If you have been running Google Ads for a while, you have probably heard that close variants are there to “expand your reach.” Google’s pitch is that even if someone types a slightly different version of your keyword, it is still a good lead for your business. On the surface, that sounds helpful. Who doesn’t want more reach without extra work?
The problem is that in practice, close variants often do the opposite of what you expect. Instead of driving qualified traffic, they quietly drain your budget on clicks that look similar but have zero buying intent.
Take this example. You bid on the keyword “lawyer”. That seems clear enough. But Google decides that “laws” is close enough to count. Anyone searching “laws” might just be a student researching for a class, not someone hiring a lawyer. Yet you still pay for that click.
Or imagine bidding on “wedding planner” and getting matched to “wedding planning courses.” If you run an event planning business, that traffic is wasted from the first click.
The truth is, advertisers often underestimate how much these mismatches cost. A few irrelevant clicks a day does not look like a big deal. But spread across hundreds of keywords and campaigns, it can easily eat up 20 to 30 percent of your ad spend. That is money going straight to Google with nothing coming back to you.
This is why it is important to stop thinking of close variants as “extra reach.” Reach only matters if the people you reach are potential customers. If they are just noise, it is not reach, it is waste.
If you are serious about improving your campaigns, start paying attention to the details hiding in your search terms. That is where the silent leaks are happening. Close variants are not your friend, they are a quiet budget killer.