SEO – Google expands offline attribution and launches in-store sales measurement

Earlier this week at Google Marketing Next event in San Francisco the company made a number of provocative and important announcements. It announced a new, free multi-touch attribution tool called Google Attribution. It also announced location extensions for YouTube and in-store sales measurement for AdWords.

Google is increasingly focused on showing advertisers how the ads on its network holistically impact consumer purchase activity, including and especially in the real-world.

To that end, location extensions are coming to YouTube. That means address/map location, hours, photos, call buttons and other information will be available for YouTube ads. Store visits measurement will also be available soon for YouTube campaigns. Google Director of Product Management, Kishore Kanakamedela, said that QSR chain Wendy’s was able to track over 1 million store visits driven by video ads during a campaign run late last year.

Beyond store visits analytics Google is expanding in-store sales measurement, which it has been testing since 2014.

[Read the full article on Marketing Land.]

About The Author

Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor at Search Engine Land. He writes a personal blog, Screenwerk, about connecting the dots between digital media and real-world consumer behavior. He is also VP of Strategy and Insights for the Local Search Association. Follow him on Twitter or find him at Google+.