Keyword Match Types (Exact vs. Broad)
Exact Match and Broad Match are the two ways Apple Search Ads ties a keyword you enter to the searches your ad actually appears for — Exact targets close variations of the term, Broad expands to related phrases and synonyms.
Exact Match shows your ad for the keyword you entered and close variants of it, such as plurals or common misspellings. It gives you precise control over which query triggers the ad, which is why brand, category, and competitor campaigns typically run on Exact Match.
Broad Match shows your ad for a wider set of related terms Apple judges relevant, including synonyms and phrase variations you never entered. It reaches more searches per keyword but at the cost of precision, which is why Discovery campaigns pair it with Search Match to mine new keyword ideas.
For research purposes, the two match types answer different questions. Exact Match tells you the cost and volume for a specific term you already believe in. Broad Match tells you what related terms exist that you haven't thought of yet.
Frequently asked questions
- Which match type should a new campaign use?
- Exact Match for terms you've already researched and want to control precisely — brand and category terms. Broad Match, paired with Search Match, for a Discovery campaign whose job is finding new terms rather than defending known ones.
- Can Broad Match hurt my campaign's relevance data?
- It can dilute it if left unchecked, since it will surface some genuinely unrelated searches. Review the search terms report regularly and move any winners to an Exact Match campaign of their own, rather than leaving everything on Broad indefinitely.
Related terms
- Search MatchSearch Match is an Apple Search Ads feature that automatically matches your ad to relevant user searches based on your app's existing metadata, without you entering any keywords.
- Discovery CampaignA Discovery campaign is an Apple Search Ads campaign type built to surface new, unknown keywords by running Broad Match and Search Match against a wide audience rather than a fixed keyword list.
- Apple Search AdsApple Search Ads is Apple's paid advertising platform for the App Store, allowing developers to bid on keywords to display their app at the top of search results.
Browse the glossary
Put this into practice
Score App Store keywords by popularity and difficulty across 109 storefronts — the numbers behind keyword match types (exact vs. broad).
Start keyword research