Search BizReport
News by Topic
Marketing
- Advertising
- Search Marketing
- Email Marketing
- Loyalty Marketing
- Mobile Marketing
- Social Marketing
- Viral Marketing
- Trends & Ideas
- Internet Marketing 101
Beyond Marketing
BizReport : Search Marketing : July 29, 2015
Google adds business foot-traffic data to search
Consumers that want to avoid sharp elbows and waiting in line can now check out when a store is likely to be busy thanks to a new Google feature.

Google has unveiled a new feature that aims to help consumers save time and enhance their shopping experience by showing them a store's busiest times.
The information can be found by searching for a business. Results will now show not only a store's contact information and opening hours, but also a scrollable bar graph that shows foot-traffic fluctuations across the week, by hour, at the location being searched. However, while an idea of the ebb and flow of foot-traffic is illustrated, no guide is given to wait times.
To build the graphs, Google uses the same anonymized location data as it does for Google Maps traffic information. Therefore, the foot-traffic is an estimation because Google isn't able to ascertain how many people are inside a store or business at any one time.
Not only is the new feature handy for consumers, but it could perhaps also help retailers. If consumers know to avoid a location during busy hours, the workload and performance of businesses could be improved by evening out foot-traffic throughout the day, and week
Tweet
Subscribe to BizReport
Please enter your e-mail here:
Latest Headlines
- 'Parent' no longer tops targeting lists
- Expert: How to develop a better omni-channel strategy
- Data security key for mobile consumers
- Experts: How brands can make video and TV work for them
- Experiences top 2019 Valentine's lists
- Report: Amazon wins ecomm battle, but other brands gain ground
- Study: Programmatic In-App spend up
- Report: Amazon gaining on Google, Facebook for ad spending