Broad match vs. Exact match keywords in 2026: What's giving you lower Cost-Per-Click?

[BettyGarcia]

Ad platforms keep pushing automated broad match biddings, but I’m worried about wasting budget on irrelevant searches. Are you letting smart bidding handle broad match keywords, or sticking to strict exact match phrases?

 

[fiona.bennett]

I wouldn’t treat it as an all-or-nothing choice in my opinion. If I had a tight budget, I’d keep most of the spend on exact and phrase match as usually that works best. However, I'd then give broad match a small, separate test budget just to see how it pans out. Then and only then, would I give broad match more room if and when results actually justify it. If not, just go back to exact match phrasing.