Google adds Smart Bidding for store sales to optimize bids for offline transactions

Searches for in-store transactions have grown year over year, according to data from Google. ” People looking for things like “‘open now near me’ have grown globally by more than 400%,” said a Google help document. As a result, the company announced today that advertisers can add Smart Bidder for store sales to help increase those in-person visits from customers who are ready to buy.

How it works. “Advertisers can upload their first-party, transaction data in a privacy-safe way to optimize for store sales conversions for Search and Shopping campaigns—with the goal of driving additional sales in stores,” said Google.

Best practices. Along with the announcement, Google linked a list of best practices to enhance the use of this feature for advertisers looking to drive offline sales via online searches:

• Build out your Google Business profile.
• Work to measure the offline value of your online ads.
• Optimize your campaigns for maximum return from both online and offline conversions.
• Highlight your locations and communicate your store information, business offerings, promotions and more to nearby customers when they search, browse or navigate on Google Search, Maps, YouTube and the Google Display Network.

Why we care. With holiday shopping season in full swing, being able to better optimize campaigns for in-store shoppers means the opportunity to catch searchers when they’re ready to buy. Sometimes getting the conversion is all about being in the right place in SERPs at the right time, and this gives advertisers the opportunity to capture that demand.