More On Google Clicks to In-Store Purchase Links

Considerable question, continued here with input from a number of experts.   My answer is yes, not just by this first step, but following steps that will use this data to get much higher quality patterns in the purchase data.

Will Google change the game by linking clicks to in-store purchases?  by Tom Ryan
Google last week introduced new tools to better measure the effectiveness of digital ads including linking ads to in-store purchases.

At its annual Google Marketing Next advertiser conference, officials introduced Google Attribution, which uses machine learning to provide data-driven insights about each step in the consumer journey. The free tool integrates with AdWords, Google Analytics and DoubleClick Search to determine how much credit to assign to each step in the consumer journey.

“It analyzes your account’s unique conversion patterns, comparing the paths of customers who convert to those who don’t, so you get results that accurately represent your business,” wrote Sridhar Ramaswamy, SVP of ads & commerce, in a blog post.  .... " 

Linking Ads in Search to Offline Purchase

Quite a revolutionary thing happening this week, Google indicates that it can link an advertisement in their systems directly to off-line purchases.   Enabled by transaction analysis.   Leading to better measurement of success and more accurate pricing of ads.   Well described in the WaPo: 

" .... Google has begun using billions of credit-card transaction records to prove that its online ads are prompting people to make purchases – even when they happen offline in brick-and-mortar stores, the company said Tuesday.

The advance allows Google to determine how many sales have been generated by digital ad campaigns, a goal that industry insiders have long described as “the holy grail” of online advertising. But the announcement also renewed long-standing privacy complaints about how the company uses personal information.  .... " 

HBR also discusses.