During our recent audits, we found that many sellers and ad managers are still not aware of the semantic matching in SB campaigns, especially in Exact match type campaigns. I shared this insight last year as well since Exact match types in SB campaigns are not truly exact.

SB keyword targeting uses semantic matching, which means it matches based on meaning rather than exact word-to-word alignment. While this is acceptable for Phrase and Broad match campaigns, it disrupts the structure and control of Exact match campaigns. Many sellers and ad managers overlook the STR for Exact campaigns, assuming they are fully controlled because of the match type.

For example, the screenshot below is from an Exact match SBV campaign targeting only one product. However, the STR shows many irrelevant search terms. Out of 88 customer search terms, 30 are either generic or irrelevant, terms you would never intentionally target. In one week, this campaign spent £130, with £45 attributed to wasted spend, which is around 35% and quite high. If you audit your SB Exact campaigns, you may find that, on average, over 20% of spend is going toward irrelevant search terms.

If you are not reviewing your STRs for Exact match campaigns weekly, now is the time to start. It will help significantly in reducing wasted ad spend.