Guide · Apple Ads

Match types, and the campaign structure that uses them

Most explanations of Apple Search Ads match types stop after defining them, which is the least useful half. The definitions take a paragraph. The part that decides whether you waste money is how you arrange campaigns so that discovery feeds performance instead of competing with it.

The three mechanisms

• Exact match. Your ad is eligible for that term and close variants: plurals, minor misspellings, word order. Spend is attributable to a single keyword, which is what makes analysis possible.
• Broad match. Apple decides which related searches your ad can appear for. You reach queries you would never have written down, at the cost of knowing precisely what you bought.
• Search Match. Apple matches your ad against the store using your own listing metadata rather than a keyword list. It is the widest net and the least controllable.

Why one campaign cannot do both jobs

Discovery and performance want opposite settings. Discovery wants a wide net, modest bids, and tolerance for waste, because you are paying for information. Performance wants a narrow target, higher bids, and no waste, because you are paying for outcomes.

Put them together and every number is an average of two different intentions. You cannot raise the bid on a proven term without also raising it on everything you were merely testing.

The structure that works

1. A discovery campaign. Search Match on, or broad match on a themed list. Modest bids. Its only job is producing search terms.
2. An exact-match campaign. One keyword per ad group where your budget allows. Bids set by what the term is worth, not by what it costs.
3. A weekly harvest. Read the search terms report. Any term that produced installs at a cost you would repeat moves into the exact-match campaign.
4. A negative keyword, immediately. Every promoted term gets added as a negative in the discovery campaign. Skip this and both campaigns bid on the same query, and you pay for the same lesson twice.

Setting the first bid on a promoted term

You already know roughly what the term cost in discovery. Start near that, not at Apple's suggestion, then adjust once you have a fortnight of data. Apple's suggested bid is a market observation, not advice about your economics.

The trap at the end of it

This structure will eventually promote a term you already rank first for organically, because it converts beautifully in discovery. It converts beautifully because those people were going to install anyway. Before you scale a promoted term, check your organic position on it, and readthe cannibalization test.

While you are there: a term worth bidding on is a term worth ranking for. Check it appears across your title, subtitle, and keyword field with thekeyword field counter.

Common questions

What is the difference between exact and broad match in Apple Search Ads?

Exact match shows your ad for that specific term and close variants, so spend is attributable to one keyword. Broad match lets Apple show your ad for related searches you did not list, which finds terms you would never have guessed but blurs which query spent the money.

Should I start with broad or exact match?

Both, in separate campaigns. Broad and Search Match are how you discover terms; exact is how you scale the ones that work. Mixing them in one campaign means you cannot tell discovery spend from performance spend.

What are negative keywords for?

They stop a discovery campaign from re-buying a term you have already promoted to its own exact-match campaign. Without them the two campaigns bid against each other on the same query and you pay twice for the same lesson.

How often should I harvest search terms?

Weekly is enough for most indie budgets. You are looking for terms that produced installs at an acceptable cost, promoting those to exact match, and adding them as negatives in the discovery campaign.