Conversions API: Google Now Watches What You Buy Offline As Well

Google is now taking steps that will allow it to begin tracking your activities out in the real world as well. Credit:Reuters

Tracking someone's online behavior is not news anymore but Google is now taking steps that will allow it to track your activities out in the real world as well. With its new Conversions API, Google merges offline consumer info with online intelligence that allows it to utilize data uploaded by retailers about the offline purchases of their customers to reach them with more targeted ads.

To be precise, the new Conversions API helps advertisers and retailers to automatically upload the information they have gathered about your in-store conversions, call-tracking, and other offline activity. The information can even include which discounts you were taking advantage of, if you have made any returns, and if you have ever committed a fraud etc. The search engine will compile this information along with the other data the company has garnered about you from online activities, with its advertising arm DoubleClick. Documenting all these data, Google will have an effective, enhanced, powerful and targeted advertising tool.

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Google said the Conversions API will let businesses build all-encompassing user profiles including what users search online and what they purchase outside. "We understand that online advertising also fuels offline conversions. To capture these lost conversions and bring offline into your online world, we're announcing the open beta of our Conversions API for uploading offline conversion automatically," Google announced .

 "The Conversions API feature allows advertisers using DoubleClick Search to factor in conversions that occurred offline for transactions that started online from users interacting with their online search ads," the search engine further explained in its blogpost.

To understand it better, Geek explained it in a much simpler way. So how does the Conversions API actually work? Now if you do a Google search for a new TV, the search engine will bring out many results with TV ads. Now, even after you buy a TV from a retail store out in the street, you will continue getting the TV ads displayed by DoubleClick whenever you go online. However, with the new API, DoubleClick can be updated with the information that you have already bought that TV offline. So, it will start showing new, different ads instead.