GOOGLE SEEKS TO TIE ONLINE ADS TO REAL-WORLD BUYS

Firm tests ‘store sales measurement solution’ amid search of advertisers’ ‘holy grail’

were working.

Real-world customer email addresses or loyalty plan information could be woven with Google data from services such as AdWords to provide a “complete view” of marketing performance, according to the company.

Using artificial intelligence, or machine learning, to better analyse and understand consumer behaviour to target ads and promote sales was a major theme of the conference.

For several years now, AdWords had enabled advertisers to measure visits to real-world stores stemming from online campaigns, according to Google senior vice-president Sridhar Ramaswamy.

“Still, measuring store visits is just one part of the equation,” said Sridhar. “You also need insights into how your online ads drive sales for your business.”

Real-world transactions matched back to Google ads were handed in a “secure and privacysafe way”, with store sales information reported in aggregated and anonymised forms to protect individual privacy, said the firm.

Tying online activity to offline shopping decisions has been a “holy grail” for advertisers for quite some time, and comes with worrisome privacy implications, says ACLU senior policy analyst Jay Stanley.