Google is full of surprises. This week, they went out and acquired the company Incentive Targeting. What will this mean for your search engine optimization efforts moving forward? Lets break it down a little and see if we can piece together part of their master plan.

There are a lot of rumors, but this one is for real. In a Tweet, Mike Dudas-part of Google’s mobile commerce division-wrote, “Google acquires Incentive Targeting to power highly targeted manufacturer and private label coupon programs.” Essentially, Incentive Targeting is meatspace Google. They offer the same kind of highly precise, targeted ads and the same powerful ROI measuring tools. As Incentive Targeting put it, both companies make advertising, “simple, relevant, measurable, & effective.”

So what will this mean going forward? Clearly, Google is looking to spread their physical market influence. They are currently reworking Google Wallet, so there’s a chance that this might all fit together quite nicely. With Incentive Targeting’s technology, they’ll be able to deliver incredibly personalized coupons to their users. Additionally, Incentive Targeting has a patent on a method for shoppers to search and then parse those results to find the exact product they are looking for. It’s hard to say exactly how Google will implement this, but it could have major ramifications on the way businesses, especially at the local/regional level, do their marketing.

Original post about Google's Acquisition can be found on Wikimotive's blog under the title, "Google Acquires Incentive Targeting."