How-to · Updated October 12, 2026
Fix a duplicate keyword warning in Google Ads
Updated October 12, 2026
10 minutes
Google Ads Editor flags two or more keywords with the same text and match type in the same ad group as an error. Find that copy and keep one. To add another match type, wrap it in square brackets for exact or quotation marks for phrase. Google says one keyword in several match types shouldn't raise costs.
Before you start
- Standard or Admin access to the Google Ads account, since adding or removing a keyword is a campaign edit.
- The keyword exactly as you typed it, with any brackets or quotation marks, and the ad group you were adding it to.
- Google Ads Editor, only if you want to clear duplicates across the whole account at once.
Find the copy that already exists
Google Ads Editor's rule is the test: two or more keywords with the same text and match type in the same ad group are an error. The same text in another match type, or in another ad group, is not a duplicate.
- Click Campaigns, open Audiences, keywords, and content and click Search keywords (some Google pages call it Keywords). Open the campaign and ad group you were adding to.
- Find the keyword and check its match type: exact match keywords show in square brackets, phrase match in quotation marks, and broad match has no symbols.
- Compare the text the way Google compares it. Periods are not considered, so Fifth Ave. and Fifth Ave are the same keyword. A site: operator is removed, and plus signs are usually ignored. Text that differs only in those ways is a duplicate. Google also treats very similar broad match keywords, such as red car and car red, as duplicates and uses only the one with the higher Ad Rank.
- Then open the Negative search keywords tab for the same ad group. Editor also flags a keyword that is the same as a negative keyword in its ad group. Google says a negative that overlaps a keyword stops the ad showing.
Keep one copy
Keep one copy of each keyword, and decide whether you meant the same keyword, a different match type, or a negative.
- Same text, same match type, same ad group: you already have the keyword. Cancel the new one, or tick one of the two rows, click Edit, choose Remove, then Confirm.
- You meant a different match type: add the keyword again with the symbols for the type you want, [like this] for exact or "like this" for phrase. Typed with no symbols, a keyword is broad match, which is Google's default.
- The same text is also a negative in the ad group: decide which one you want. To let the keyword serve, remove or narrow the negative. To keep blocking the search, do not add the keyword.
The same text in a second ad group is allowed. Google says that when several similar keywords could match one search, you have only one bid in the auction, so the copies do not bid against each other.
Clear duplicates across the account in Google Ads Editor
Google Ads Editor finds and removes duplicates across the whole account, which helps when a bulk upload or a copied campaign left many behind.
- If you will pick copies by a metric such as CTR, download statistics for the period first.
- Select Tools, then Find duplicate keywords. Tick the account name to search everything, or pick campaigns or ad groups.
- Set the criteria: Word order, Match types and Location of duplicates, and leave the optional Hide duplicates as it is. Choose settings that look for the same match type in the same ad group, so other match types are not swept up. Click Find duplicate keywords.
- Click Select duplicates by... and choose a rule, such as CTR and lowest, to tick the weaker copy in each set. Editor makes no selection where two copies tie, and leaves out keywords with no statistics downloaded, so look through what is left.
- Remove the selected keywords, click Exit duplicates mode and post the changes to the account.
Check it worked
On Search keywords, filter to the ad group and confirm each text and match type pair appears once. If you meant a different match type, add it with its symbols; it should save without a duplicate warning.
In Editor, click the search menu icon, then View filters, then Items with errors or warnings. No keyword row should still show a duplicate or conflict warning before you post.
The same keyword in broad, phrase and exact match
This is not a duplicate, and Google says having the same keyword in different match types "shouldn't increase your costs or decrease performance in any way." Google also says a broad match keyword already matches every search its phrase and exact versions match, plus more, so the extra copies add little reach.
There is one reason to keep an exact copy: Google prioritizes an exact match keyword identical to the search over any broad or phrase keyword and over Performance Max. If you want a particular search to land in a particular ad group, an exact copy there can help steer it, as long as the search is identical to the keyword.
Should you apply the Remove redundant keywords recommendation?
Google offers Remove redundant keywords when an ad group holds redundant keywords with the same destination and bid strategy, and says it can include keywords across different match types. Google frames it as making the account easier to manage. Since Google says different match types shouldn't raise costs, applying it is housekeeping, not a fix; skip it for any exact copy you keep on purpose.