It's still impossible to search for a consumer good (say, a refrigerator, or a bicycle), and quickly see what brands are available in what stores in your town, and what they have in stock. Why are so many people in advertising trying to get people to buy stuff when they are just trying to read some article on the internet, while it is still hard to actually buy stuff when you want to and your wallet is wide open?
The vast majority of advertising is very active advertising that is designed to draw your eye to something. The difference between us and them is that this only does something when you interact with the image (hovering your mouse over it). If you don't do that...it's as if it doesn't exist on the page. The state of advertising I want to get to is one where it doesn't degrade the user experience and only enhances it.
While what you're talking about sounds logical, the implementation details of having a live inventory of stores that are local to you are so infeasible, as to be completely ruled out without a huge technology overhaul backing stores. Maybe in the future. But until then, we're here now.
