Symbols and operators

In Yandex Direct, you can use special symbols and operators to refine a keyword, negative keyword or search query in the keyword statistics service. You can combine operators.

Video tutorial. How to use match types

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In your ad text you can use mathematical symbols (such as +, -, =, /, * and %), punctuation marks, apostrophes and hashtags. The use of these characters must be logical.

Certain characters in ads can work as operators. For example #word# will function as a placeholder so that a keyword appears in place of the word that is nested between ##.

How operators work

The table below lists all the operators. It also shows examples of keywords and search queries that will or will not trigger your ads.

Operator

What it does

Keyword example

When we show ads

!

Matches the form of the word (case, number, and tense).

buy !apples wholesale

buy wholesale apples

buy Apple wholesale

buy a !dog

buy a dog

buy dog food

buy dogs

water vessels !transportation

water vessels transportation

transportation by water vessels

buy a !vase

buy vase

buy VAZ

+

Matches stop words (auxiliary parts of speech, pronouns, and any words that do not add meaning on their own).

work +from home

work from home

work at home

work home

+if the computer shuts down

if computer shuts down

to shut down the computer

cream +for shaving

cream for shaving

shaving cream

drill +for metal

drill for metal

metal drill

" "

Matches the exact number of words. Ads are triggered by search queries that contain the keyword without any additional words.

"buy cars"

buy car

car buy

buy red car

"buy car in showroom
moscow"

buy car at showroom moscow

buy car in showroom moscow

"a double room in the hotel"

twin room in a hotel

double room in a hotel

twin room in an inexpensive hotel

"app for cards"

app for cards

app for discount cards

[]

Matches the order of words. This operator will match any grammatical forms and stop words found inside the brackets.

tickets [from london to paris]

tickets from london to paris

airline tickets from london to paris

tickets from paris to london

tickets london paris

tickets from london to CDG paris

tickets [london paris]

tickets london paris

flight tickets london paris

cheap tickets london paris

cost of tickets london paris

tickets from london to paris

tickets paris london

tickets from london to paris cheap

[treatment of complications]

treatment of complications

complications of treatment

[school of painting]

school of painting

school of painting oils

kanō school painting

() and |

Groups words in complex search queries.

buy car (cheap|online)

buy car cheap

buy car online

order food (sushi|pizza)

order food rolls

order food pizza

buy (coat|jacket)

buy coat

buy jacket

To ensure that stop words are part of the keyword, you can enforce them using the “+” or “!” operators, although this is optional. Yandex Direct considers how stop words affect the meaning of keywords and excludes impressions for irrelevant queries.

In Wordstat, operators work on the By keyword and By region tabs, on the Query history tab, only the + operator works.

Recommendations for use

If you don't use operators, your ad might be triggered by search queries that aren't related to your product or service. The table below shows examples of cases when operators should be used.

Case

Keyword example When we show ads

You sell gear (clothing and accessories) for cross-country cycling, and you don't want to show ads to people looking for gears (spare parts).

[!gear for cycling]

biking gear

bike gear

bicycle gears

gears for bikes

You don't want to show an ad for pruning shears to people who are looking for prunes.

buy !prunes

buy prunes

buy pruning shears

buy pruning shears

buy pruning tools

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