The Broad Match Modifier and the API

Thursday, July 01, 2010


Back in May, we announced the new “broad match modifier” in AdWords, which lets you create keywords with more reach than phrase match and more control than broad match. For now, this feature is only available in the UK and Canada, but it will be rolled out to more countries this summer.

We’ve heard developers asking when this will be supported in the API, so we want to let you know that it already is. To use the broad match modifier, simply add plus signs (+) to your keyword text as desired. Because these keywords are still considered BROAD match, no additions to the KeywordMatchType enum are necessary.

Unless you prohibit the entry of the plus symbol (+) character in keyword text fields or reports, you may not need to change your code at all. However, we recommend testing to make sure.

For more information on the broad match modifier, visit the AdWords Help Center. And as always, you can post any questions you have regarding the API to the forum.

-Aaron Karp, AdWords API Team