Google now knows when you buy things — even off the internet

Most internet users are used to targeted Google ads following them around the internet. Those new speakers you were scoping from Best Buy? An ad for them now miraculously appears on your local newspaper’s site as you read the headlines, a subtle reminder you definitely need the ability to play Despacito with appropriate bass levels.

Google could tell when you bought something, which allowed the company to tell advertisers how successful the ads actually were at getting people to make purchases. And now Google has the ability to track what you buy off the internet, too.

A new feature will allow the internet giant to tell when you go into a brick-and-mortar store and purchase an item you’d been researching online. This is possible due to partnerships between Google and major credit and debit card companies, which will allow purchases to be matched to someone’s online identity. Those partnerships encompass around 70 percent of all credit and debit card transactions.

No personal information, like names or credit card numbers, are revealed, according to Tech Times. But credit card companies give Google encrypted information which Google can compare to profiles of people who saw related ads on the internet. And it’s remarkably easy to identify people based upon only a few pieces of information.

Users who don’t want Google tracking their purchases in this way can avoid it by logging out of Google accounts before online shopping or turning off search history. Using good, old-fashioned cash also avoids the possibility your purchases will be tracked.

Advertisers want to know if their campaigns and the ads they pay for actually convert into revenue for them, which is easy to track online but was previously impossible to know if someone researching a product online actually went out and bought it from a physical store. Data gathered from online search history, smartphone apps and location tracking can all help advertisers paint a picture of how better to target you.

This means Google can track anonymous user profiles using credit card and location data. For example, the company will know if someone saw ads for a product and then went out and bought it at a location near where they’ve been geolocated by Google. By presenting this information to advertisers, over time Google can prove ad campaigns work and companies should spend more money.

Google calls “the convergences of mobile, data and machine learning” an “important moment for marketers.”

“Only Google has the advanced machine learning and mapping technology to help you accurately measure store visits at scale and use these insights to deliver better local ad experiences,” Google said in a statement to advertisers. “In the coming months, we’ll be rolling out store sales measurement at the device and campaign levels. This will allow you to measure in-store revenue in addition to the store visits delivered by your Search and Shopping ads.”

This story was originally published May 24, 2017 at 9:59 AM with the headline "Google now knows when you buy things — even off the internet."