Broad match keywords pair particularly well with Google Ads Smart Bidding strategies, including Maximize conversions, Maximize conversion value, Target CPA, and Target ROAS. Smart Bidding uses Google's AI to optimize for conversions or conversion value in each and every auction—a feature known as “auction-time bidding”.
When you pair Smart Bidding with broad match, there's no need to segment by match type to boost optimization. The bidding system sets a bid for each individual auction of each query and bids up or down depending on how well the query is likely to perform. Broad match keywords allow the algorithms to learn faster and find additional auctions that can help you reach your growth objectives.
Easily scale broad match with Google Ads Recommendations
Note: While broad match recommendations can be applied to campaigns with manual bidding strategies, for optimal performance, we strongly recommend only using these with campaigns using Smart Bidding strategies.
To help your campaigns drive more volume while meeting your performance targets, Google Ads provides a recommendation to change your keywords to broad match in Smart Bidding campaigns. On average, advertisers that change their phrase keywords to broad match can see ~25% more conversions (in Target CPA campaigns) and ~12% more conversion value (in Target ROAS campaigns) while meeting targets.¹
Budget pairing with broad match recommendation
To ensure that you can achieve the performance results highlighted in the recommendation, additional budget may be required. The "New budget" column contains the recommended budget needed to achieve these weekly estimates by allowing you to target additional relevant traffic compatible with your campaign's target.
Click Apply to accept the new budget suggestion for your broad match recommendation. To retain your current budget for the campaign you're applying the broad match recommendation to, select the pencil icon 
Eligibility criteria for the recommendation
- Campaign is using one of the following Smart Bidding strategies: Maximize conversions, Maximize conversion value, Target CPA, or Target ROAS
- Campaign has active keywords and these keywords aren't used as broad match elsewhere in the campaign
- Performance estimates indicate a potential increase in conversions from changing suggested keywords to broad match
How the recommendation works
The suggested keywords in the campaign are removed and replaced with broad match versions of the keywords. You can still see historical stats for the removed keywords.
For example, here's a before and after view of active keywords in a sample campaign:
| Campaign keywords before | Campaign keywords after |
|---|---|
| “plumber certification” | plumber certification |
| +plumber +education | plumber education |
| “plumber courses” | plumber courses |
¹ Google internal data, September 2020