Proving Digital Advertising's ROI

To prove the effectiveness of online advertising, Google plans to use data from billions of credit and debit card transactions to show that online ads drive consumers to brick-and-mortar retailers, reported the Washington Post.

 

Google announced May 23 that it assembles troves of personal data from smart devices and personal computers, including where someone is located via Google Maps and other applications, the search terms that customers use in a Google search and customer web browsing behavior.  Google uses that information to identify individuals when they log into Google services. 

 

Google has applied for patents for newly developed mathematical formulas that protect consumer privacy when the company matches a shopper from online behavior to purchasing at a brick-and-mortar store.  Google claims its formulas convert the consumer's name and other personal information into a string of numbers that make it impossible for Google or anyone else to know the names of shoppers or for storeowners to know the names of Google users.  What Google claims it can prove is that a match has been made between an online search and a brick-and-mortar purchase. Additionally Google does not know what was purchased; it only will know how much was spent.

 

Privacy concerns abound with this new development.  Many consumers most likely did not realize that when they signed up for Gmail, Google Search, Chrome or Google Plan, they gave Google permission to share their data with third parties. Other ways that third parties receive permission to obtain data is through loyalty programs and through location data.  GPS signals from smart phones and smart devices are tracked.

 

Google's goal is to prove online advertising prompts brick-and-mortar purchases so it can capture a much larger share of advertising dollars that are currently dedicated to television.  Stay tuned.