This is not a one off problem. We see the same pattern in account after account, across completely different product types.
Too much ad budget sits in exact match keywords. Broader, often cheaper options go underfunded. Exact match keywords wasting your Amazon ad spend is more common than most sellers realise.
What Exact Match Actually Is
On Amazon, keyword match types control how close a shopper’s search must be to your chosen keyword before your ad shows up. Exact match is the tightest option. Your ad only appears when someone searches the precise phrase you picked, in that exact form. Nothing broader, nothing similar.
Why Exact Match Feels Safe
It is easy to see the appeal. You know exactly what you are bidding on. No surprises, no odd, irrelevant searches slipping through. It feels like control.
It is a bit like “only ever fishing in the one spot where you caught a fish last time.” You know that spot works, but the rest of the lake never gets a chance.
What Broader Match Types Offer
Phrase match and broad match cast a wider net. They can show your ad for close variations, related phrases, and searches you might not have thought to add yourself.
They are often cheaper per click than exact matches too. You are not competing head on for the single most obvious version of a search term.
Why the Imbalance Happens
The pattern we keep seeing is simple. Sellers put most of their trust, and most of their budget, into exact matches. It feels the safest. Broader match types get whatever budget is left over, if any.
The result is an account paying a premium for certainty. Cheaper, relevant traffic gets left on the table. Broader match types never get a fair chance to prove themselves, because they are never properly funded in the first place.
How a Account Splits Its Budget
| Match type | Common budget share we see | What it tends to miss |
|---|---|---|
| Exact match | Most of the budget | Broader, cheaper traffic it was never set up to catch |
| Phrase match | A small share | Fair funding to prove itself |
| Broad match | Whatever is left, often very little | A real test with enough spend behind it |
What a Better Balance Looks Like
We are not saying drop exact matches. It has a real place, especially for your proven, high performing search terms, where tight control pays off.
The fix is rebalancing. Give broader match types a genuine, funded test instead of scraps, and watch what they bring in.
In account after account, once broader match types get proper budget, they start surfacing relevant searches that exact match was never going to catch. Often at a lower cost per click too. That is not a coincidence. It is what broader match types are built to do.
A Simple Way to Rebalance
- Check your current split. Pull your spend by match type for the last three months.
- Set a real test budget for broad and phrase. Not leftover scraps. A share big enough to actually learn from.
- Give the test time to run. A few days of data will not tell you much. Give it a few weeks.
- Move proven winners into exact matches. Once a broader search term shows a real pattern of sales, protect it with tighter targeting.
- Review the split again next quarter. What works today can shift as your category changes.
Signs Exact Match Has Taken Too Much
- Most of your ad budget sits in exact match with little left for anything else
- Your search term report rarely shows new, relevant phrases
- Cost per click on exact match keeps climbing with no new terms to show for it
- Broad and phrase campaigns have never been given a proper budget to test
If two or more of these sound familiar, your match type split is worth a proper look.
Why This Trap Is So Common
Exact match feels like the responsible choice. It is tempting to treat it as the whole strategy rather than one part of it. A badly reviewed account can carry this same pattern alongside other hidden problems too. Our post on Amazon PPC negative keywords looks at a related way an account can quietly lose reach without anyone noticing.
Testing Broader Match Types Without Losing Control
A proper test does not mean giving up control. You can run broad and phrase matches with guardrails in place.
- Set a daily cap on the test budget so spend cannot run away
- Add negative keywords as you go, so clearly irrelevant searches get blocked quickly
- Check the search term report weekly during the test, not just at the end
- Keep exact match running as normal for your proven terms while the test is live
This way you get real data without putting your best performing keywords at risk.
None of these steps need extra tools. A spreadsheet and a regular check of your reports is enough to run this properly.
A Quick Way to Spot Which Account Type You Have
Not every account has this problem to the same degree. A short check tells you where you stand.
| Your exact match share | Likely situation | What to do next |
|---|---|---|
| Under 50% | Probably balanced already | Keep reviewing each quarter |
| 50% to 75% | Worth a closer look | Run a funded broad and phrase test |
| Over 75% | Likely overweighted | Rebalance soon, starting with your biggest spend campaigns |
What to Expect in the First Month of a Test
Give a new broad or phrase test enough time before judging it. The first week or two often brings in a mix of good and poor searches while Amazon learns.
By week three or four a clearer pattern usually shows. That is the point to start moving proven terms into exact matches and trimming anything that is not working.
Key Takeaway
Exact match feels like a responsible, controlled choice. But if it is soaking up almost all your budget, you are likely paying more than you need to, and missing cheap traffic you could be winning. Look at your match type split today. If an exact match dominates, that is worth questioning, not defending.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Should I turn off exact match keywords?
No. Exact match still has a real place for your proven, high performing search terms. The problem is only when it takes almost all your budget and broader match types never get a fair test. - How much budget should go to broad and phrase match?
There is no single fixed number. A good starting point is enough spend to gather a few weeks of real data, rather than a token amount that gets used up in a day or two. - Will broad match waste money on irrelevant clicks?
It can, if left unmanaged. Adding negative keywords as you go and checking your search term report weekly keeps irrelevant clicks under control while the test runs. - How long should a broad or phrase match test run before I judge it?
Give it at least three to four weeks. The first week or two often mixes good and poor searches while Amazon’s system learns which ones convert. - What is the ideal exact match share for an account?
There is no universal number, but if the exact match sits above 75% of spend it is usually worth a closer look. Under 50% is often already balanced.
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