Dive Brief:

• Google rolled out a new tool Thursday to help prove there is a direct correlation between its search ads and foot traffic for brick-and-mortar stores. 
• Dubbed "store visits", the new tool uses an algorithm that tracks mobile users with location data turned on and matches it to those that have seen a search ad within the past 30 days. 
• The first rollout will be to U.S. stores only — Famous Footwear and Office Depot have signed on so far— that verify their physical location with Google. 

Dive Insight: 

Drawing a straight line between online ads and offline behavior is a tricky one. The heavy use of mobile devices is the quickest answer and Google is capitalizing on that. The real test will be if Google can track enough mobile users that have their location data turned on and happened to have seen the search ads from advertisers using "store visits."