What are the different keyword match types in Google Ads and when would you use each?

Match types control how loosely a keyword may match a search query.

• Broad match — running shoes. Matches related searches, synonyms, and queries Google judges relevant, using signals including landing page content and other keywords in the account. Widest reach, least control. Only safe with strong conversion tracking, smart bidding, and an active negative keyword list.
• Phrase match — "running shoes". Matches queries containing the meaning of the phrase, with words before or after. Since the 2021 change it absorbed modified broad match and is now the practical middle ground.
• Exact match — [running shoes]. Matches the same meaning as the term, including close variants such as plurals, misspellings, and reordered words where intent is unchanged. Tightest control, highest intent, lowest volume.

Note: The critical point is that no match type is literal any more — exact match includes close variants, so the search terms report is essential regardless of match type.

A common structure: start with exact and phrase for known converting terms, use broad match with smart bidding to discover new queries, and mine the search terms report continually — promoting winners to exact and adding losers as negatives.