Most PPC budgets do not bleed because the keyword is bad
By Steven Pope · July 22, 2026 · Curated by George's Blog
Most PPC budgets do not bleed because the keyword is bad
They bleed because broad
Phrase and exact all get treated the same
That is the mistake
It is costing you money right now
The same keyword can produce
Three completely different results
Depending on the match type you point at it
Same word
Same product
Wildly different spend
Broad match gives Amazon the most freedom
More reach
more search term data
A much higher chance of paying for clicks that will never convert
I run broad to hunt new searches
but I read the search term report every single week
Broad without that weekly review is a leak with your name on it
Phrase match tightens the leash
The keyword has to appear in order
But Amazon can still attach your ad to longer searches
I use phrase when I want reach with control
not reach with a blank check
Exact match gives the most precision
I reserve it for search terms
that have already proven
they convert at an acceptable cost
Exact does not automatically deserve the highest bid
The bid follows the data
The rule sellers break constantly
Never mix broad, phrase and exact in the same ad group
Mix them and you go blind
You cannot tell
Which match type spent the money
Which search terms actually produced sales
Which bids need to move
Which searches need to be negated
Broad finds
Phrase tests
Exact defends
Three jobs
Three ad groups
Three clean sets of data
We have managed billions in GMV across hundreds of brands
The accounts that scale are never the ones with the cleverest keywords
They are the ones that segment their match types and actually read the report
Separate the match types
Set bids on performance
Read the search term report weekly
That is how you keep the budget working instead of leaking