Foursquare is expanding access to the paid promotions it has been testing with New York City-based merchants, which was reported in early June. Today the location-based social network is announcing self-serve Foursquare Ads for small businesses.
In its blog post announcing the new product, the company says the idea for the ads is simple: “connect people looking for somewhere to go with businesses that want to drive traffic to their stores.” Foursquare notes that it’s improved its targeting technology during ad pilots in the past year.
Small businesses that use these promoted listings are charged only when users visit the location in person or click on the ad to view the business’s page on Foursquare. Back in June, Advertising Age noted that Foursquare typically charges between $0.50 to $3 per action but that this cost per action might be different for small businesses.
Foursquare will use two criteria when targeting ads: a user’s location and a user’s likelihood of being a customer for the promoted business.
“A few thousand” small businesses will get access to these self-serve ads today, and more will get access in the coming months, according to the company. Of course, interested merchants need to have claimed their business on Foursquare beforehand.
Last week Foursquare introduced post check-in ads, which are shown to users right after they check in to certain locations. This product is also priced on a per-action basis.
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