Google has announced that in late September, AdWords advertisers will no longer have the ability to deselect close variants for both exact and phrase match types.
What does this mean?
A close variant of a keyword allows Google AdWords to match misspellings and plural versions of a keyword to be matched to a designated keyword.
For example, if you bid on [Widgets] The AdWords system could match close variants such as widget or widgets for example.
At the moment we have the ability to stop this by selecting the “Do not include close variants” option. The ability to do this gives us a deep level of control that whilst most advertisers wouldn’t do, some of us may.
This means if you bid on [widgets] this would be the only possible keyword it would match.
Why is this a problem?
It isn’t! It is a total non issue. Search is evolving and so should search marketers. The PPC community have been very vocal about Google removing this option but in my opinion, complaining about it is a total waste of energy.
It’s a tiny feature that gives a tiny benefit. There are plenty of performance increases to be had from AdWords by having a solid strategy and testing new ads and landing pages – PPC managers should put their energy into this rather than moaning about something they cannot control.
I really get tired of every time Google makes a change to AdWords or Search in general PPC (and SEO) Managers are quick to complain. Stop whinging, embrace change and spend your energy on making your clients money.
Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future. – John F Kennedy
