THE CHALLENGE
Broad Match remains one of the most powerful yet misunderstood tools in search. Just 62% of advertisers use it, and for good reason: without the right structure,
Broad Match can cannibalize higher-performing match types and tank ROI.
Pure Hockey wanted to scale—but not recklessly. So we set out to engineer a smarter approach: one that protected what was working while unlocking new, untapped demand.
OUR APPROACH
First, we broke down the mechanics behind match type interactions. We found that when Broad Match was left unchecked, it quickly siphoned spend from Phrase and Exact Match—hurting performance instead of helping it.
To fix that, we built a custom script that automatically excluded Broad Match terms already covered by other match types. That reduced cannibalized spend from 22% to just 1% in ten weeks—and it’s held ever since.
From there, we restructured the account’s search campaigns to:
- Clearly separate keyword responsibilities by match type
- Redefine Google’s keyword-search term hierarchy
- Confidently invest in AI-powered Broad Match—with guardrails
