Why are my exact match keywords underperforming?

Exact match underperforming usually isn’t “the keyword” problem—it’s a control, volume, or auction problem

When advertisers tell me their exact match keywords are underperforming, they’re usually expecting exact match to behave like a surgical scalpel: only show on that exact query, drive the best intent, and produce the highest conversion rate at the lowest CPA.

In reality, exact match has been designed to match meaning and intent, not just identical wording. That means an exact match keyword can legitimately trigger on paraphrases, implied terms, reordered words with the same meaning, and other close variants. There’s also no opt-out for close variants. ([support.google.com](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/9131274?hl=en-GB&utm_source=openai))

So if performance slipped, it’s rarely because “exact match is broken.” It’s more often because (1) the available exact(-ish) traffic is smaller than you think, (2) the searches you’re matching now include more variety than your ad/landing page can support, or (3) you’re losing auctions due to Ad Rank, budget, or bidding constraints.

Two common “exact match” misconceptions that create false alarms

Misconception #1: “Exact match = exact wording.” Exact match can show on close variants that keep the same intent, including misspellings, singular/plural, stemming, reordered words with the same meaning, and function words that don’t change intent. ([support.google.com](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/9342105?hl=en-A&ref_topic=24936&utm_source=openai))

Misconception #2: “If the Search Terms report says ‘Exact,’ it must have come from my exact match keyword.” The search terms view can label a query’s match type as “exact” even when it was triggered by a broader match keyword, because that label describes how closely the search term matched the keyword that served—not the match type you think you’re “running.” This is one of the easiest ways to misdiagnose underperformance and start “fixing” the wrong thing. ([support.google.com](https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/2472708?hl=en&utm_source=openai))

Diagnose underperformance like a pro: volume, relevance, or conversion mechanics?

Exact match underperformance shows up in three patterns, and each one has a different fix. The fastest path to improvement is correctly identifying which pattern you’re in before you touch bids, ads, or keyword lists.

Pattern A: You’re not getting enough impressions (or they’re inconsistent)

If impressions are low, you don’t have a “performance” problem yet—you have a traffic eligibility problem. Start by checking whether the keyword is effectively sidelined by low demand, or whether you’re losing auctions.

Some exact match terms are so specific that the platform can flag them as having very little to no search history, making them inactive until search interest increases. In that situation, your keyword may look fine structurally, but it simply won’t enter auctions consistently. ([support.google.com](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/2616014?hl=en&utm_source=openai))

Next, determine whether you’re eligible but not winning. Impression share metrics help you separate “not enough budget” from “not high enough Ad Rank.” If your lost impression share due to rank is high, you’re missing impressions because the auction is beating you—often from a combination of bids, expected CTR, ad relevance, and landing page experience. ([support.google.com](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/6165454?utm_source=openai))

Pattern B: You’re getting impressions, but CTR is weak

When exact match gets impressions but CTR lags, it’s almost always a message alignment issue. CTR is simply clicks divided by impressions, and it’s one of the clearest indicators of whether your ad matches what the searcher believes they asked for. ([support.google.com](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/2615875?hl=en&utm_source=openai))

This is where close variants matter in a practical way: your keyword may be “right,” but the queries you’re actually showing on may include nuances (brand vs non-brand, price sensitivity, location intent, “near me,” comparisons, troubleshooting, etc.) that your ad isn’t addressing. That drags CTR down, which can also make it harder to win auctions efficiently.

Pattern C: CTR is fine, but conversion rate and CPA/ROAS are weak

This is the most common “exact match is underperforming” scenario in mature accounts: you’re attracting clicks, but those clicks aren’t converting at the expected rate.

In my experience, the root cause is usually one (or more) of the following: the landing page doesn’t satisfy the intent behind the specific query variants you’re matching; your offer is uncompetitive in that segment; your conversion tracking is incomplete (so bidding optimizes to the wrong signals); or your bidding strategy is constrained by budget caps, overly tight targets, or insufficient conversion data to learn well.

The fastest diagnostic checklist (do this before making changes)

• Pull the Search Terms report for the exact match keyword’s ad group/campaign and identify which queries are driving cost, which are driving conversions, and which are irrelevant enough to exclude. ([support.google.com](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/2684537?utm_source=openai))
• Check keyword status and demand signals (including whether it’s being treated as very low demand and therefore not consistently active). ([support.google.com](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/2616014?hl=en&utm_source=openai))
• Review impression share and lost impression share (rank vs budget) to see whether you’re losing auctions or simply underfunded. ([support.google.com](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/6165454?utm_source=openai))
• Break performance into stages: impression volume → CTR → conversion rate → CPA/ROAS, and identify the first stage where performance drops.

Fixes that actually work: regain control without choking volume

1) Treat “exact match” as an intent bucket—and use negatives to sculpt the edges

Because exact match can include close variants, the cleanest way to improve performance is rarely “add more exact keywords.” It’s usually “tighten what you don’t want.” Your Search Terms report is the operational tool for this: it shows the actual queries that triggered ads, so you can proactively exclude irrelevant interpretations and preserve budget for the intent you do want.

Be careful with negative keywords, though. Overly aggressive negatives can block valuable variants and make an exact match keyword look like it “died.” Also remember that negative match types behave differently than positive ones; for example, a negative exact keyword blocks only that exact phrase (without extra words), so you may need phrase or broad negatives for true intent protection, depending on your issue. ([support.google.com](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/7302926?hl=en-GB&utm_source=openai))

2) Align ad copy to the highest-value variants you’re actually matching

If your exact match keyword is matching to multiple high-intent variants, don’t fight that reality—capitalize on it. Write ads that clearly confirm the searcher’s intent (category, service type, location served, pricing posture, primary differentiator) and ensure your strongest assets reinforce the same message.

When I see exact match underperforming, it’s often because the ad is written for the “core” keyword wording, but the real impression volume comes from a slightly different phrasing (pluralization, synonyms, reordered words, implied words). Close variants can still be the right traffic—your ad just needs to speak their language. ([support.google.com](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/9342105?hl=en-A&ref_topic=24936&utm_source=openai))

3) If you’re losing auctions, fix Ad Rank pressure the right way (not just higher bids)

If impression share shows you’re losing due to rank, you can raise bids, but that’s the blunt instrument. The more sustainable play is improving the pieces that make winning cheaper: expected CTR, ad relevance, and landing page experience (and, in practice, how compelling your offer looks in-SERP).

Ad quality is not a vanity metric—it affects whether you can show at all and where you appear, and higher ad quality generally leads to better performance and lower costs. ([support.google.com](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/156066?hl=en&utm_source=openai))

4) Don’t confuse “underperforming” with “low volume”—use the right expectation for exact match

Exact match can be fantastic for control, but it’s not always where scale lives. If your exact match keyword is highly specific, you may be fighting demand, not optimization. In those cases, you’ll often get better total results by pairing exact match with phrase match for controlled expansion, while using negatives to keep the intent clean.

The goal is not to force exact match to carry the whole campaign; it’s to use exact match as your precision layer (high-confidence intent), phrase match as your measured expansion layer, and negatives as your guardrails.

5) Make sure measurement and bidding aren’t sabotaging your “exact match” evaluation

Finally, ensure you’re judging exact match with clean data. If conversions aren’t being captured correctly (missing key actions, misattributed values, broken tags, or delayed signals not accounted for), automated bidding can push spend into the wrong pockets and make exact match look worse than it is.

Once tracking is solid, evaluate exact match performance using a consistent window and compare it against what matters for your business (lead quality, close rate, margin), not just top-level CPA. Exact match often “wins” on downstream quality even when it doesn’t look like the cheapest traffic at first glance.

If your exact match keywords seem to “underperform,” it’s often because exact match is really an intent-based bucket (including close variants), or because you’re dealing with low/inconsistent demand, ad-to-query misalignment, landing page mismatch, or auction losses from rank and budget—so the fastest way forward is usually a structured diagnosis across search terms, impression share, CTR, and CVR before you change bids or match types. Blobr can make that workflow easier by connecting to your Google Ads account and running specialized AI agents that continuously review things like search-term relevance and negatives, ad copy alignment, and keyword-to-landing-page fit, then turning the findings into clear, prioritized recommendations you can apply on your own schedule.