PCA: Keyword targeting

Product Contextual Ads (PCA) are currently shown on Search and Browse pages on Flipkart. The
Keyword targeting feature enables you to target keywords on which you want your ad to appear on
the Search Page.
How to use the keyword targeting capability?

1. In the PCA campaign creation flow, in the 3rd step of ad group creation - Budgeting & Targeting,
under the “Advance Targeting” section, you’ll see a “Select keywords” section. Click on “Add
Keyword”
2. A drawer opens up where you can enter the keywords to be targeted 
1. Keywords can either be targeted as broad or exact match. Definitions of broad & exact match
covered later in the article
a. You can add keywords to broad or exact match from this list of keyword suggestions
which are provided based on the products selected in the ad group. The suggestions
are sorted in descending order of their estimated search volume.
b. You can also upload a CSV of the list of targeted keywords in the template format
that is provided. 
c. Keywords can also be directly entered into the text box
2. You can target upto 100 keywords (broad + exact). Permissible length of a keyword is max 80
characters
3. Spell errors and suggestions will be provided for the chosen keywords. It is highly recommended to
use suggestions for improved ad serving.
4. You can also check the Estimated Search Volume of the targeted keywords by clicking on “Check”.
On adding or removing keywords, you can refresh this value.
5. You can also choose upto 100 exclude keywords which will be treated as exact match
6. On saving the targeted keywords, they’ll be pre-processed and saved. In pre-processing all the
keywords will be converted to a small case and filler/stop words will be removed. (Eg.  Running
Shoes -> running shoes, Shoes for men -> shoes men)
 Please note: In Advance Targeting, “Keyword Targeting” or “Show ads in related stores” are mutually
exclusive and you can choose only one at a time in a given ad group.

What is the bid applicable on the targeted keywords?

Bidding is at an ad group level. You can place different bids on Top of Search, Rest of Search, Top of
Browse, Rest of Browse.

Search page bids (Top of Search & Rest of Search) will be applicable on all the targeted keywords in a
particular ad group. 

On which pages is keyword targeting applicable?

Keyword targeting works only on search pages. By default, your ad group will be served on both
search and browse pages. However, you can selectively choose to run an ad group exclusively on
search or browse pages by opting out in the placement level bidding module. Note: Opting out of
either search or browse can reduce the daily ad group spends. 
Keyword Definition, Match Types & Matching
Difference between a keyword and a search term

 Keyword: What advertisers target against their banner/group of products in a PCA ad group
 Search Term: What users enter in the search box on Flipkart
Targeted keywords & its match type translate into a set of search terms on which the ad is eligible to
be shown

Match Types
We support 2 match types - Exact & Broad. They are defined as follows:
Exact match
When a keyword is targeted as an exact match it can appear on search term which is same as the
keyword and close variants as follows:

Exact match Examples

coverage

Case insensitive Keyword: Wallet, Search term: wallet

Spell errors Keyword: Shoes, Search term: shus

Singular/Plural Keyword: watches, Search term: watch

Filler words Keyword: shoes for men, Search term: shoes men
Broad match 
When a keyword is targeted as a broad match it can appear on search terms which contain all the
tokens present in the keyword and close variants as follows:

Broad match Examples

coverage

Keyword: running shoes, Search terms: men running shoes, running black
Subquery shoes, running shoes red. 

Reordering Keyword: blue jeans, Search terms: jeans blue

Synonyms Keyword: mobile, Search terms: phone

Case insensitive Keyword: Wallet, Search term: wallet

Spell errors Keyword: Shoes, Search term: shus

Singular/Plural Keyword: watches, Search term: watch

Filler words Keyword: shoes for men, Search term: shoes men

In summary, let’s look at an example of all the search terms on which ad can appear if a keyword is
targeted as exact or broad match:

Targeted keyword: Blue jeans

Search terms on which ad can appear on Search terms on which ad can appear on
Exact match Broad match

Case insensitive blue jeans, Blue Jeans blue jeans, Blue Jeans

Spell Blue jins, Blu jeans, Blu jins Blue jins, Blu jeans, Blu jins
Singular/Plural Blue jean Blue jean
Stemming blue jean blue jean
Filler words Blue in jeans Blue in jeans
Synonyms NA Blue denim
Subquery NA Men blue jeans
Reordering NA Jeans blue

Reports
To monitor performance on the targeted keywords, keyword reports will be available in the “Other
Reports” section. The report will provide full funnel metrics (View, Clicks, CTR, Avg CPC, Units,
Revenue, ROI) for a given campaign at Ad Group * Keyword * Match Type level.

In addition to this, the search term report in the “Other Reports” Section  will provide the search
terms on which the ad appeared.
 Search term to Keyword mapping

When an ad is eligible on a search term due to multiple matching keywords, it will be mapped
against a single keyword in the keyword report as follows (Eg: Targeted keywords: "black shoes (B)"-
and "running shoes (B)", search query is "black running shoes"):

 Exact match to get higher priority than broad

 To resolve within the exact & within the broad eligible set, keyword with higher similarity % to be
attributed
FAQs

1. If a user enters an incorrectly spelled search term, can the ad show up on the targeted keyword?
Yes, a spell corrected version of the search term is used in matching. 

2. What happens when a keyword is targeted as a keyword (exact match) and an exclude keyword?
- It is treated as an exclude keyword

3. What happens when a keyword is targeted as both an exact & broad match?
- It is treated as a broad match keyword

4. Does targeting a keyword guarantee ad showing up on it?

- No. Keyword targeting is over and above the relevance guardrails present in PCA. There is no
guarantee of an ad showing up on a targeted keyword.

5. How many keywords can be targeted per ad group?

- Upto 100 keywords & 100 exclude keywords can be targeted per ad group

6. What is the max length of a keyword?

- 80 characters

7. On which pages is keyword targeting applicable?

- Keyword targeting is only applicable on search pages. 

8. Can I selectively run an ad group on search pages?

- Yes, placement level opti in/out is provided in the placement level bidding module. However,
opting out of a placement can significantly reduce ad group daily spends.

9. What is the bid applicable on the targeted keywords?

- Bidding is at an ad group level. Search page bids (Top of Search & Rest of Search) will be applicable
on all the targeted keywords in a particular ad group.