Rumors are circulating that Google may be enabling first-party data, namely customer email lists, for search advertisers in 2015. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, advertisers have been talking with Google about using first-party data to target ads in search results.
According to Wall Street Journal:
Here’s an example of how Google’s ads would work, according to the people familiar with the matter: An office-supply retailer would give Google the email addresses of recent printer purchasers. The retailer could then bid to show ads when those people search for printer ink on google.com. The retailer could also tailor its Google ads based on other information it knows about the customer, including age, gender or prior purchases.
The people familiar with the matter mentioned above are anonymous. The anonymous sources also mention that this type of first-party data advertising would only work on the search network and would not include display advertising or banner ads. There is additional speculation that this feature would use email addresses from Gmail to target searchers.
Google is also considering introducing a new form of retargeting similar to Facebook’s custom audiences feature. The success of custom audiences helped Facebook grow ad revenue 65% in 2014 while Google only grew its ad revenue by 17%.
To compete with Facebook advertising, Google needs to introduce new ways for advertisers to reach their target audience other than through keyword targeting, and the proposed new features will give Google advertisers just that.
With the many new and advanced ways advertisers are able to reach their target audience, it’s important for advertisers to also consider advanced ways to track the leads they generate. Call tracking, paired with marketing automation, CRM, and other solutions, help advertisers track every lead they generate – from paid search, display advertising, SEO and much more. To learn more about tracking leads from paid search and organic search download, “The Marketers Guide to Call Tracking for Google SEO and PPC.”