Search Match can be useful because it shows how Apple connects your app to user queries. It can also waste budget if you treat every matched term as a good keyword.
Use it for discovery, not control
Search Match is best for learning. Let it find query language, then move promising terms into exact match where you can control bids and measure performance.
Judge terms by intent
A search term with taps is not automatically a good metadata target. Ask whether the user intent matches your app, whether conversion is reasonable, and whether the term belongs in your positioning.
Protect the campaign with negatives
Add negative keywords for irrelevant categories, competitor names you do not want to buy, and broad terms that spend without learning.
Feed the winners into ASO
When a term produces impressions, taps, installs, and a clean conversion signal, consider it for subtitle, keyword field, screenshot captions, or a custom product page.
Start with a learning budget
Treat Search Match as research. Keep the budget contained, review search terms frequently, and define what makes a term worth keeping: taps, installs, trials, revenue, or strong relevance.
Move winners into exact match
When a term shows useful intent, move it into an exact-match campaign where bid, budget, and reporting are cleaner. Discovery should find terms; exact match should test and scale them.
Feed ASO only with qualified terms
A Search Match term belongs in ASO only when it has relevant intent, reachable competitors, product-page proof, and evidence that users convert after the tap.