Google AdWords announced last night that they are now dropping the option to opt out of close variants for exact match keywords. That means, Google will match your exact match keywords for plurals, misspellings and other close variants - even if you didn't want it.
Google said, "starting in late September, we’re applying close variant keyword matching, an intuitive way to connect people with the businesses they’re searching for, to all exact and phrase match keywords."
Greg Finn explained:
If you are a paid advertiser that enjoys having full control of their campaigns - someone who bids differently based on plurality and likes knowing exactly where their ads are displayed - my sincere condolences. In late September that option for precision targeting will be removed.
Greg explains that if you bid using exact match for "baby clothes," Google will now also match these variations: babby clothes, baby clothing, baby cl othes and baby cloths.
Google did say you can bid different for each one, but that means you need to specifically add each one of these variations to your keyword list, and that can be had to predict.
Google added:
Starting in late September, we’re applying close variant keyword matching to all exact and phrase match keywords. Because close variant matching was already the default setting for campaigns, most of you won’t see a change in your keyword matching behavior. For advertisers that opted out, the option to disable close variants will be removed in September. Your exact and phrase match keywords will then begin matching to close keyword variations, allowing you to reach more of your potential customers with the right ad while aiming to lower cost per click and improve clickthrough rate.
Here is that option that will go away:
I suspect the savvy AdWords folks here will not be a fan of this change but for the bulk of advertisers, they won't notice.
Of course, many will say this is a nice way for Google to make more money.
Forum discussion at Google+.
