Secrets Apple Search Ads marketers need to know
In the world of Apple Search Ads, the concept of exact match keywords might not be as “exact” as you think. While exact suggests a strict one-to-one match between your chosen keyword and a user’s search query, the reality is a bit more cryptic. This can lead to some surprising results a savvy marketer can be alert to in their Apple Search Ads approach and strategy.
Apple’s Definition of Exact Match
According to Apple, exact match is
“designed to match queries to the specific term you select and to closer variants than broad match. It may still include spelling variations, word rearrangements, translations, and other variants deemed close by our systems.”
However, Apple’s own example demonstrates that closer variants can actually encompass a wide range of variations.
For example, if the keyword photo edit free is set to exact match, it will match to its corresponding search term, but may also match to:
- Photoeditfree
- edit photo free
- free photos editor
- fre photo editor
- free photo editor app
- フォトエディター
This table illustrates the basic differences between broad match and exact match:
When you use exact match, your ad may see lower impression volume than with broad match. Nonetheless, your tap-through rate (TTR) and conversion rate on these exact match impressions can often be higher, since you’re reaching customers whose search queries are closer to your selected keywords.
When adding keywords to an ad group, ASA marketers add brackets [ ] around the term to indicate an exact match keyword.
The Illusion of (Explicit) Control
Given this guidance, you might meticulously craft a list of exact match keywords, each a slight variation of the other, hoping to capture every possible search query. Oddly, however, you may find that impressions are disproportionately skewed toward one or two of these keywords. This might be because Apple’s algorithm considers “closer variants” in addition to the exact term. Honestly, it can be a bit of a black box.
Even with multiple similar exact match keywords in an ad group, Apple assigns credit to one or two for the majority of your impressions. This can lead to unexpected and unwanted outcomes.
The Bid War Trap
It might surprise most Apple Search Ads buyers that this exact match situation can lead to a frustrating bidding war against—guess who? YOURSELF!
Advertisers seeing low impressions on certain keywords might raise their bids on those keywords in hopes of attracting more traffic. This can trigger Apple to assign credit for impressions to a keyword while making another keyword that previously showed volume go to zero. We’ve observed marketers going back and forth like this in a cyclical trap—resulting in bid amounts significantly higher than their keyword’s average cost per tap (CPT). Although this doesn’t increase the price you pay, it makes it much more difficult to understand which keywords are working and calculate appropriate bids.
How to Avoid the Trap
Make sure you don’t get stuck triggering a keyword bidding war against yourself.
First, simplify your keyword list. Don’t feel obligated to include every possible variation of your exact match keywords. Apple’s broad interpretation means that you can focus on core terms, omitting variants with misspellings, alternative languages, and so forth. This simplifies your strategy—especially for brand terms.
Second, monitor bid-to-CPT ratio. Do this by keeping a close eye on the “headroom” between your bid and the average cost per tap (CPT). If this ratio exceeds 2x, it’s a sign that your impressions might be attributed to a similar keyword. Consider adjusting your bids accordingly or deploying an automation strategy through a tool such as Search Ads Maven to manage bids consistently across geographies and audience segments.
An Exact Conclusion
Understanding the nuances of exact match keywords in Apple Search Ads is crucial for effective campaign management. If you streamline your keyword list and monitor bid-to-CPT ratios, you can avoid unnecessary vicious cycles and get the most out of your spend. No one wants to get into an absurd bidding war against themselves.
Looking for expert advice or need an automation tool for Apple Search Ads? Contact our team or request a demo to learn how we can automate management of not only your exact match keyword strategy, but also all other aspects of your search results campaigns and other ad placement types.