How Google’s Extending of Same-Meaning Close Variants Will Effect PPC In London

With London being one of the most competitive places in the world to do business, the battle to get ads seen in all the right places, by the right people, is fierce. Refined PPC in London can make a big difference in the success of a modern-day business – and the latest changes by Google will allow advertisers more scope in what they can include in their ads, making for better, more bespoke ad campaigns.

In recent months, Google has loosened its restrictions on close variants, extending same-meaning close variants to phrase match and broad match modifier. Alongside these changes, is the altering of its keyword selection preferences to prevent keywords from competing against each other.So how did we get here, and what effects will these changes have? Let's get into it...

Last year, Google added same-meaning wordsto the mix – including implied word and paraphrases. This sees Google match asearch query to an exact match keyword if it determines that the query has thesame intent as the keyword. To illustrate this; imagine your targeted keywordfor your PPC in London is ‘Mayfairhotel’; the change will now match queries such as ‘hotels in Mayfair’ or ‘guesthouses in Mayfair’. If Google’s system understands the intent of query isdifferent to your keyword it will not match with it – for example, the keywordwill not match to queries such as ‘barsin Mayfair’ as Google understands that the intent of the searcher is to lookfor pubs/bars in Mayfair, not hotels or guest houses, and vice versa.

In their reasoning for this stream ofchanges, Google have said that queries continue to evolve and that the machinelearning, that runs their search platform, has advanced to the point where itcan fill in gaps for advertisers, creating a better-defined audience –ultimately helping them to reach the people who would be interested in whatthey have to sell.

Google have said that 15% of its dailysearches are new – and advertisers will end up missing out on these new queriesif matching is too tightly controlled (in other words, there’s a sell-by dateon keywords). Google say that their machine learning systems can assume intentand spare advertisers from creating an exhaustive list of keywords in order toget their ads to trigger on relevant queries.

• Broad match modifier keywords – Lawn Mowing Service.
• Matched queries BEFORE the update –'Services to mow my lawn', 'lawn mowing and edging service'
• Matched queries AFTER the update –'Grass cutting and gardening services', 'rates for services that cut your grass'.

Notice how the keyword 'mowing' matches to'grass cutting' and 'cut your grass'. This is the result of Google's machine learning recognising the meaning and relationships of the words, as well as the intention of the searcher.

Added to this, the 'phase match' aspect of the programme will already trigger on close variants. The word order will still be respected but they can also now show on same-meaning queries. The example below shows 'lawn mowing' matching to 'grass cutting', whilst also including the added words 'service' and 'services':

• Phrase match keywords – Lawn mowing service.
• Matched queries BEFORE the update –'Lawn mowing service prices', 'seasonal lawn mowing service rates'.
• Matched queries AFTER the update –'Grass cutting service near me', 'local lawn cutting services'.

In order to keep keywords that match to a query from competing against each other, Google Adwords will prevent that query from matching to a different phrase or broad match modifier keyword that is eligible for the same auction.

Interested In Learning More About PPC? Get In Touch With The Experts

If you're interested in harnessing the power of paid Google ads to improve your standing in the local online market place, why not let the expert team here at PPC Junkies help? Our PPC professionals are able to use their industry-leading knowledge to optimise your campaigns to get the click-throughs and conversions that matter. Why not get in touch with us today to learn more?

Whether you're looking for PPC in London to grow your physical or online business, then please do not hesitate to give us a call on 0118 902 9912 or alternatively,you can send an e-mail to sales@ppcjunkies.co.uk and we'll be in touch as soon as possible.