Image source: Harvard Business Review

A big part of an advertising budget is spent online. About one-third, precisely. About half of that budget becomes Google's revenue.

A major advantage of online advertising over physical-world advertising is the ability to measure the results and see how ad exposure has impacted purchases. Both ad exposure and purchase, are trackable in the online world and can be assigned to each individual user - unlike physical purchases.

Google, the biggest player in the online advertising space, has a clear picture of any consumer thanks to knowing when consumers view ads on all of its platforms. Google also uses cookies and location data from mobile devices to track where consumers go - online and offline. But, where customers shops in the physical world, and how much, has been a mystery - until now.

Google has recently announced it will be able to track around 70% of credit and debit card transactions, and thus, connect online add exposure to in-store, offline purchase.

Read more about the topic in Harvard Business Review article here.

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