Google has announced a major new search algorithm that enables retailers to track consumers across devices. The move follows hot on the heels of another big change to search: semantics.
The clue might be in the name. Estimated Total Conversions. It's guesswork. But it could bring the search giant closer to the zero moment of truth.
The play is designed to give marketers more insight into how AdWords drives conversions. The problem for Google, and marketers, is that there is no universal cookie, so tracking user engagement and purchases across devices is tricky. Google said it has been calculating cross-device conversion from sample data of users signed in across multiple devices. It's been encouraging users to sign in for a while, and rewarding them with synchronised tools across all of their devices.
Now it hopes to leverage the data as part of plan to better attribute the path to conversion.
It's arguably also a social play given the amount of consumer activity taking place on mobile. Facebook, which is moving towards search of sorts, is also trying to win the battle for brand engagement and conversion. Both platforms need to prove they can engage with audiences, track and deliver RoI.
Google said it will soon start to integrate conversion types like phone calls and store visits as well as conversions from ads on its search and display network.
While Google has 90% of the search market, there remains a degree of scepticism about the move within media agencies. One agency search head said that while it could give greater visibility within the Google ecosystem, there were other tracking systems out there.
For those that were using AdWords conversion tracking, "this is potentially a huge leap forward in understanding how their target audience is interacting with their brand across devices within Google", said Dan Robins, head of search at OMD. But he suggested there may be reservations from clients about sharing that level of data.
"Google is clearly creating more incentive for advertisers to become fully ingrained within their stack of products, highlighted by AdWords and Google Analytics," he added.
The conversions play follows hot on the heels of another major search announcement by Google. Hummingbird, slipped out late last month, is an algorithmic shift into semantic search. Find out exactly what that means in this excellent FAQ.
In a nutshell, Google is shifting to search focusing on user intent. That could be huge for brands.
It could also have a major impact for less scrupulous search engine marketers that for many years have been used to gaming the system.
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