Foursquare has developed a tool that can measure the foot traffic generated by digital ads, connecting ads to actual visits to stores.
The new tool, called Attribution Powered by Foursquare, uses data on 1.3 million active users who have agreed to leave their location-sharing feature on at all times, allowing for offline tracking.
It works by comparing consumer behaviour of people who are exposed to digital advertising against those who aren't.
For example, users who have seen an ad for TGI Fridays are tracked to see if there is an uplift in visits to the restaurant and the results are compared to a similar-sized group who haven't seen the ad.
Foursquare plans to use the technology on all digital ads across the web and mobile.
The new technology could become a powerful tool for marketers to monitor the effectiveness of digital campaigns on foot traffic.
It has tested the technology on TGI Fridays, spirits company Brown-Forman, Flipboard and programmatic advertising companies Drawbridge and Adelphic.
In an early test, Flipboard said it was able show an advertiser their campaign resulted in a 12% incremental lift.
Foursquare has more than 50 million users worldwide.
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