For many brick-and-mortar businesses, such as car dealerships, conversion tracking is very important in measuring the success of a PPC campaign. In recent years Adwords has introduced various conversion types to give advertisers even more insight into the real impact of their paid search campaigns. The most recent conversion type to be released was cross-device conversions. Cross-device conversions addressed the nature of the multi-screen lifestyle that we currently live in where a user may see an advertisement on their mobile phone, but later complete the conversion on a different screen, such as their desktop PC.
Google is currently testing out a new conversion type to bridge the gap between online advertising and the cash register of a brick-and-mortar business. They launched a pilot program called “In-Store Attribution Transaction Reporting In Adwords” with six advertisers. Essentially, the pilot program tracked conversions from online activity to in-store sales by matching anonymous tracking cookies on users computers to in-store sales information collected by third party providers. Here’s a breakdown of how the process works:
A user clicks on an online ad > Google sends an anonymous “click ID” to the advertiser and that matches the cookie on the user’s computer > Days or weeks later that user may buy the product in the retailer’s store > The third party data company takes that purchase and links it back to the user’s cookie > The cookie is linked to Google’s click ID
With this new conversion tracking type, Google is able to tell Adwords advertisers which ads generated in-store sales and how much they generated. For those worried about Big Brother watching over your shoulder, the system is designed so that Google never knows the identity of the user.
So what does this mean for brick-and-mortar businesses, such as car dealerships, that do online advertising? Well, it means greater insights into the effectiveness of their online advertising budget. A dealership will be able to get more accurate data on what brought their customers into the showroom floor.
In-store conversion tracking is currently in the testing phase and there’s no word on when it will be added to Adwords. When it is finally released, it’ll be an exciting game changer that will narrow the divide between online ads and the cash register.
