After a year in beta, Google officially launched its “remarketing” tool this week. Now, those marketers using AdWords can continue targeting consumers well after they’ve left a brand’s website and regardless if their visit converted into a sale.
In his comment to DM News, Google product manager Aitan Weinberg says that remarketing can be used in conjunction with various Google products such as search marketing. He explains, “For example, an advertiser could leverage search to drive traffic to its site, and then later use remarketing to target those people that visited its site when they are on a contextually similar site.”
While remarketing (or retargeting) is perhaps a boon to brands, including those who’ve already leveraged it like InterContinental Hotels and Samsung, there is that big red flag which is consumer privacy. Gawker makes a good point, saying, “The ad banners on every site you visit could become a highly visible, blinking archive of every corner of the internet you’ve stepped in, whether you’d like to be reminded of it or not.”
Then of course, there’s the issue of opting out, which isn’t the easiest thing to do according to Peter Kafka at All Things D, who already said last year during beta that Google will likely have to contend with Congress and privacy advocates. We had a hard enough time understanding Google’s business product manager for trust and safety Shuman Ghosemajumder visually explain it when he was discussing the company’s less-honed “interest-based” advertising feature in the clip after the jump.
More: “Buying Brand Keywords Through Google Legal in EU”