Google is already trying to make smartphones more intelligent
by tracking the online and offline activity of users of its services, and
offering them relevant alerts and notifications.
However, it looks like Google is also planning to leverage
the user’s offline activity to allow advertisers to target audience in better
way, if a new report is to be believed.
Google conducting a program that takes advantages of
samrtphone location data to find out when consumes visit physical stores,
according to a report by Digiday, which cities agency executives briefed on the
program by Google employees, as a source for this information.
The program, which is currently in beta, links users’s store
to their visits to their searches conducted on smartphones through Google, to
establish the efficacy of its mobile ads.
For instances, if a users searches for a product name in Google
mobile searches, with location tracking enabled, nearby stores that offers the
product can bid to get their ad served to the user above other ads. Google can
then connect and track the user ‘s location
data, and after comparing it with its listing, check if the user who was served
the ad actually visited the store after viewing it.
However, as with other location-based services, Google will
only be able to leverage this data if the user opts in to turn on location
services on his/her device. Google can track the user’s location through
Android devices and iOS devices with the Google app.
Through the program, Google will reportedly be able to offer
advertisers a better and more concrete estimate of their returns on ad
investments, and command higher ad rates for better targeting.
