Local-mobile check-in application Foursquare has introduced a self-serve advertising service for local businesses.
Ads run through the program will use the same system that powers Foursquare's existing 'Explore' recommendation engine, so its targeting capabilities will naturally be quite impressive. What will make the program so appealing to advertisers however is that they only have to pay if someone actually visits their business in person or visits their profile page in the Foursquare app (so, it's not impression-based per say). Thanks to its knowledge of where its users have checked in previously and where those users can check in based on their current location, Foursquare can make a pretty good (educated) guess at the ads they believe will result in a user becoming a customer (visitor) to a business.
Foursquare Ads are currently available to select businesses in the US, UK, Turkey, Brazil, and Russia. Foursquare is rolling out the new program only to a few thousand businesses initially.
