Google Ads Adds Two New Ways to Prove Ads Are Driving Store Visits
A Performance Max toggle now prioritises nearby shoppers, and a Data Manager update lets you plug in your own sales data, both ahead of the holiday rush.
Two features, one goal: prove ads bring people through the door
Google Ads Liaison Ginny Marvin confirmed both updates on 8 September, Local Customer Optimization for Performance Max store goals campaigns, and Store Sales in Data Manager. Both are aimed at making it easier to drive and measure offline sales ahead of the holiday season.
Why it matters if you have a physical location
Most small business owners can't easily tell whether their ads bring in real customers or just clicks, Local Customer Optimization targets people who are actively navigating, planning a trip, or searching nearby on Maps, Waze or Search, in other words, people close to walking through your door. Store Sales in Data Manager closes the loop by letting you feed your own sales records back into Google Ads, so you can see which campaigns actually led to a sale, not just a visit.
What to check this week
If you run a Performance Max campaign for store visits, this is worth five minutes,
- ✓If you already run Performance Max for store goals, go to your campaign settings and look for the new Local Customer Optimization toggle under budget and bidding.
- ✓It only works for store visit, store sales, contact or directions goals, not for online sales or Merchant Center product campaigns.
- ✓If you track in-store sales in a CRM or a simple spreadsheet, keep that data organised now, Store Sales in Data Manager is rolling out over the coming weeks and will let you connect it directly.
Common questions
Do I need Merchant Center to use Local Customer Optimization?
No, and in fact it's the opposite. The feature isn't compatible with Performance Max campaigns that advertise products from a Merchant Center account. It's built for offline goals like store visits, calls and directions.
When will Store Sales in Data Manager be available?
Google says it's rolling out in the coming weeks. If you already track sales in a CRM or spreadsheet, there's nothing to set up yet, just keep that data clean and ready to connect once it lands in your account.
Luca Bonura started selling online at 17 and funded his first business with 4:30am shifts in a bakery. He built his own product brand, watched it fail, and rebuilt as a freelance performance marketer for everyone from small shops to HelloFresh. Seeing how hard growth is even for people inside the industry, he founded Adlarion. He writes The Small Business Digest in plain English: the news he wished he'd had when starting out.
More from Luca →