why do some of my [keywords] have square brackets?

[katiej]

Our Adwords account was not set up by me. Does anyone know why some keywords have [square brackets] around them for no apparent reason?

Thanks!

[bateman_ap]

[] denote Exact matches.
If your keywords are exact-matched, your ad won't show if the user's search includes any words besides the exact keyword or phrase that you've specified. Surround the keywords that you'd like to exact match with square brackets ([ ]). For example, [tennis clothing] will keep your ad from showing for searches on tennis clothing sales.

[jbinbpt]

Thats to force an exact match for the keywords.
More information here:
adwords.google.com/select/tips.html

[vibgyor79]

>>> Does anyone know why ...?

I would suggest that you ask your account manager about all the funny things he/she does to your campaigns. Hey... its your money! Ask the manager to keep you informed, say once a week, on the changes made.

And yeah, [] is called Exact keyword matching.

[katiej]

Great - thanks for the help everyone!