Speaker A
A question I'm getting more and more right now with Google Ads is, with the rise of AI mode, IO Max, Performance Max, and all of this talk about keywordless targeting, do you still need to do keyword research for Google Ads in 2026?
Learn why keyword research remains crucial for Google Ads in 2026 despite AI-driven changes and how to optimize your campaigns effectively.
Key Takeaways
- Keyword research remains vital despite AI advancements in Google Ads.
- Search queries are more conversational and require broader thematic targeting.
- Broad match keywords are now more important for capturing diverse search intent.
- Grouping keywords by theme in ad groups increases relevance and performance.
- Google search continues to be a major driver of online purchases.
What the video covers
- Keyword research is still essential for Google Ads success in 2026 despite the rise of AI modes like Performance Max and keywordless targeting.
- The process of keyword research has evolved and is now faster and more focused on keyword themes rather than individual keywords.
- Search behavior is becoming more conversational and voice-driven, requiring advertisers to adapt their keyword strategies accordingly.
- Broad match keywords are emphasized as a core match type to capture diverse and conversational search queries.
- Exact match keywords remain important and should be grouped with broad match keywords within relevant ad groups or asset groups.
- Google search remains a critical channel for customer journeys, with 65% of online purchases starting via Google or YouTube.
- The video includes a step-by-step tutorial and screen share to demonstrate how to conduct keyword research effectively in 2026.
- Aaron Young offers a Google Ads optimized course and checklist used by thousands to improve campaign performance.
- The video is part of an annual series 'Get Google Ready for 2026' focusing on adapting to new Google Ads trends and AI integration.
- Advertisers should focus on intent-rich, longer-tail keyword themes to increase relevance and campaign success.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction: Is Keyword Research Still Needed in 2026?
- 01:00Tutorial Overview and Host Introduction
- 02:49Changing Search Behavior: Conversational and Voice Search
- 03:55Google Ads Optimization Checklist and Course Info
- 04:53Keyword Themes and Grouping for Relevance
- 05:52Importance of Broad Match Keywords
- 07:51Why Keyword Research Remains Critical
- 08:45Practical Keyword Research Demonstration
- 09:39Structuring Keywords: Broad and Exact Match
- 12:08Summary and Final Recommendations
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
2026? And my answer is a big resounding yes. But the good news is even though yes, you still need to do your keyword research, it doesn't take nearly as long as it what it used to. I remember back
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And my answer is a big resounding yes. But the good news is, even though yes, you still need to do your keyword research, it doesn't take nearly as long as it used to. I remember back
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then you'd painstakingly break it out into different campaigns and ad groups and we used to use a lot of single keyword ad groups and all of those things. So for me, I'm actually happy that those days are gone. So, in this
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in the pre-2020 years, before Google started rolling out a lot of these changes, keyword research could sometimes take a full day, especially if it was a larger account or a larger business you're looking at. You'd go through, do your keyword research, and
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tutorial. We'll jump on and do a screen share so you know exactly the right way how to complete your keyword research so you can see success with Google Ads in 2026. Now, just in case we haven't met yet, my name is Aaron Young from Define
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then you'd painstakingly break it out into different campaigns and ad groups, and we used to use a lot of single keyword ad groups and all of those things. So for me, I'm actually happy that those days are gone. So, in this
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everything that has changed in Google Ads and everything that you need for success in the year forward, make sure that you're not only subscribed, but you turn on the notification bell so you can follow this playlist series as we go
Speaker A
video, I want to take you through why the process for keyword research has changed in Google Ads. But I also want to take you through why it's still really, really important. And then we're also going to go through a step-by-step
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our Google Ads optimized course. This is a course that we usually sold for $49.
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tutorial. We'll jump on and do a screen share so you know exactly the right way how to complete your keyword research so you can see success with Google Ads in 2026. Now, just in case we haven't met yet, my name is Aaron Young from Define
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you're going to get. So if you want to make sure that you're well set up for success with Google Ads in 2026, follow that link in the description below. But right now, let's go through keyword research. So, let's talk about why
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Digital Academy, and this video is part of an annual series which I run throughout December and January every year. And this year is called Get Google Ready for 2026. So, if you want to make sure that you stay up to date with
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about AI mode in Google search. But to put it bluntly, people are interacting with Google search really, really differently. Now, we're already starting to see some data come out of the US market, which was the first market to
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everything that has changed in Google Ads and everything that you need for success in the year forward, make sure that you're not only subscribed, but you turn on the notification bell so you can follow this playlist series as we go
Speaker A
here, searches inside of Google ads are becoming more conversational. So rather than just searching men's black gym shirts, people are more now saying to search in sentences or they're using voice search where they're saying things like, "Can you let me know the best
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through. We'll be releasing one or two videos every single week throughout December and January. And also to help you further, if you follow that link in the description below. This year I'm giving away a free extra gift which is
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search. They're adding on to that product that they're looking for and adding on some benefits or some different modifiers that they like. The reason for why this affects your Google search or your keyword research is because in May of this year, Google
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our Google Ads optimized course. This is a course that we usually sold for $49.
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people using AI modes and AI overviews, is that that number is going to skyrocket. That's why your Google keyword research is going to be very very different because as there's more and more unique Google searches, how do you target something that you don't know
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Has over 2 and a half thousand students. It contains our Google Ads optimization checklist, which is used by over 120,000 people who are optimizing their Google Ads campaigns with this checklist. There are a couple extra things in there that
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how Google is shifting and some people are saying that Google is dying but as of this year there is clear data that shows 65% of all online purchases the user starts to their journey inside of Google search or on YouTube which is obviously owned
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you're going to get. So if you want to make sure that you're well set up for success with Google Ads in 2026, follow that link in the description below. But right now, let's go through keyword research. So, let's talk about why
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So it's a really strong indicator that Google search is not going anywhere. Yes, it'll look really really different, but it's still a real real key for your business to get those search terms right. So, now let's talk about how does
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keyword research has changed. And it really comes down to the fact that people are now interacting with Google search very, very differently. I don't want to get sidetracked down this path because I've got other videos where I talk
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research is we really want to find the core keyword themes that we can group together inside of our individual ad groups or asset groups so that we can see really really high levels of relevance for Google ads. Because
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about AI mode in Google search. But to put it bluntly, people are interacting with Google search really, really differently. Now, we're already starting to see some data come out of the US market, which was the first market to
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copy and we've got and we're sending it to relevant landing pages. So that's why we want when we do our keyword research, it's probably not finding keywords. It's actually should really be called keyword theme. So those keywords that have the
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get AI overviews and AI mode. And there's some early data coming out that's saying that 58% of people do use AI mode and do use the AI overviews. And 89% of those people say they find it really, really helpful. So the big shift
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I really want you to think about this when we look at the framework for how we would structure our accounts. Now, inside of each of our individual ad groups, I like to have one or two, sometimes three or four broad match
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here, searches inside of Google Ads are becoming more conversational. So rather than just searching men's black gym shirts, people are more now saying to search in sentences or they're using voice search where they're saying things like, "Can you let me know the best
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give as much intent and as much meaning as possible so that we can get the best results. Then from there we do want to build out exact match keywords and keep them inside of the same ad group. And
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men's black shirts that I could wear at a gym?" which also helps with sweating and also is quick drying. Rather than just using a three or four word search inside of Google search, I know that's a lot of times that I've said the word
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through how to do your keyword research in 2026 for your Google Ads campaigns. All right, before I jump in and show you how to complete your keyword research, I do just want to add one little side note and that is obviously people do ask
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search. They're adding on to that product that they're looking for and adding on some benefits or some different modifiers that they like. The reason for why this affects your Google search or your keyword research is because in May of this year, Google
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think that broad match keywords is a really really core and important keyword match type that you need to be using now there are some businesses where we just still see that this is not the best fit and that's very much for B2B or like
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released data saying that 15% of all new Google search inquiries by users are brand new. They've never been searched before. Now, we don't know the exact number yet, but my prediction, and it obviously makes sense with more and more
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this path that you will need to start using broad match keywords in order to even get access to the AO mode cuz remembering there's only three ways that your ads can appear in AO mode and AO overviews. And that's if you use AAX,
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people using AI modes and AI overviews, is that that number is going to skyrocket. That's why your Google keyword research is going to be very, very different because as there's more and more unique Google searches, how do you target something that you don't know
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toothpaste for mouthwash and gingivitis and gum disease. Now the really first step in this is essentially what I want you to think about when you are coming and you're planning on doing your keyword research. The first step is to
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what the user is going to be searching? But I don't want you for one second to think that keyword research is not important because for me it is still very, very, very important. And let me explain why. There has been talk about
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mouthwash for gingivitis and gum disease. We've already got that ready to go. What we're going to do from here is let's jump into your Google Ads account.
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how Google is shifting and some people are saying that Google is dying, but as of this year there is clear data that shows 65% of all online purchases the user starts their journey inside of Google search or on YouTube, which is obviously owned
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here, we want to go through and discover new keywords. Look, you can organize keywords and ad groups inside of Google Ads. I still prefer to do it in a Google sheet, but it doesn't really matter which way you go around it. So, what you
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by Google, and that the actual leading market or the leading age bracket is actually Gen Z, those 18 to 24 year olds.
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the actual URL. Let me just uh put this in through here. Then you can go through and get result. All right. So, what I actually had to do there is I did actually have to add in some extra
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So it's a really strong indicator that Google search is not going anywhere. Yes, it'll look really, really different, but it's still a real, real key for your business to get those search terms right. So, now let's talk about how does
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get results. So, it's got the tooth the keywords that we provided. And it also allows you to refine any of the keywords. So, if you wanted to as well, so you can see from here. So, let's just say that we know, for example, we didn't
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that affect your strategy. So, previously you'd really, really be looking for those really, really exact keywords that you want to target inside of your Google Ads campaigns. But now what I really want you to think about the reason for why we want to do keyword
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these symptoms or any of these benefits which you know don't apply to your product you just uncheck them and then what happens from there is it automatically takes it out of the refined results. For this one what we
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research is we really want to find the core keyword themes that we can group together inside of our individual ad groups or asset groups so that we can see really, really high levels of relevance for Google Ads. Because
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to take out competitor brands. Once again, that's taken out some more results. And then from there, what you want to go through from here is you just want to go through and look and start selecting some different keywords. Now,
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remember, the main thing that we want to be doing here is we want to make sure that for that user's initial search inquiry, even though we don't exactly know what it's going to be, we want to make sure that we've got relevant ad
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But what I really want to stress here is that this data is what's happening previously. And obviously, because we're in such a fastmoving pace, I'm not saying it's not important, but just I wouldn't get too caught up in what the
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copy and we've got and we're sending it to relevant landing pages. So that's why when we do our keyword research, it's probably not finding keywords. It actually should really be called keyword themes. So those keywords that have the
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especially for search campaigns. So from here, if we were to go toothpaste for gum disease, it's between 122 to let's just call it $5. So to be safe, I would say you'd want a starting budget of at least $50. So you take the CPC, the
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same meaning, same intent, that are the most relevant for your services and your products. So before we get into that screen share, we're going to take you through how to complete your keyword research for your Google Ads campaigns.
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relevant, especially as we move into more AO overviews results because you're only going to get those top ads are going to be showing in those results. So what you want to go through here is let's just go through and you do a quick
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I really want you to think about this when we look at the framework for how we would structure our accounts. Now, inside of each of our individual ad groups, I like to have one or two, sometimes three or four broad match
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says saved keywords up through here. Generally what I'll do here is if you can see this download little button. So I would go through and you can either save it to a CSV file or into Google Sheets. Let's just do it into Google
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keywords, but I want them to be longer tail. So by longer tail, rather than just having men's shirts, I would have something like men's black gym shirts that are quick drying. So that would be my broad match keyword. So we want to
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Once again, you could go through and do it correctly. I still like to have a Google sheet because I'll show you the reason for that is I just find that this becomes a better place for me to manually go through and tidy up this
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give as much intent and as much meaning as possible so that we can get the best results. Then from there we do want to build out exact match keywords and keep them inside of the same ad group. And
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going to go through and refine and just reorganize this keyword research. All right, thanks for sticking with me.
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the reason for that is because with broad match keywords they do actually take into account as one of the signals the other keywords which are in the same ad group. So as promised, let's now jump into a screen share so I can show you
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also got through here is you can see with our toothpaste ad group, I've got our broad match keywords down here. So, we've got three different broad match keywords. And the reason for why we've done that is when we've gone through and
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through how to do your keyword research in 2026 for your Google Ads campaigns. All right, before I jump in and show you how to complete your keyword research, I do just want to add one little side note and that is obviously people do ask
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page. So, you do need to take into account what's on the landing page there as well. But what we've got through here, so we've got our three broad match keywords and rather than just going toothpaste or toothpaste for gingivitis,
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sometimes, what about exact match keywords? Do I still use them? Yes, I still do use a lot of exact match keywords and especially exact match only keywords. So, I do want to make that little note there. Although while I do
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Google sheet method, especially if you're doing this on behalf of a client or if you need to share this with a business partner or someone else in your team, you've got a really clean Google sheet that you can go through add give
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think that broad match keywords is a really, really core and important keyword match type that you need to be using.
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got all your keywords, you've got all your ad groups, and it's all in one nice Google sheet ready to go. And that's how you complete your keyword research for Google Ads campaigns in 2026. Now, if you also want to stay up to date with
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everything that's happening in Google Ads and to make sure you never miss out on any new update or any new strategy is working, if you follow the link in the description below, you can also sign up to join my newsletter. We release a
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newsletter every single Monday, giving you the latest updates in Google Ads. And if you want to watch all of the videos in this get Google ready playlist, remembering that this is only video two, so there's going to be more
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and more videos coming out, one or two new videos every week throughout December and January. And you can watch that full playlist right here. See you next time.
Topics:Google Adskeyword researchPerformance MaxAI modebroad match keywordsconversational searchGoogle Ads 2026digital marketingsearch campaignsAaron Young
