Starting yesterday, the Estimated Total Conversions feature in Google AdWords now measures conversions for Display campaigns that start online and end in app, or vice versa.
Google links users‘ devices, so marketers can tell if a consumer clicks an ad for something on their desktop browser and then purchases them in an app later. The cross-device conversions are based on aggregated, anonymized data from a select group of Google users; that data is then extrapolated to represent the general public.
“People are living their lives online, seamlessly moving between apps and websites to shop, communicate, and stay entertained,” Levent Besik, product manager for the Google Display Network, wrote in an Inside AdWords blog post. “In order for marketers to understand how campaigns are performing, you need to measure activities that span apps and websites.”
In-app conversion tracking was initially only available for Android devices, but the enhancement is compatible with AdWords, as well.