HopStop offers free geo-targeted ads

Transit and walking directions provider HopStop has started offering free geo-targeted ads to small businesses in New York City on a trial basis, with a goal of rolling out the program across the U.S. Here’s how the program works: Business owners sign up for a 30-day free trial online and create their advertisement. For the next month, the ad will be displayed in HopStop’s directions whenever people search for directions in the targeted neighborhood. “If a HopStop user is headed to the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan, for example, and there’s a cupcake store there, we’ll give that store owner the opportunity to advertise directly to our user who’s headed to that neighborhood,” said CEO Joe Meyer. “As a result of our core service of providing point-to-point directions, we have knowledge of people’s whereabouts — their current location and the location of their destination…It seemed like a no-brainer to start working with local merchants.” To qualify for the trial, business owners must agree to add a link to HopStop on their website. Link to full story in Entrepreneur.

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