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.
Tutorial video. 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 appliance
 buy appliances wholesale
+
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
" "
Matches the exact number of words. Ads are triggered by search queries that contain the keyword without any additional words.
Repeated words are considered one word.
"buy cars"
 buy car
 car buy
 buy red car
"buy car in showroom in moscow"
More information
 buy car at showroom moscow
 buy showroom car in moscow
 buy kia car showroom moscow
[]
Matches the order of words. This operate will match any of grammatical forms and stop words found inside the [].
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
() and |
Groups words in complex search queries.
buy car (cheap|online)
 buy car cheap
 buy car online
In the keyword statistics service, operators only work on the By keyword and By region tabs.

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 exampleWhen 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).
[biking !gear]
 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 -!pruning
 buy prunes
 buy prunes online
 buy pruning shears
 buy pruning tools