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Amazon PPC
Amazon PPC keyword targeting actually has four match types, not three — the standard broad, phrase, and exact match types Amazon documents, plus an undocumented fourth (the broad match modifier) — and picking the right one for a specific goal (proven profitability, organic rank, keyword discovery, or margin) is what separates effective PPC management from guesswork.
Match types only apply to Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands, because Sponsored Display has no keyword targeting (only categories, products, audiences, and remarketing).
Exact match shows ads only for the exact seed term entered, though a campaign can hold multiple exact-match keywords targeted independently.
Since 2024–2025, Amazon has stopped making exact match truly exact, occasionally swapping words even on exact-match targets (e.g., showing for 'wooden phone stand' on an exact match for 'wooden phone holder').
Exact match has two main use cases: (1) a keyword already proven profitable via an autotargeting campaign's search term reports, and (2) a single, known-important keyword isolated into its own single-keyword exact match campaign to fine-tune rank.
Bid adjusters (placement modifiers) let you raise or lower bids by placement — top of search, rest of search, product pages — and are the main lever for controlling a single-keyword exact match campaign.
Phrase match shows ads for any search term that contains the keyword phrase in the same word order; it is described as the least popular and least important match type.
Phrase match's main use is discovering longer-tail keyword variants around a known root phrase (e.g., 'wooden phone holder for kids').
Broad match is the loosest match type: Amazon can substitute equivalent or related terms (e.g., 'iPhone stand' for a 'phone holder' seed) even without shared words.
Broad match sits between keyword targeting and full autotargeting, offering more Amazon flexibility than exact/phrase but still seeded by the advertiser's chosen root terms.
The same exact search term can perform very differently under broad match versus exact match, sometimes favoring broad match.
This is attributed to the platform (and Facebook, YouTube, Google generally) shifting toward AI-based targeting, where broad match gives the algorithm more buffer to place ads where they'll perform best.
The undocumented fourth match type is the broad match modifier, accessed by selecting broad match and prefixing required words with a plus sign (e.g., '+phone holder').
A broad match modifier forces the marked word(s) to appear in the search term (in any order, not necessarily adjacent) while leaving unmarked words flexible for Amazon to substitute.
Broad match modifier is useful for forcing inclusion of a known audience/avatar term (e.g., 'mom' or 'women') that Amazon wouldn't otherwise know is relevant.
Because broad match modifier exists, phrase match is described as much less necessary, since the modifier offers more control and flexibility.
The presenter's agency reports using all four match types across a brand portfolio doing over $6 million a month in revenue.
Exact Match targeting — A keyword match type where Amazon is meant to show the ad only for the exact seed term entered, though the video notes Amazon has recently given itself some leeway to substitute words even here. Apply: Use it for keywords already proven profitable via autotargeting search term reports, or to isolate a single known-important keyword for tight bid control.
Phrase Match targeting — A match type where Amazon shows the ad for any search term that includes the keyword phrase in the same word order. Apply: Input a known-good root phrase to surface longer-tail variants (e.g., 'wooden phone holder for kids') built around it.
Broad Match targeting — The loosest match type, where Amazon can substitute equivalent or related terms beyond the literal keyword entered. Apply: Seed it with proven root keywords to discover new high-performing search terms in a more controlled way than full autotargeting, then review the downloaded search term report to see what Amazon actually matched.
Broad Match Modifier (+word) — An undocumented fourth match type accessed within broad match by prefixing required words with a plus sign, forcing those words to appear (in any order) while leaving other words flexible for substitution. Apply: Mark a word that must appear — such as a known audience term like 'mom' — with a + sign to guarantee its inclusion while still letting Amazon vary the rest of the search term.
Bid Adjusters (placement modifiers) — Settings that raise or lower your bid based on ad placement: top of search, rest of search, or product pages. Apply: Raise the top-of-search adjuster to aggressively drive organic rank for a keyword, or shift the adjuster toward cheaper placements like rest of search or product pages if top of search is too expensive.
Single Keyword Exact Match Campaign — A campaign structured to contain only one exact-match keyword target, isolating that keyword for granular control. Apply: Build one around your single highest-performing, most important keyword and manage it primarily through bid adjusters to drive organic rank.
Autotargeting — A different targeting mode (mentioned as a comparison point) where Amazon chooses keyword targets entirely on its own with no seed keyword input. Apply: Mine its search term reports for keywords showing high conversion, low ACoS, and profitable sales, then promote those into an exact match campaign.
Search Query Performance Report (Brand Analytics) — A free Amazon tool referenced at the end of the video for finding keyword targets, covered in a separate linked video. Apply: Use it to identify profitable search query targets that can then be deployed across broad, phrase, and exact match campaigns.
Amazon has quietly eroded the strictness of its own 'exact match' label since 2024–2025, giving itself leeway to substitute words even on exact-match targets — a change the video flags as a caveat advertisers should account for.
Broad match modifier is framed as functionally replacing most of phrase match's use case, since it can guarantee inclusion of specific words while still allowing flexible substitution elsewhere — something phrase match cannot combine.
A concrete before/after example (pancake batter dispenser) shows the identical search term producing a 56% ACoS under exact match versus 20% ACoS under broad match, offered as evidence that loosening control can sometimes improve profitability rather than hurt it.
The video links match-type strategy to a broader claim about AI-driven ad platforms (Amazon, Facebook, YouTube, Google) increasingly rewarding advertisers who give the algorithm more room ('buffer') rather than tightly constraining it.
«there are three match types Amazon tells you about and one that they don't and that last one is actually becoming the most important one pretty quickly»
— 00:00
«there's a caveat to this in 2024 and 2025 Amazon has actually stopped making exact match truly exact»
— 02:17
«Amazon might actually show you even if you exact match wooden phone holder it might actually show you for wooden phone stand»
— 02:32
«create an exact match single keyword campaign meaning the only keyword that I put in this campaign is that one single keyword wooden phone holder»
— 03:33
«we're actually targeting the term pancake batter dispenser exact match and getting an a cost of 56% but that same term in Broad match is getting an a cost of 20%»
— 08:07
«because this exists phrase match is much less necessary because broad modified is way more useful and flexible»
— 10:41
«we use all four of these match types in our portfolio of brands that does over 6 million a month in Revenue»
— 11:00
Reception
Viewers found the video genuinely educational and helpful on PPC match types and bidding strategy, with active engagement and questions, though one detailed complaint about a poor Sophie Society PPC engagement introduces a note of controversy.
A compact, structured walkthrough that goes beyond Amazon's own documentation by naming and codifying the broad match modifier as a distinct fourth match type with its own strategic use case, built around a running single-product example and one real account data point contrasting exact versus broad match performance.
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