What are phrase match keywords on Amazon ads?
Phrase match keywords on Amazon ads show your Sponsored Products ad whenever a shopper's search contains your exact keyword phrase in order, though other words can appear before or after it. A phrase match keyword of 'protein powder vanilla' would trigger on 'best protein powder vanilla 1kg' but not on 'vanilla protein powder'. Phrase match is a keyword match type in Amazon Sponsored Products that shows your ad on searches containing your exact keyword phrase, in that word order, with or without additional words before or after it. The key rule is that the words in your phrase must appear together and in sequence. If your phrase match keyword is 'running shoes women', your ad can appear for 'best running shoes women size 8' or 'lightweight running shoes women UK', but not for 'women shoes running' because the word order changed, or for 'shoes women' because the word 'running' is missing. The phrase must appear contiguously and in order within the search query. Anything before or after the phrase is allowed: 'buy running shoes women online' and 'running shoes women sale' both contain the phrase in order with words added around it, so both trigger the ad. A search where the words are reordered will not trigger a phrase match keyword. 'Women running shoes' does not contain 'running shoes women' in order, so it would not trigger the phrase match version of that keyword. Amazon also applies phrase match to close variants, including plurals and common misspellings. 'Running shoe women' (singular) would typically still trigger a phrase match for 'running shoes women' because Amazon treats these as close variants. Phrase match is the practical everyday match type for most Sponsored Products campaigns. It is more efficient than broad match because you control the core phrase, and it reaches more search variations than exact match. Use phrase match once you have identified which core keyword phrases shoppers use to find your product type. This might come from your own research using autocomplete tools, from a broad match search term report, or from reverse ASIN data on competitors. Phrase match works well as the primary match type in your main campaigns. Broad match discovery campaigns feed you new phrases to test on phrase match. Your best-performing phrase match terms can then graduate to exact match for the most efficient bidding. Each match type serves a different purpose at a different stage of campaign maturity. Most well-structured campaigns use all three in separate campaigns with different bids and budgets. Broad match provides maximum reach for discovery. Phrase match provides controlled reach for your known core phrases. Exact match provides precision on your proven best-performing terms. Running all three at appropriate bid levels gives you data at the top while converting efficiently at the bottom.
Phrase match keywords show your Amazon ad when a search contains your keyword phrase in order. Learn how phrase match balances reach and relevance in PPC.