Google Brings Local Inventory Ads to Five Countries, Including UK

Google LocalGoogle has launched its local inventory ad units for AdWords in the UK, France, Germany, Japan and Australia.

Previously only available in the US, these ads display availability and price of a given item in nearby brick-and-mortar stores, along with info about those stores.

“More and more people turn to search to plan their local shopping trips,” said Google Shopping product manager Christina Ilvento.

That assertion is backed up by Ninthdecimal research released this week, which found that 72 per cent of shoppers research their purchases on a smartphone. Googles own research shows that 83 per cent of shoppers would be more likely to visit a store if they could check the availability of an item online beforehand.