Google Adwords has already stirred up controversy about their new Automatic Matching option (currently in Beta). Certain Adwords’ users were sent an email back on May 20 notifying them that their account would now have a new option enabled on June 3, 2008 called “Automatic Matching”.

Automatic matching will scan your landing pages, your ads, and keywords to find relevant search terms to list your ads for “identified queries where the ad is likely to perform well.” - Adwords

This new ‘feature’ is only supposed to run off the available money in your daily budget. So, if you’re maxing out your daily budget, automatic matching will have little or no effect. Google also states that your average cost-per-click and click-through rate will remain the same, regardless of automatic matching.

Cons of Adwords Automatic Matching

I’m starting with the cons, because there seems to be more reasons against automatic matching than for it.

The most obvious problem with this, is Google’s insistence to “enable by default”. It’s one thing to introduce a new matching option into Adwords, but its an entirely different thing to make it enabled by default. Of course, Google has a history of doing this. Just look at the Content Network. It’s automatically enabled whenever you create a keyword-targeted campaign. And, most newbies don’t even know its running until they look at their stats.

This seems like a blatant attempt by Google to gobble up every last penny of your remaining daily budget. I’m sure there are people who put their daily budget’s as high as possible to allow for the most traffic Google can send. Maybe this is Google’s way of keeping us in check - to make us put our daily budgets exactly where we can afford them.

There are lots of other arguments about how automatic matching throws quality search results out the window, and negates highly-researched, and consciously targeted campaigns, but I think Scott Clark said it best in his post “9 Things I Dislike About the Google Adwords Automatic Matching Idea“.

Pros of Automatic Matching

Google is going to have a difficult time making a case for automatic matching in the PPC community, but let’s look at why this might be a good thing.

Like the Content Network, you can turn Automatic Matching on and off in your Campaign Settings. This gives you the ability to test it. You can turn automatic matching off in your regular campaigns. Then create a new campaign with a small budget, and leave automatic matching on to see what kind of keywords you get listed on.

This test could lead you to some great keywords you don’t already have. You might also find words you don’t like and aren’t relevant, which can help build your negative keywords list. Take all this new found knowledge and apply it to your regular campaigns.

Plus, automatic matching can give you some great ideas for LSI research. Finding out what Google thinks is relevant is always beneficial. Grab the new keyphrases found through automatic matching and blog about them, create new content pages, and use them as anchor text in your link building campaign.

Once Adwords’ Automatic Matching makes its way into everyone’s account, the true feelings of advertisers will be heard. Until then, be aware of it, think of how you can use it to your benefit, and don’t go on vacation with your Adwords account running :o)

To see some great screen shots inside an account included in the Automatic matching Beta test, go check out Amber’s post titled “Google Automatic Matching Test Only Generated 1 Click!“