Foursquare Opens Up Home Screen to Big Brand advertisement

Foursquare Opens Up Home Screen to Big Brand advertisement

In a recent report, Foursquare will now let brands advertise on its app's home screen. Point to note is that they are opening up advertising only for companies which do not have a brick and mortar presence. The main aim of this type of advertising will be brand awareness rather than egging customers for a store visit.

For Foursquare, opening up the ad placement looks like an effort to entice larger brands who didn't have a use case for marketing on the app when its ad offering was aimed at restaurants and retailers.
The company made another stride in that direction this summer when it introduced ads that appear after a user checks in at a location.

Foursquare's chief revenue officer Steven Rosenblatt reports that the majority of the revenue the company has generated from non-merchant advertisers has so far been from that placement, though it's also done some data deals.

The upside for Foursquare in opening up its home screen to more types of advertisers will be that it's the most visible real estate within the app, which makes it more valuable. Advertisers pay Foursquare on a cost-per-action basis.