor] or [mindoktor] has been added as a negative keyword in exact
matching? If yes, specify how.
Response: As noted in answer #2, negative keywords do not cover any variations. In this example, the
query “min doktor” will be blocked by the exact negative keyword [min doktor] but not by the exact
negative keyword [mindoktor].
4. If a negative keyword has been added with a lowercase exact match, such as [kry], does it
matter, based on which ads that are prevented, whether the search query begins with an
uppercase or lowercase letter, such as Kry or kry?
Response: Query and keyword capitalization does not impact matching. Both query and keyword are
normalized before matching, which includes lowercasing all words.
5. Does it matter, based on which ads that can be displayed, if you bid on a keyword with an
uppercase or lowercase letter, for example [Kry] or [kry], "Kry" or "kry", as well as +Kry or +kry? If
it matters, provide examples that clarify how they differ.
Response: Keyword capitalization does not impact matching. Both query and keyword are normalized
before matching, which includes lowercasing all words. In this example, [Kry], [kry], "Kry", "kry", +Kry, and
+kry are all normalized to “kry”. Note we still apply different expansions based on the match type
definitions as noted in answer #1.
6. When an advertiser extracts data from their Google Ads account on the number of ad
impressions, clicks, conversions, etc., is it possible to derive from which places in the Google
network the data was generated?
a. If yes, please specify the locations from which ad impressions can be derived within the
Google search network (Google search results pages, other Google sites such as Maps and
Shopping, and sites that partner with Google to serve ads) and display networks (Google sites
such as YouTube, Blogger and Gmail, as well as partner websites).
Response: Google Ads doesn't provide information detailing the website where your ad was shown on the
Search Network. We do however provide a network breakdown, in our campaign and ad group view, to
help advertisers understand the performance of the network. (source)
For display networks we provide Placement reports for traffic on websites, mobile apps and YouTube.
Performance of keywords when they appear on Search is included in the "Keywords" tab of such report
and it is also possible to see on which websites/ apps the ads appear on Display on the Placements tab
of the report.
On behalf of
Google Ireland Limited
