Google Adwords advertisers rejoice! You will soon be able to remarket to logged-in Google users when they switch devices.

Moving with the times

It might surprise you, given Google’s usual penchant for genius, but the world leader in search has so far been relying solely on cookies and mobile IDs to track users when they click an Adwords advertisment.

This method has serious limitations for remarketing: If you visit the same advertiser site on two devices—even while logged in to your Google account—you're essentially tracked as two different users. So, users that visit an advertiser site on their mobile phone, for example, cannot be retargeted on desktop unless they also visit the site separately on their desktop.

Thankfully, in a move that is music to marketing ears ,Google Adwords is finally moving with the times, rejigging their approach so that logged-in Google users can be retargeted when they switch devices.   

Why cross-device remarketing is a big deal

An inability to remarket across devices can be a serious roadblock to conversions. 

Recent studies have shown that the majority of conversions involve more than one device. In fact, some of Google’s own research has found that fully 60% of online conversions in the US begin on one device, with the deal sealed on another. If you can't remarket across devices, chances are you're losing out on sales. 

Power to the adverstisers

Google knows which side of its bread is buttered. They need to keep their Adwords advertisers happy and spending. That means giving them what they want, or at least getting up to speed with what’s being offered elsewhere.

They may be a little late to the game (Facebook, for example, has been doing it for quite a while) but by empowering their marketers with cross-device remarketing now, they’re filling one of the few gaps that threatened their advertising appeal.

To learn more, you can read Google’s announcement by clicking here.