Keywords triaged, waste pruned weekly#
Quick answer: Apple Ads keywords run on exact match anchors, broad match prospecting and Search Match discovery, backed by 5,000 negatives per ad group. The loop wins: broad finds, exact keeps, negatives prune, harvests graduate winners weekly.
by the folkfox bench.
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What are Apple Ads match types?#
Three ways to meet a query: exact match for named intent, broad match for variant prospecting, and Search Match automation that reaches beyond listed keywords. Negatives police all three. Start at the Apple Ads hub to place this deck in the family.
Headroom is generous at 5,000 keywords and 5,000 negatives per ad group. Read Apple on match types and our search results deck for the structure they serve.
How do you run the weekly triage?#
Read the search term report every week without fail: graduate converting queries to exact, feed near misses to broad, and negative the browsers, the freebie hunters and the irrelevant. Quarantine Search Match in discovery groups so automation never spends brand budgets.
Localise rather than translate: each of the 91 markets needs its own keyword opinions. Our bidding deck prices the graduates, and our team runs triage for busy accounts.
| Lever | What it means |
|---|---|
| Exact | Anchors: proven queries with bids matched to value |
| Broad | Prospectors: themed, capped, harvested weekly |
| Search Match | Quarantined discovery, never mixed with brand |
| Negatives | 5,000 per ad group, reviewed on cadence |
When do you widen the keyword net?#
Widen once exact anchors convert steadily: broad then explores from a profitable base instead of funding random discovery. New accounts start narrow with brand plus ten category exacts, then earn breadth.
Refresh lists around launches and seasonal vocabulary shifts, when shoppers coin new queries. Stale lists miss the words the quarter actually uses.
Where do keywords apply?#
Keywords govern search results and inform Search Match discovery, while the Today tab and product pages answer to pages and stories instead. Know which lever each placement respects before restructuring.
Per market lists matter: category CPT medians from AppTweak span $1.55 in Productivity to $4.21 in Games in the US, so keyword value differs wildly by vertical. Our bidding deck holds the price tables.
Why does match discipline compound?#
Because every harvested exact lowers future discovery cost while every negative raises account level conversion. The loop is a flywheel: broad spend falls as a share of revenue while exact coverage grows.
Because relevance without a public formula still rewards tight themes. Read Apple on keyword relevance: no bid times score equation is published, so theme tightly and let results judge.
Match Type Lab
Triage a term list into exact keepers, broad prospectors and negatives with one disciplined pass.
Match Type Lab
Runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you type leaves this page.
Single word generics prospect on broad, proven phrases anchor on exact, junk goes negative. Read Apple on match types.
Your triage result
Run the triage to see the keepers and the pruning list.
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Fresh keywords wire
Live headlines on match types, harvests and search term tactics from the folkfox journal.
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