Perhaps,
you’ve heard the buzz about Google tracking store visits. Recently, the two giants, Facebook and
Google, have invested heavily on this tracking feature. Google first released its iterations back in
2014.
Since
it was first released, its ability to track in-store conversions has improved
steadily. It has become more accurate,
and Google expanded the locations that can use the feature.
What are Store
Visit Conversions?
Google
estimates conversion by checking the phone location of anyone who clicks on
your search ad and ends up visiting your website. Google tracks all the clicks regardless of
the devices used – smartphone, desktop computer, laptop, and tablet.
The
data gathered from Google tracking these conversions will help you understand
which ads and campaign send more traffic to your store. You will be able to optimize your ads and
maximize those that generate more return on investment. This is the goal – Google aims to provide you
with accurate data, so you will be able to calculate the value of the money you
spend on ads.
Does
this violate people’s privacy? No. Data gathered from in-store conversions are
based on anonymous data collected from people who have actually turned their
location history on. Matt Lawson,
Google’s Director of Performance Ads Marketing, says, “Simply being near a
store doesn’t automatically count as a visit.”
The amount of time that a person stays in a store, for instance, is
accounted for. A one-minute visit isn’t
a visit. Too much time spent in one
location may not be a visit as well.
What Does Google
Use to Measure Visits?
Google
Maps allow businesses to pinpoint exactly where they are located. The Google Ads team works with the Google
Maps team to match the location of hundreds of users using the data maps gather
from millions of businesses.
Google
utilizes a hybrid approach in order to measure visits. Some of the signals they use include:
• Data from Google Earth and Google Maps
• Mapping of coordinates of millions of
stores worldwide
• Wi-Fi and GPS location signals
• Data from Google queries
• Visitors behavior
• Over a million opt-in users providing
on-ground location history
Google
surveys over 5 million people to confirm if they’ve actually visited a
store. Using this information, they
update their algorithm as well, so they would get 99% accurate results.
Google
announced that it made an in-store visit to manufacturers in order to track
store visits. Nissan UK, for instance,
has been using visit conversion data to maximize their online ads. The data from Google helps them determine
which keywords and campaigns are generating leads and bringing people to their
dealerships. The data allows Nissan to
map the buying journey of their customers.
Google
has also started to use beacon technology, specifically Bluetooth Low Energy
(BLE) beacons, to improve its algorithm.
This will help with in-store analytics and visits. This would help people with smaller
businesses and locations to get more accurate data.
This
feature has been made available to advertisers in over 11 countries, and more
people will have access to it soon. If
you would like to store tracking customer visits, you should contact your
account manager. There are a few
requirements to track store visits:
• Multiple store locations in eligible
countries
• Generates thousands of ad clicks and
thousands of store visits each month
• Google Ads account should be linked to the
Google My Business account
• Must have enabled location extensions
Fairly
soon, you will find store visit conversions in the “All Conversions” column of
your campaign reports. You may want to
add the column to your reports. Click here Car Dealer Marketing
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