skill-023-close-variant-broad-match-monitoring

Skill 023: Close Variant and Broad Match Query Monitoring

Purpose

Monitor query expansion to ensure broad and phrase match keywords trigger relevant queries. Identify queries that waste budget on irrelevant traffic and high-performing queries that should be added as keywords for better control.

Data Requirements

Data Source: Standard

Standard Data:

• data/performance/campaigns/*/*/search_terms_metrics_30_days.md - Actual queries with performance
• data/account/campaigns/*/*/keywords.md - Keywords with match types
• data/account/campaigns/*/negative_keywords.md - Existing campaign negatives
• data/account/campaigns/*/*/negative_keywords.md - Ad group negatives

Reference GAQL:

SELECT
  campaign.name,
  ad_group.name,
  search_term_view.search_term,
  search_term_view.status,
  segments.keyword.info.text,
  segments.keyword.info.match_type,
  metrics.impressions,
  metrics.clicks,
  metrics.cost_micros,
  metrics.conversions
FROM search_term_view
WHERE segments.date DURING LAST_30_DAYS

Use /google-ads:get-custom for different date ranges or to filter by specific campaigns.

Analysis Steps

1. Map keywords to search terms: Group search terms by the keyword that triggered them
2. Calculate expansion metrics: Unique queries per keyword, relevance distribution
3. Evaluate query relevance: Categorize as high relevance (clear match), medium (related), low (tangential), irrelevant (no connection)
4. Identify action items: High-converting queries to add as keywords, irrelevant high-spend queries to negative, keywords with >50% irrelevant expansion
5. Assess performance by query type: Compare CPA/conversion rates of close variants vs expanded queries

Thresholds

Condition	Severity
Irrelevant query, Cost >= $50, Conv = 0	Critical
Keyword triggers 50%+ irrelevant queries	Critical
High-converting query not added as keyword	Warning
Broad match triggers 30+ unique queries	Info

Output

Short (default):

## Query Expansion Audit
**Account:** [Name] | **Queries:** [X] | **Issues:** [Y]

### Add as Negatives ([Count])
- **"[query]"** from [keyword]: $[X] cost, 0 conv -> Add as [match] negative

### Add as Keywords ([Count])
- **"[query]"**: [X] conv at $[Y] CPA -> Add as exact match

### Keywords to Narrow ([Count])
- **[keyword]** (broad): [X]% irrelevant queries -> Convert to phrase

### Recommendations
1. [Priority action]

Detailed adds:

• Query expansion summary by match type
• Full table of queries requiring action with triggering keyword
• Relevance score breakdown and waste analysis