Google — which is claimed to make $100m-a-day from its online advertising — is about to launch a programme linking our online activity with what we do in real life.
Bridging that gap has long been the Holy Grail for advertising and marketing companies. Now the internet search giant claims to be able to continuously track a smartphone’s location, wherever it goes and even when it is not running a Google application.
Although there are reports Google has been secretly testing the system for months, it says it is about to release a programme that uses smartphone location data to determine when consumers visit stores and other business premises, it then links any search engine results to bring potential buyers and sellers together.
A High Street department store or menswear shop could, for example, pay to have its listing paired with any local searches. When someone conducts a search for “shirts” that person’s location is matched with Google’s database of business listings and users are shown the location of their nearest retailer selling shirts. The system would also compare search results with actual visits to suggested stores allowing clients to evaluate advertising campaigns.
On average we spend more than 15 hours each week using mobile sites and apps to research our shopping. Almost 70 per cent of us expect a business to be within five miles of where we live and 55 per cent want to be able to buy something within an hour of finding it on the internet.
“People are constantly connected, using multiple devices throughout the day to shop, communicate and stay entertained,” Google claimed in a recent Inside AdWords blog post.
“Of multi-device consumers, over 90pc move between several screens for everyday activities like booking a hotel or shopping for electronics.
“As consumers are increasingly on the go and switching between devices, marketers are telling us they want to see a more complete and accurate picture of how their online advertising drives conversions … Conversions can come in many forms: visits to stores, phone calls, app downloads, website sales or purchases made after consulting various devices. Getting better insight into these complex purchase paths can help you optimise your online advertising and allocate budget more effectively.”
It’s not just Google’s mobile search engine which collects location data. Shopping trips can also be tracked if users open their Chrome, Gmail, Google+ or Google Maps app or sign in to their Google account.
Privacy campaigners are predictably wary of Google’s latest offering. “It’s no surprise that Google wants to add to its online tracking with snooping on our real-world location to build a more detailed picture of our lives,” said Nick Pickles, director of Big Brother Watch.
“People need to be given a clear choice about when they share their location data, and one vague opt-in when using a map shouldn’t give Google carte blanche to then constantly track our location.”
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