On Wednesday, Google announced the launch of a new reporting feature in AdWords: view-through conversion reporting for display ads on the Google content network.

AdWords display ads show on Google’s partner websites (websites that participate in the Google AdSense program), alongside relevant content. Display ads can have more subtle effects on user behavior than traditional search ads, not just encouraging clicks but also impacting future branded searches and brand recognition.

Google’s new metric sets out to answer the question, “What effect do online branding efforts have on sales and leads?” Now, when a display campaign runs, we can measure not just conversions (sales and leads) coming from clicks directly on the ads, but also conversions that came from people who saw the ad within the last 30 days but did not click.

This may be just the thing that helps sales-focused businesses get into the branding game. If Google can prove that display ads can drive a demonstrable lift in sales, marketing teams will finally have the data to justify branding budget. I, for one, can’t wait to experiment.