Abstract: A method and a system are provided for sponsored search ad bidding based on user query intent and matching one or more ads to a user's query intent. In one example, the system receives a bid intent of an advertiser for an ad, a query intent of a user, a click-through rate for the bid intent, and a bid value for the ad. The system generates a proximity value for the ad by calculating a proximity between the bid intent of the advertiser and the query intent of the user. The system generates an effective bid value for the ad by using the click-through rate for the bid intent, the bid value for the ad, and the proximity value for the ad. The system ranks the ad among other ads by using the effective bid value for the ad, wherein the ranking is based on the query intent of the user.