Close variants allow keywords to match to searches that are similar, but not identical to the targeted keyword, and help you connect with people who are looking for your businessâdespite slight variations in the way they searchâreducing the need to build out exhaustive keyword lists to reach these customers.
By default, all keyword match types are eligible to match to close variants. There's no way to opt out. Learn more about keyword matching options
Exact match keywords
For exact match keywords, close variants may also include:
| Close variant | Description | Available in these languages |
|---|---|---|
| Words with closely related syntax | This may include misspellings, singular or plural forms, stemmings (for example, floor and flooring), abbreviations, or accents. | All languages |
| Reordered words with the same meaning | For example, [shoes mens] and [mens shoes]. | |
| Adding or removing function words | Function words are prepositions (like in or to), conjunctions (like for or but), articles (like a or the), and other words that donât impact the intent of a search. For example, [shoes for men] is a close variant of [men shoes] with the function word âforâ removed. | |
| Implied words | For example, if your exact match keyword is [daydream vr headset], your ads may show on searches for âdaydream headsetâ since âvrâ is implied. | Arabic, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Vietnamese |
| Synonyms and paraphrases | For example, if your exact match keyword is [bathing suits] ads may also show on searches for âswimming suits.â | |
| Same search intent | For example, if your exact match keyword is [images royalty free] ads may also show on searches for âfree copyright images.â |
Phrase match keywords
Phrase match close variants may also include:
| Close variant | Description | Available in these languages |
|---|---|---|
| Words with closely related syntax | This may include misspellings, singular or plural forms, stemmings (for example, floor and flooring), abbreviations, or accents. | All languages |
| Reordered words with the same meaning | For example, the phrase keyword âred shoesâ may show on searches for ârunning shoes red.â | Arabic, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Vietnamese |
| Adding or removing function words | Function words are prepositions (like âinâ or âtoâ), conjunctions (like âandâ or âbutâ), articles (like âaâ or âtheâ), and other words that donât impact the intent of a search. For example, the phrase match keyword âhats for winterâ could match to searches for âwinter hats on saleâ with the function word âforâ removed). | |
| Implied words | For example, if your phrase match keyword is âdaydream vr headsetâ, your ads may show on searches for âdaydream headsets for saleâ since âvrâ is implied. | |
| Synonyms and paraphrases | For example, if your keyword is +bathing +suits, your ads may also show on searches for âred swimming suits.â | |
| Same search intent | For example, if your phrase match keyword is âimages royalty freeâ ads may also show on searches for âfree copyright images of baseball.â |
Note: Language is determined by the language of the userâs search terms. For example, if a user searches using words that are specific to German, then the language would be detected as German, even if the user is searching in Spain.
