Symbols and operators

In Yandex Direct, you can use special characters and operators to refine a keyword, negative keyword, or search query in Wordstat. You can combine operators.

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# functions as a placeholder so that a keyword appears in place of the word that is nested between ##.

How operators work

The tables below list all operators and provide examples of keywords and search queries that will or will not trigger your ads.

• ! operator matches the form of the word (case, number, and tense).

  Keyword example	When we show ads
  buy !apples wholesale	buy wholesale appliance buy appliances wholesale
  buy a !dog	buy a dog buy food for dogs buy dogs
  water vessels !transportation	water vessels transportation transportation by water vessels
  buy a !vase	buy glasses buy glass

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

  Keyword example	When we show ads
  work +from home	work from home work around the home work at home
  +if the computer shuts down	if the computer shuts down to shut down the computer
  +pre shave cream	pre shave cream after shave cream
  drill +for metal	drill bit for metal drill bit of metal

• " " operator matches the exact number of words. Ads are triggered by search queries that contain the keyword without any additional words.

  Keyword example	When we show ads
  "buy cars"	buy car car buy buy red car
  "buy car at showroom Moscow"	buy car at showroom moscow buy car in showroom moscow
  "a double room in the hotel"	a double room in the hotel double room in a hotel twin room in an inexpensive hotel
  "app for cards"	app for cards app for discount cards

• [] operator matches the order of words. This operator will match any grammatical forms and stop words found inside the brackets.

  Keyword example	When we show ads
  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 cheap to paris
  tickets [london paris]	tickets london paris airline tickets london paris tickets london paris cheap cost of tickets london paris tickets from london to paris tickets paris london tickets from london cheap to paris
  [treatment of complications]	treatment of complications complications of treatment
  [school of painting]	school of painting school of oil painting kanō school painting

• () and | operators group words in complex queries.

  Keyword example	When we show ads
  buy car (cheap|online)	buy car cheap buy mercedes car
  order food (rolls|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 gear for biking trips 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 prunes online buy pruning shears buy pruning tools

Questions?