When Google saw an increase in people shopping online in 2020 they realised that people weren’t just looking for things to buy; they were also looking for new, safer ways to shop in their local communities. 

As a result, they accelerated their delivery of a product road map for local inventory ads and they also launched curbside pickup which is designed to provide value to both shoppers and businesses.

Consumer buying behaviour has changed dramatically as more people plan their purchases by going online to research and explore their options first.

This has led Google to prioritise 3 key areas for their product investment: privacy, measurement, and automation.

Here’s why:

People’s expectations for privacy online are higher than ever and will only continue to rise as they use digital tools to manage more aspects of their lives. 

Secondly, it’s critical that companies such as Google future-proof measurement given that cookies will be phased out in the years ahead meaning that the future of measurement will centre on consented first-party data first party data that’s collected directly.

As such, modeling techniques that allow brands and marketers to fill gaps in the customer journey, using privacy-safe techniques like aggregation will become the new normal, because with more privacy and less data a greater premium on being smarter with the data that is available will be extremely valuable.

Finally, with more people online than ever before and it’s set to increase, automation has never been more important.

 As a result, investment in automation is critical as this remains the best way to unlock growth, by analysing millions of signals to help show the right message to the right people in the moments that matter. 

An interesting road ahead for professional marketers!