Report: Google partnering w/ retailers for new ad-targeting method in Search

The Wall Street Journal reports that Google is currently in talks to allow advertisers to target ads towards existing customers in search results. According to the report, Google has approached advertisers with the idea of them sharing customer information that Google would then use to target the ads.

The basic goal of the service is simple. Advertisers would share information such as email addresses with Google. For instance, if someone makes a printer purchase from an office-supply retailer, the retailer could give the email address of the customer to Google. From there, the retailer could bid to show ads to those customers when they search for a related product, like printer ink, on Google.

Google is said to be launching this new ad-targeting method later this year or early next year. At launch, this ad-targeting strategy would be limited to search results and would not include banner ads, the report claims. Facebook launched a similar ad-targeting strategy in 2012, which dramatically increased its ad revenue by 65 percent.

The ads would give marketers another way to reach customers when they are searching for products rather than running more general ads when they aren’t necessarily shopping. The data could also help both Google and advertisers better understand the relationship between online ads and consumers’ real-world activities and purchases.

This new ad-targeting method highlights Google’s continued goal at showing the most relevant ads possible. Google earlier this year launched an ad-targeting algorithm for its Fiber TV service in Kansas City based on viewing history.