Google aims to connect online ads to physical stores

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google already monitors your online shopping — but now it's also keeping an eye on what you're buying in physical stores to try to sell more digital advertising.

Google's computers will be trying to connect the dots between what people look at after clicking on an online ad and what they purchase with their credit and debit cards at one of the advertiser's brick-and-mortar stores.

[...] if someone searching for a pair of running shoes online clicked on an ad from a sporting goods store but didn't buy anything, an advertiser might initially conclude that the ad was a waste of money.

[...] it could also deepen worries among privacy watchdogs, who are already concerned about the digital dossiers that Google has compiled on users of its search engine and other services, including Gmail, YouTube and Android.

Google says its computers can collect identifying data triggered by online clicks and match it with other identifying information compiled by merchants and the issuers of credit and debit cards to figure out when a digital ad contributes to an offline purchase.